Hello there. Now Lloyd has sadly left us to enjoy his forever sleep, I've turned my attention to finding Harry a new friend.
Now Harry is a two-years and five months old, and not neutered and I've been contacting rescues, some other owners I know and our regularly boarding company about how best to find him a companion.
A few people have recommended pairing him up with a young, baby boar, but my concern with that is - even if the bond is initially strong and stable - could that all change once the youngster reaches puberty?
Therefore, would we be better off trying to pair him with an older piggy who's come out of the teenage rampage stage, because their personality might a little more stable and - if he comes from a rescue - more of a known quantity?
Any feedback from people with any past experience with this would be gratefully received.
If you can get to a good rescue that bonds adult boars, that would be the best - the very best is a rescue with residential "full" boar bonding although those few rescues that offer this special service usually have a waiting list because it is very time consuming and is usually done by rescue people in their scarce free time.
But any resulting boar bond is as stable as a sow bond since not just acceptance, but also the bulk of dominance has happened and the bond has been stress-tested to ensure that it will survive the move to new surroundings before they come home to you - hence the waiting lists and people being prepared to travel further for total peace of mind!
Any "quick" bonding at a rescue under expert supervision, meaning that acceptance has happened, which noticeably ups the chances of success with boars of all ages as they share mutual liking strengthen their bond. However, it is not totally fail-proof, as any bond with a baby still has to survive the change of dynamics during the teenage months. We have had fall-outs from members baby dating fallen-out or bereaved boys of theirs once those babies reached their teenage spikes.
If you prefer to look for a baby or a teenager, try to find a submissive, laid-back one.
The one thing that I would not recommend is to get hold of a boar that you cannot date with Harry and that you cannot return if things don't work out in the initial bonding.
Any bonding is always a leap of faith since any relationship evolves over time, the same as with a human marriage. You always can only ensure at the best that your piggies have a solid base, but at some point you have to let them fly.
This is my experience of talking lots of members through their bonding issues for a good 7 years now.
PS1: I currently have got a little boy right in the middle of the 6 months testosterone spike (never mind that he has just been neutered earlier in the week to make him safe in case of accidental encounters with my sows!). It has been a leap of faith adopting him. I am still fairly sure that my two boys are going to work out in the long term, as things so far are in the milder range and they are genuinely fond of each other and have closely bonded. Nosgan (the adult who is a similar age to Harry) is a special needs piggy and Nye is a very easy-going, not too dominant character. It can work - Nye's testicles had just started to descend when I adopted him, so he has technically arrived as a teenager but despite that the bonding was about as smooth as could be.
In the end, it all hinges on the pigsonalities involved and less on their age; that goes for all piggy bonds!
PS2: The alternative would be to have Harry neutered by a good vet and then introduced to a sow or a well bonded couple that are good friends. But that involves another leap of faith and a 6 weeks post-op wait...
