Agressive Boar - Don't know what to do

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When I first brought Jr. home I thought it would be easy, and it was, for a couple of weeks. He was just "ok" with the big boy and seemed perfectly fine with Robot, our other baby. Then he attacked my big boy, took a clump of hair right out. So, we separated the babies and the big boy, thinking we could ease them into it, and we tried group bathing, neutral ground, but they couldn't get on.

Then Jr. started being aggressive to Robot. Hackles raised, chattering teeth, rumble-strutting, mounting. We separated the babies, and put Robot and Max, the big boy together. Everything was ok. We got another boy, Hawk, last weekend. We are working on the introduction between him and Max, he seems ok with Robot, and we just think it will take time for max and Hawk, they are both very easy going, it should be ok.

Jr. keeps chattering, raising hackles, chomping at the cage, and even when we try again to integrate him with the herd, he just attacks them! When I go to the cage to feed him, he chatters at me! And I have carrots!

I just don't know what to do, he is just so mean, all the time and getting meaner and meaner. I feel like he shouldn't be around people or other guinea pigs at all, but I don't want to give up on him!

Please, any advice to help Jr. be a nicer little piggie would be great, he's just so mean and aggressive!
 
Am i right in thinking you now have a trio of boars; Max, Robot & Hawk & Jr. is on his own?

Jr. is displaying normal dominance behaviour which is why he "attacked" Max - he wants to be boss.

A trio of boys is not the norm; they generally do better in pairs but a trio can live happily together.

I wouldn't try to introduce Jr. to the trio to make a 4. However, you could introduce him to Hawk, if he is the youngest piggy. You must introduce them on neutral ground with distractions ie hay, veggies, food & put nothing in there where Jr. could corner Hawk.

Mounting, rumble strutting, brrrr'ing & chasing are all normal. He may or may not accept the younger one, if he doesn't you have other options - take him to a rescue (if you have one close by) & let him choose his own baby, keep him as a single boar but keep his cage near the others so he can still see/hear/chat to them or have him neutered & bond him with a sow. The latter option needs very careful consideration as any operation carries risks

Have a look here regarding boar behaviour http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949
 
Max and Robot are habitating together in the big cage, Hawk is on his own until we can get them fully integrated and Jr. also lives on his own because he is so mean to the others. Hawk came from the animal shelter last weekend, he is older and bigger than Jr., Jr. is only three months old and Hawk is 7 months. Hawk was part of a trio when his old mommy dropped the guys off, but his brothers got adopted without him, I don't now if he was alpha pig, he seems to relaxed to fit that role.

So you don't think all four can live together happily, even with lots of space and lots of food? I hope this isn't the case! I didn't want to get a girl because there are so many homeless piggies out there and I didn't want to add to that since I have all boys.

I will take a peek at the link, we read a lot about it, and it seems like some piggies just never get along, I know about the dominant behavior, it's just the biting I am worried about.

I don't want to get rid of jr, it would be irresponsible of me to do so, thank you so much for your words!
 
Sometimes, boars do work in a trio, if they are all pretty laid back, rarely in quartet, and only if they have oodles of space and are character compatible.

I second Niki's recommendations.

You can either try to introduce Hawk to Jr. (make sure that all huts and hides have two exits, so Hawk can't be backed into something and "locked in"); have two bowls, huts etc. in the hutch/cage to avoid Jr. going territorial.

Or you can consider having Jr. neutered and living with a girl. Make sure that you find an experienced vet to avoid unnecessary complications and wait at least 4-6 weeks after the op before you introduce him to a girl. Unfortunately, neutering doesn't change the character, only the reproduction; Jr. won't get any more placid or "boar-friendly" with the op. Jr. will always be a dominant personality.
 
nsharonew said:
Max and Robot are habitating together in the big cage, Hawk is on his own until we can get them fully integrated and Jr. also lives on his own because he is so mean to the others. Hawk came from the animal shelter last weekend, he is older and bigger than Jr., Jr. is only three months old and Hawk is 7 months. Hawk was part of a trio when his old mommy dropped the guys off, but his brothers got adopted without him, I don't now if he was alpha pig, he seems to relaxed to fit that role.

So you don't think all four can live together happily, even with lots of space and lots of food? I hope this isn't the case! I didn't want to get a girl because there are so many homeless piggies out there and I didn't want to add to that since I have all boys.

I will take a peek at the link, we read a lot about it, and it seems like some piggies just never get along, I know about the dominant behavior, it's just the biting I am worried about.

I don't want to get rid of jr, it would be irresponsible of me to do so, thank you so much for your words!
Click to expand...

Sadly i don't think they will all live together. Age really doesn't matter. I've recently had to separate a pair of boys myself; the younger one was the one who attacked his cage-mate. He had lived with him since he was 4wks old but at 7 months the hormones have hit & he obviously decided he wanted to be top pig which didn't sit well with his older mate (aged approx 2yrs). Both boys have since been bonded separately with babies & are fine :)

Personally if Max & Robot are happy as a pair then i would leave them. I would then try to bond Hawk with Jr. it may or may not work depending on their personalities. You will probably know piggy behaviour looks & can sound much worse than it actually is; don't separate your boys unless blood is drawn. Having said that there are plenty of pre-warnings they will display where you will have the chance to separate them without them actually causing one another physical harm. If needs be, throw a towel over one of them to prevent them unintentionally biting you.

Sadly you are right, some piggies won't get along with other piggies you have but that just means you've/they've not found the right piggy for them.
Good Luck with your boys, keep us posted on their progress won't you :)
 
This is so fantastic! I took the piggies out of their homes and Hawk, Robot and Max and took a bath, lots of squeaky clean bunny shampoo and then they all went in the basket with a towel. I put the blow drier on them and we put vanilla on their bum glands. This went well, so we gave them all carrots, and this also went well, so we put them all in the clean cage with a big plate of lettuce in the middle and no hidey's to back each other in. A hay bin in each corner and they did some rumbling, and a bit of chattering and chasing, but nothing that didn't quicky resolve itself, so far so good! Wish us luck, but for now, I have a trio of boars co-existing (for the moment).
 
Fingers crossed - I hope that the peace will keep!
 
They still seem to be doing pretty good! We opened their floor time hatch and that put them on edge, so we closed it again (I think there was still some scent on the carpet or something), they are doing some dominance dancing as I type, with minimal chattering, they will likely work it out on their own, if it gets too out of control I will interrupt them, but it's like night and day from before our "social cleansing"! I feel great about it still!
 
Some pics of the harmonious boys!

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AWWW - they look great! As I said you are in with a good chance with three laidback boys.
 
Well, we got home and max has a bloodied nose :( So sad, Hawk must have gotten him. Should I put anything on his booboo? Clearly, they have been separated again, I don't now if we will try again, too bad, but I would rather they be safe...
 
nsharonew said:
Well, we got home and max has a bloodied nose :( So sad, Hawk must have gotten him. Should I put anything on his booboo? Clearly, they have been separated again, I don't now if we will try again, too bad, but I would rather they be safe...
Click to expand...

You can bathe his wound with salt water & i personally wouldn't try them together again as it seems Hawk has decided he doesn't wish to share his space with Max
 
I can't bear the thought of Max in any kind of discomfort, he is my first pig and I love him so much...We are going to rebuild the cage so Max, Jr., Robot and Hawk all have a ramp, their own space ('cept max and robot, they live together fine) and they can all see each other in a common area separated by walls.
 
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