piggl
Forum Donator 2024/25
I have 2 boars, separated due to medical issues which is a decision I made with the understanding that things may not work out afterwards, and unfortunately this is what happened.
I put them together and they had a few very tense days of nipping and chasing until eventually they ended up in a full on fight, causing them to be removed from each other permanently.
Please be aware they live outdoors in a hutch so living side by side is not an option.
My mum keeps asking me to put them together again, but i’m not going to.
Separate but not both boys managed to escape their cages last night (I don’t know how or why they planned this, as they have been living in this temporary cage for months and never have done this before), and although luckily there were no major fights there was again signs of nipping and chasing from Remi.
Remi is a 7 month old boar who bonded with Reggie as a baby. Things seemed to be going fine until they got separated. Some of the behaviour experts on the forum believe that Remi was the dominant piggy, but Reggie couldn’t quite accept that. I noticed that Remi is very pushy, nipping at Reggie, chasing him and not allowing him to do anything Remi suddenly decides he wants.
Reggie is a 1 year old boar who also came to us as a baby but was bonded with my older boar Winston, who has now passed. There was a very obvious demeanour change when he was put with Remi. He was exceptionally humpy and excitable before but when put with Remi everything seemed to calm down majorly. My mum is “theorising” that Remi was bullying him but I don’t believe this is what was happening. Again people on the forum believe he just settled down into his role as the uncle, and he still has a excitable view on life.
Now to the present, this leaves me with 3 options.
I travel 2 hours to the nearest rescue to conduct boar dating. I have a couple questions about this. 1) Can they be travelled in a small carrier for 2 hours after their initial bonding. Feels like a recipe for disaster. 2) This is more of an issue and that is that there is no guarantee they will get on with the piggy, initially and once they come home to finish the next two weeks of establishing a hierarchy.
Option 2 is to get two babies from pets at home. Much quicker as the nearest one is 10 minutes away, and also a better chance of the initial bonding going well due to the fact they put companionship over hierarchy.
Issues with this is 1) Starting the piggy cycle from the start 2) Putting money towards something I don’t support and 3) It’s just not the way I want to do it.
Option 3 is neuter both boys, and put them with ladies. This is something I have no experience with but I do have a couple questions/thoughts.
1) Can two pairs of one boy one girl go side by side in a run? 2) I am a reluctant to do any procedures after the many issues with Remis abscess removal. We visited the vets 15 times in three weeks, dealt with major swelling and infection. 3) Expensive option, but I can afford it.
And the other issue is that this isn’t an 100% way of getting them bonded. Pairings can still not get on, it depends on the pigs.
Another kind of option would be conduct either one or two, and then do option 3 if one or both pigs fail to bond.
I just feel lost. I don’t really know what to do so would really appreciate any feedback.
And apologise for the massive message, and thank you for taking the time to read it and/or reply <3
I put them together and they had a few very tense days of nipping and chasing until eventually they ended up in a full on fight, causing them to be removed from each other permanently.
Please be aware they live outdoors in a hutch so living side by side is not an option.
My mum keeps asking me to put them together again, but i’m not going to.
Separate but not both boys managed to escape their cages last night (I don’t know how or why they planned this, as they have been living in this temporary cage for months and never have done this before), and although luckily there were no major fights there was again signs of nipping and chasing from Remi.
Remi is a 7 month old boar who bonded with Reggie as a baby. Things seemed to be going fine until they got separated. Some of the behaviour experts on the forum believe that Remi was the dominant piggy, but Reggie couldn’t quite accept that. I noticed that Remi is very pushy, nipping at Reggie, chasing him and not allowing him to do anything Remi suddenly decides he wants.
Reggie is a 1 year old boar who also came to us as a baby but was bonded with my older boar Winston, who has now passed. There was a very obvious demeanour change when he was put with Remi. He was exceptionally humpy and excitable before but when put with Remi everything seemed to calm down majorly. My mum is “theorising” that Remi was bullying him but I don’t believe this is what was happening. Again people on the forum believe he just settled down into his role as the uncle, and he still has a excitable view on life.
Now to the present, this leaves me with 3 options.
I travel 2 hours to the nearest rescue to conduct boar dating. I have a couple questions about this. 1) Can they be travelled in a small carrier for 2 hours after their initial bonding. Feels like a recipe for disaster. 2) This is more of an issue and that is that there is no guarantee they will get on with the piggy, initially and once they come home to finish the next two weeks of establishing a hierarchy.
Option 2 is to get two babies from pets at home. Much quicker as the nearest one is 10 minutes away, and also a better chance of the initial bonding going well due to the fact they put companionship over hierarchy.
Issues with this is 1) Starting the piggy cycle from the start 2) Putting money towards something I don’t support and 3) It’s just not the way I want to do it.
Option 3 is neuter both boys, and put them with ladies. This is something I have no experience with but I do have a couple questions/thoughts.
1) Can two pairs of one boy one girl go side by side in a run? 2) I am a reluctant to do any procedures after the many issues with Remis abscess removal. We visited the vets 15 times in three weeks, dealt with major swelling and infection. 3) Expensive option, but I can afford it.
And the other issue is that this isn’t an 100% way of getting them bonded. Pairings can still not get on, it depends on the pigs.
Another kind of option would be conduct either one or two, and then do option 3 if one or both pigs fail to bond.
I just feel lost. I don’t really know what to do so would really appreciate any feedback.
And apologise for the massive message, and thank you for taking the time to read it and/or reply <3