WheekingAround
New Born Pup
I've spent the day bonding our existing boy Pork chop to a new 3-4 month old baby after we lost his older friend a couple of weeks ago. I'm using the neutral space with a big pile of hay method. I've done this before, specifically with Pork chop and I've reviewed all the guides and info again before starting, but Porky's behavior is strange to me and I'm wondering if I'm ignoring warning signs and this bonding is failing.
They started off ignoring each other in favor of veggies, but once they noticed each other Pork chop was immediately very upset with the little one. He sprayed urine absolutely everywhere, scent marked the floor until his genitals turned red and irritated, rumble strutted, chattered and seemed to refuse to let the baby touch him. The baby was really interested in him and wanted to sniff, but Porky wasn't having it. There was no biting but Porky seemed really stressed even though the baby pig was super docile. I've never seen him act like that before, with his last partner he was the subordinate pig and eventually had to be separated after our older boy got sick and bit him. It took 3 hours for him to calm down enough to nap and eat together, and the baby started really nibbling on Pork chops ears which he eventually allowed, but that's when the chasing behavior started.
Every 10-20 minutes Pork chop gets wound up in a way I'm worried about. If the baby starts running and playing or even if he's just asleep Pork will get up for seemingly no particular reason and he runs around at the baby frantically sniffing his butt or mouth like crazy and just running in circles around him while scent marking. Just circles, no biting or humping. This will literally last 2-5 minutes of him just circling the baby if the baby is laying there trying to sleep or chasing him if he runs. There's no nipping at all, no lunging, no teeth chattering, or really any vocalizations from him. The baby seems totally unharmed and hasn't so much as squealed once although he'll shove Pork chop away if disturbed too much. I've tried to figure out what's going on, but I can't seem to find any info on this issue. The baby acts like it's playing half the time and ignoring him the rest, but Porky is so frantic and obsessive it doesn't feel like he is. He will lay down and rest but won't sleep or let the baby fall asleep. It's worse since putting them in the clean cage together and feels like Porky doesn't want the baby to sleep. He will eat out of the same bowl or drink from the same bottle though. I haven't separated them since he specifically seeks the baby out to lay next to or eat with and will let the baby nibble his ears and just close his eyes. Still it's hour 10+ and decently late at night and he's still regularly running at and frantically sniffing the baby.
Should I keep them together if there's no blood, or is Pork chop overstimulated or overstressed by the baby? Has anyone seen this behavior before?
They started off ignoring each other in favor of veggies, but once they noticed each other Pork chop was immediately very upset with the little one. He sprayed urine absolutely everywhere, scent marked the floor until his genitals turned red and irritated, rumble strutted, chattered and seemed to refuse to let the baby touch him. The baby was really interested in him and wanted to sniff, but Porky wasn't having it. There was no biting but Porky seemed really stressed even though the baby pig was super docile. I've never seen him act like that before, with his last partner he was the subordinate pig and eventually had to be separated after our older boy got sick and bit him. It took 3 hours for him to calm down enough to nap and eat together, and the baby started really nibbling on Pork chops ears which he eventually allowed, but that's when the chasing behavior started.
Every 10-20 minutes Pork chop gets wound up in a way I'm worried about. If the baby starts running and playing or even if he's just asleep Pork will get up for seemingly no particular reason and he runs around at the baby frantically sniffing his butt or mouth like crazy and just running in circles around him while scent marking. Just circles, no biting or humping. This will literally last 2-5 minutes of him just circling the baby if the baby is laying there trying to sleep or chasing him if he runs. There's no nipping at all, no lunging, no teeth chattering, or really any vocalizations from him. The baby seems totally unharmed and hasn't so much as squealed once although he'll shove Pork chop away if disturbed too much. I've tried to figure out what's going on, but I can't seem to find any info on this issue. The baby acts like it's playing half the time and ignoring him the rest, but Porky is so frantic and obsessive it doesn't feel like he is. He will lay down and rest but won't sleep or let the baby fall asleep. It's worse since putting them in the clean cage together and feels like Porky doesn't want the baby to sleep. He will eat out of the same bowl or drink from the same bottle though. I haven't separated them since he specifically seeks the baby out to lay next to or eat with and will let the baby nibble his ears and just close his eyes. Still it's hour 10+ and decently late at night and he's still regularly running at and frantically sniffing the baby.
Should I keep them together if there's no blood, or is Pork chop overstimulated or overstressed by the baby? Has anyone seen this behavior before?