Anger issues?!?

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Andi

Andi

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Well a few weeks back i had to separate my trio of boars as scooter (a very lively mischevious piggy) was attacking the other two.

scooter now lives next door to the other two so they can see each other through the mesh of the run and can chatter to each other....

now i thought after a while scooter would calm down a bit just being next to them ( and even more once he gets through the hormonal stage) as the other two are great together (like an old married couple most of the time) Harry is currently poorly and on antibiotics and Munch is taking care of him brilliantly with lots of cuddles together. x)

I have been crossing scooter over into harry and munches run and vice versa when cleaning them out to get them used to the smell of each other again. (without them actually coming into contact with each other as harry is poorly)

However Scooter instead of getting better is getting worse...as soon as he sees the other two when i let them out in the morning he starts rumblestrutting and his fur goes up...he chews the mesh like mad and has been gripping it with his front paws and shaking it (as though he is desperate to get to the other two but not in a good way) Munch rumbles back a bit but soon gets bored of him and carries on munching his grass, Harry doesnt react at all.

Then the past few days when i have put him in his hutch to bed at night he has been headbutting his chew toys that hang off the side of his hutch and pacing up and down shrieking....

now what I'm wondering is does he have some sort of anger issues or is he lonely? he's fine with me and my boyf he's very lively when he's out and very much wants things his way but doesnt show any aggression towards us and is super cute..hes not keen on being handled for very long though prefering to explore and chew things.

He's in great health nice bright eyes ears etc, is eating, drinking, running about, chattering and popcorning but i cant figure out his behaviour with the other two as he seems to despise them. :(

my vet has said that neutering him could help by lowering his hormone levels but that theres no guarantee that it would.

so now I'm unsure of what to do as ill have to wait for him to get over the hormonal phase before reintroducing him properly or getting him a friend...but I'm not entirely sure he likes other guinea pigs that much (i know that sounds daft) lol but watching his behaviour it would seem that all he wants to do is fight. while the other two are the most chilled out piggies ever its so strange to see :{

Has anyone had this sort of problem before? could being next to them be stressing him out...would finding him a friend help or is he likely to just bully/fight with them too? is it worth leaving him next to the others until hes a bit older and then trying again?

so many questions...ive never seen this level of aggression before so am at a bit of a loss with him at the moment!
 
Firstly - He's at a very hormonal time in his life and is probably quite confused to. He will calm down some what on his own with age. I would let him grow up a bit before considering a friend. I do however think it will be unlikely he will bond with your current boys if he's that desperate to get to them but it's worth ago once he gets passed the hormones.

My Fred lunges at Patrick when he walks by his cage and Chatters very loudly - That's because he doesn't like Patrick at all. Fred however does live with a girl.

Think of it this way - do you like everybody you meet I know I don't and a Trio of boys is riskier than a pair. Have a look at Suzygpr Boys dating thread it shows first hand how the right boy is out there you just have to find them. I've seen boars in her rescue that you think will never meet anyone and then they meet someone they like and go home. It's not a race against time, you aren't spending the rest of your life with them, they are. That's why it's important to spend the time dating other boars until they meet the right one and why boar dating is a fabulous tool. Best find a rescue that does Boar Dating then he can pick, failing that neutering is always an option I however wouldn't go down that route until I had exhausted all other avenues.
 
Just to add to what Flintstones said, trios rarely work out. A pig should never live alone either, so I'd be looking at taking him boar dating to find a new friend.
 
Unfortunately, trying to rebond piggies that have fallen out does usually not work. Switching cages only serves to confuse and upset.

It would be better if you could find a rescued that allowed you to boar date Scooter to find a suitable friend of his own.
 
It may be better just to accept that they'll never get on, and keep Scooter away from the smell of his two male friends, clearly getting as close as he is doing is causing him a lot of upset, and isn't good for him long term, even if there's a partition between them, he's still too close for his own comfort..
Let him adjust to having time to himself for now, i'm sure he'll tell you when he's ready for company again, even if it takes weeks or months, a relaxed pig is a happy pig;)
 
Thanks for the replies.....maybe i was being a bit too hopeful of rebonding them as they all came together when i got them... i have only ever had pairs before and have never had any problems so all this fighting is a bit new to me!

your advice is v helpful though so thanks!

