Boar glue - warning 18+ only!

Idris

Idris

Junior Guinea Pig
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For advanced gp whisperers only , although I have tried to avoid inappropriate language.

We’ve only really had boars over the years but two of them have been prone to getting overexcited and harassing their partner. Crumble, sadly no longer with us, and now Chips. Chips was old Crumble’s young understudy for almost a year and is now paired up with Dobby, both 2 years young.

After settling down for a couple of weeks after bonding, Chips, the big boss at nearly 1.5kg started to harass Dobby. One of our teenage sons (Crumble’s ‘dad’) helped him to calm down by holding him upright while he relieved himself and immediately peace returned. A month on and they were getting a bit chasey today and to keep the peace we decided we should assist him again. Son isn’t keen to be the one doing this and refused but ended up taking over during the ‘lesson’.

Anyway, I won’t go into more detail on this family forum but do others have alternative solutions? It doesn’t seem to be a universal problem as our other boars seem to have been self regulating. He does have a cuddly toy which helped during bonding but not to that extent.

I don’t expect this to be featured in GPM and haven’t seen glue referenced in this context. Not sure if there’s a way of explaining more clearly without potentially causing offence.
 
Honestly I am not sure I fully understand your post, but I do appreciate your effort to keep things G rated.

Boars will be boars, and the reality is that this will involve boar glue.
If the boys are not falling out then it is perfectly fine to leave then together until things reach their natural conclusion.
Humping and other behaviours of this natural are normal, and not something to try and avoid.
 
Swissgreys said:
Honestly I am not sure I fully understand your post, but I do appreciate your effort to keep things G rated.

Boars will be boars, and the reality is that this will involve boar glue.
If the boys are not falling out then it is perfectly fine to leave then together until things reach their natural conclusion.
Humping and other behaviours of this natural are normal, and not something to try and avoid.
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Thanks for your reply. Our concern is that we don’t want matters to escalate to the point of a serious fallout. But I take your point that, a bit like the initial bonding with chasing and humping, we should just hold our nerve and let them work it out together. That’s easier during the daytime when one of us is usually around in case of escalation.
 
as mentioned above, humping is part of normal dominance behaviour. Unless you see any signs of the underpig getting fed up and perhaps considering ‘fighting his corner’ then I would leave them to it. It’s not great to watch but if underpig is doing okay then try to take a step back and relax. It’s part of normal bachelorhood for them!

I know it’s difficult though because my boar pair had a few instances where the top pig would chase and hump for a couple of hours. It looks worse to us than it is to them 😊
 
I appreciate this post. My boys are 16-month-old brothers and I've actually never seen the level of chasing and humping as I am this morning! The boys live in a large outdoor enclosure (2x3 meters) with a raised, 2-level hutch. They have 2 of everything, lots of ways in and out of every nook and cranny, and despite being polar opposites (I'm sure they would've had a falling out in a standard C&C cage!), I thought we safely made it through the teenage patch! I was able to get just the underdog into the hutch, then blocked off the entrances to separate them for a bit. I also tossed a stuffed animal into the enclosure, hoping the randy boar will find comfort with his inanimate furry friend. I used to keep one in there full-time, but apparently it came out for a cleaning and I never noticed that it didn't make it back in. I had to raid my kids' stuffed animal collection to find a replacement because I couldn't even find it. Time to go shopping. I think a rotation of stuffed friends needs to be a priority throughout their lives! Definitely a better alternative than my helping them along! 🤣 Maybe a stuffed animal tossed into your cage will help, too.

I probably jumped the gun on separating them, though. In hindsight, I bet this has happened plenty of times when I wasn't there to observe it. They're both napping now, so I think I'll just give it an hour or so to leave them in peace - we're also in the midst of an atmospheric river storm, so it was a rough night. They nap on opposite ends of the enclosure all the time, so my hope is that this very brief separation won't have felt out of the norm.
 
foxymichelle said:
I appreciate this post. My boys are 16-month-old brothers and I've actually never seen the level of chasing and humping as I am this morning! The boys live in a large outdoor enclosure (2x3 meters) with a raised, 2-level hutch. They have 2 of everything, lots of ways in and out of every nook and cranny, and despite being polar opposites (I'm sure they would've had a falling out in a standard C&C cage!), I thought we safely made it through the teenage patch! I was able to get just the underdog into the hutch, then blocked off the entrances to separate them for a bit. I also tossed a stuffed animal into the enclosure, hoping the randy boar will find comfort with his inanimate furry friend. I used to keep one in there full-time, but apparently it came out for a cleaning and I never noticed that it didn't make it back in. I had to raid my kids' stuffed animal collection to find a replacement because I couldn't even find it. Time to go shopping. I think a rotation of stuffed friends needs to be a priority throughout their lives! Definitely a better alternative than my helping them along! 🤣 Maybe a stuffed animal tossed into your cage will help, too.

