Hi, I've had my pigs George and Harvey for nearly 3 years and they have always lived happily together. Over the last two days I have noticed they have changed in behaviour and are being very aggressive towards each other to the point where last night I had no choice but to separate them. I even tried putting chicken wire in their cage to separate the sections but both were pulling at it to get to the other to the point where I thought they would hurt themselves. They were clattering teeth, hissing, weeing on each other etc. I've kept them separate overnight and reintroduced them gradually this morning. Tried all the usual tricks of disinfecting the cage, giving them both a bath so they smell the same, introducing on neutral territory and monitoring them. They are now okay together, tollerable, but certainly not friends again and keep bickering. Not to the point where I think it necessary to separate them again at this stage though. The only thing I can think of is that George has challenged Harvey as boss. George is now being relatively submissive but Harvey keeps reminding him of his place which is why there is a bit of tension. They are also sleeping a lot more than usual (presumably the weather), scent marking and ripping up bedding which they don't normally do. Has anyone ever experienced this aggression in long term cage mates? Will it calm down? Or do you have any other suggestions of what I can do? I don't particularly want to separate them unless I have no choice as I'll end up buying them a friend each but I don't want the same thing to happen again and I end up with four cages of single pigs! I've had pigs for 25 years and have never experienced this before... Help! X
Aggressive Piggies
- Thread starter Lauras
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To be honest I would be tempted to take both of them along to the vet for a full health check.
Maybe one of them has an underlying health issue that is causing them to be grumpy because of pain?
Or eye problems making one of them feel insecure?
Are their weights stable?
How much space do they have?
You sound like you know what you are doing, so maybe a health check might reveal a less obvious cause for their falling out.
Maybe one of them has an underlying health issue that is causing them to be grumpy because of pain?
Or eye problems making one of them feel insecure?
Are their weights stable?
How much space do they have?
You sound like you know what you are doing, so maybe a health check might reveal a less obvious cause for their falling out.
It will hopefully settle down again. Fall-outs this late are extremely rare and usually due to medical issues.
If in doubt, I would have them checked to see whether one of the boys has got an underlying issue that could trigger either a hormone spurt or weaken the top boy to allow a take-over attempt by George. It may be likely that nothing can be found.
Make sure that the boys can get away from each other (if necessary replace their current hideys with ones that have two exits) and make sure that they have two of each, bowls, water bottles, hideys and access to hay.
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