I'm concerned about the level of agitation with scooter though which is whats confusing me about how best to deal with it but i guess dating it is. :))

is waiting until hes a bit older the best option? as i can see all hell breaking loose with the way he is at the moment!
 
Andi said:
Thanks for the replies.....maybe i was being a bit too hopeful of rebonding them as they all came together when i got them... i have only ever had pairs before and have never had any problems so all this fighting is a bit new to me!

your advice is v helpful though so thanks!

I'm concerned about the level of agitation with scooter though which is whats confusing me about how best to deal with it but i guess dating it is. :))

is waiting until hes a bit older the best option? as i can see all hell breaking loose with the way he is at the moment!
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I would keep him separate from the other boys - handle him first, don't let him smell the others judge him on his behaviour.
 
BonBon2010 said:
It may be better just to accept that they'll never get on, and keep Scooter away from the smell of his two male friends, clearly getting as close as he is doing is causing him a lot of upset, and isn't good for him long term, even if there's a partition between them, he's still too close for his own comfort..
Let him adjust to having time to himself for now, i'm sure he'll tell you when he's ready for company again, even if it takes weeks or months, a relaxed pig is a happy pig;)
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This is my main worry...i dont want him to be on his own and lonely if he's not near other pigs but equally i dont want him stressed out and agitated next to them...its a tricky one I'm trying everything i can think of at the moment and am worried about him lol
 
Andi said:
This is my main worry...i dont want him to be on his own and lonely if he's not near other pigs but equally i dont want him stressed out and agitated next to them...its a tricky one I'm trying everything i can think of at the moment and am worried about him lol
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I'd hate living next door to someone I disliked and I know my Fred gets upset by the smell of anyone that's not female or his wife. It's probably the smell of the other pigs that's bothering him. Bon advise is fab - I would go with that. Give him time to settle without the other pigs smell and see how he reacts.

Then take him piggy dating - Where about are you - perhaps we can recommend a rescue :)! x

EDIT: Just realised your in Wales, a lot more lucky than me SuzyGPR Glynneath or Claire at All about the animals.are both in Wales.
 
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flintstones said:
I'd hate living next door to someone I disliked and I know my Fred gets upset by the smell of anyone that's not female or his wife. It's probably the smell of the other pigs that's bothering him. Bon advise is fab - I would go with that. Give him time to settle without the other pigs smell and see how he reacts.

Then take him piggy dating - Where about are you - perhaps we can recommend a rescue :)! x
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I'm in North wales/chester area! :)
 
That's actually something I'd expect from most male trios so don't worry, you're definitely not alone in experiencing this.

It's probably not helping that you keep showing him the others because it's frustrating him more and more each time that he can't get to them. You'll have to give him his own run elsewhere if he's too stressed about being near them. The erratic bahaviour against the bars and in his hutch is all part of it too. I have similar with my lone boars. Todd isn't really that fazed and will only bite the bars for a while when I first put him in, squealing that it's 'his patch' kinda thing and then goes to eat the grass. Oliver (Todd's brother) will do the whole fur up on its end, teeth chattering, rumble-strutting thing the whole time but will have chill out moments too. Robin is an Aby so I can't tell if his fur goes up on its end or not, but he acts more crazy than anything else about being near my other two. He'll run up and down the side, bite the bars, then running up and down again. He rarely chatters his teeth but he sprays and he's constantly in a bad mood, even with me, giving me grunts and squeals of annoyance.

Male groups rarely ever work for their whole lives so seeing as he's acting this way now towards them, after once being with them, he won't change, and neutering won't do a lot to help, plus it'll be putting his life at risk.

He needs some chilling out time alone, that's all. If he's fine with you then that's a start, you can have him out away from the others etc and maybe at some point get him a companion of his own :)
 
well to update... ive moved scooter away from the other two and he now seems more relaxed so i guess he was wound up by being able to see them...he's still displaying some signs of irritability but nowhere near as much...so I'm going to move him further away again and give him a while to settle. :)
 
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