I probably jumped the gun on separating them, though. In hindsight, I bet this has happened plenty of times when I wasn't there to observe it. They're both napping now, so I think I'll just give it an hour or so to leave them in peace - we're also in the midst of an atmospheric river storm, so it was a rough night. They nap on opposite ends of the enclosure all the time, so my hope is that this very brief separation won't have felt out of the norm.
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It’s best to let them ride it out rather than separate. When reuniting you will need to put them on neutral ground where either hasn’t been. The hutch will also need to be cleaned out thoroughly and rearranged so they don’t take it as invasion of personal space when you put them back in.

I am the first to admit it is difficult to watch/witness. However, unless there are signs one pig is being bullied or it’s really incessant where they’re not allowed to rest or eat, then they should be left to sort it out.

They are (not long) out of the teenage months but will still experience the occasional hormone surge
 
Yeah - I read that on here right after I separated - which really was just splitting the enclosure for an hour, not a full-blown separation. I thought I had read to do that when I first got them, but then I found the opposite advice when I popped on here to double-check.

They were pretty exhausted, so they didn't even come out to inspect when I went back into their enclosure to unblock the entrances - they both stayed napping where they were. Since they have such a large enclosure, it's common for them to nap far apart from each other like this for long periods throughout the day. I checked on them just now and they were snacking peacefully together - the randy one even got excited as usual when I approached and ran around and popcorned a bit. Guess he's feeling better!
 
Sleeping apart is entirely normal. Not cuddling is not a sign of dislike or a fractious bond. My piggies never slept together in the same hide but I know they were really well bonded. It was only a couple of times that my boys (while still living inside) both had a snooze in the hay tray.
 
Our two seem to be fine most of the time with just the occasional rumble. Next time there’s a spike in the ‘excitement’ level we’ll try to let it run its course. We’ve returned the stuffed GP to the cage but it’s rather covered in hay right now and seems to be ignored. Plonking a new pile of fresh hay or giving them some bits of veg is a good distraction- no wonder Chips (top of the photo) is close to 1.5kg! 😱E05F1E29-6F89-4ADD-BCEE-99DCA88D09E6.webp
 
This morning it’s Dobby/Nacho who is hyper and chasing Chips. He did have a couple of quick humps on the toy but not enough! Hoping that he will calm down before he oversteps the mark as Chips doesn’t seem likely to want a change in hierarchy.Instagram video
 
Idris said:
This morning it’s Dobby/Nacho who is hyper and chasing Chips. He did have a couple of quick humps on the toy but not enough! Hoping that he will calm down before he oversteps the mark as Chips doesn’t seem likely to want a change in hierarchy.Instagram video
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Just like with humans and most other mammals, ups and downs in their hormone levels are perfectly normal.
This will influence their behaviour, but should only last a short time before things settle down again.

Distractions are great (fresh hay piles, forage, scatter feeding, new cardboard or willow items to chew, etc) and can definetly help.
 
I meant to add that we can't see the video because your instagram account is private.
It would be better to upload it to somewhere like You Tube and then everyone can view it.
 
Swissgreys said:
I meant to add that we can't see the video because your instagram account is private.
It would be better to upload it to somewhere like You Tube and then everyone can view it.
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Ah, helpful to know- I will check the settings
 
Dobby has now managed to relieve himself on the toy GP and is relaxing. Now it’s Chips who’s gnawing at the bars! Will move the toy into his side.
 
Idris said:
and Chips has just eaten the glue! 😳😆
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Also not unusual boar behaviour!
I hope they go back together nicely now they have had their fun.

And it will become less of an issue as they get older and their testosterone levels drop.
 
Both back together and currently having quiet time. Meanwhile outside we’ve had a thunderstorm with hail, heavy rain showers and gusty winds. No wonder the bunnies are hiding under the hutch in the outdoor run - early indoors for them soon but this morning they were enjoying the lawn in the sunshine.
 
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