Boars behaving badly

[tax622]

Hi everyone

I have read a lot the posts on here about boar behaviour, but I'm getting a bit worried about my two and I'm not too sure what to do ...

I've had Woody and Buzz since July last year, they are brothers and were born in the middle of May last year so they are both about 9 months old.

Woody has always been a bit bigger than Buzz, and has tended to be the more dominant one, but recently he seems to be getting a bit too big for his boots. Over the past week or so Woody has been picking on Buzz a bit, chasing him around the cage and trying to mount him. They grumble at each other a lot, and Buzz squeaks at Woody when he's climbing all over him. It almost looks like Woody is trying to actually hump Buzz and it's clear he doesn't like it! It's not constant though, they do calm down and act friendly again, and they are also much better when they are out in the run rather than in their cage.

I havent really done anything to stop them, as everything I've read says to let them argue it out unless they are properly fighting. There aren't actually hurting each other at all yet, and I'm keeping a close eye on them, but I'm worried it's heading that way ...

They did have a very small episode like this a month or two ago, but they gave up on it very quickly, so I'm hoping this might just be another phase - any thoughts any one?

Thanks
Tanya

 

[AudioHeart]

Hello Tanya!

Boys ey? Their always upto no good, and have on and off days! I have two boars too, both nine months old so i know the feeling!

Firstly how big is your cage? Boars need a lot of space esp for their falling outs, i'd suggests three hideys in the cage with two exits so they cant bully one another into corners, and have you got two water bottels and pellet trays so they dont have to share one?

If you want to it might be a good idea during veggie feeding time to scatter the veggies and fruit out in the cage so they cant dominate over a pile of food.

Hay! And lots of it! If you can it might help having two hay racks in your cage so they can eat seperately on their 'off' days.

It might help to give them a bonding bath, (bathe them with guinea pig shampoo) so they smell the same, and they have a group scent, if you do decide to bathe them clean the cage, all toys, accessories and bedding thoroughly before replacing them back into the cage.

Humping, nose offs, rumbel strutting,quiet teeth chattering is normal my two have nose off quite oftern (followed by popcorning oddly!) so i wouldnt worry too much the things you want to look for is all in this thread:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949

If you find one is continuely being chased and bullied you might want to put a mesh divider in the cage for half an hour to an hour for them too have a 'cooling off' period and for emotions to settle. Boars usually sort things out between one another after their hormonal stage has ended sometimes at a year to fourteen months, but some boars test dominance on a daily basis nothing too serious though!

Hope Woody and Buzz sort themselves out soon, and ive helped a little, if you have any questions feel free to ask!

Laura x

 

[tax622]

Hi Laura

Thanks very much for your reply.

At the moment I only have one of everything - I was already beginning to think that they don't have enough space, so I think I'm going to look at getting them a bigger house. I don't really have that much room, but I'm going to look at making them a c+c cage which i can build to fit the space i have. That way I should have more room to give them more hideys and bowls etc.

Thankfully they are not constantly at each other! They are fine in the morning and during the day, it seems to be in the evening/at night when they get grumpy!

Thanks for the link to the behaviour thread, I have read that several times now to try and reassure myself

I did bath them fairly recently so they should smell the same. I did them seperately though as I had visions of chaos if i had tried to do them together. Might think about that next time though!

Thanks again for the tips
Tanya

 

[AudioHeart]

Hello,

Thats a brilliant idea, C+C cages are great as you can make them any design or size you want i'd love one myself if i had space in the house Boars are such temperamental little things! They get into strops over the littlest of things hehe

If you bathe them together it might be a good idea to get someone to help you....when i first did my boys i got my mum round to make sure one of the boys didnt escape over the sink (which harvey tried to)

Good luck with the boys, hope things work out

Laura xx

 

[katiepops]

Sounds like they're normal boys!
Two of everything is a very good idea and plenty of room.
They're just working our who's boss.
Only seperate them if blood is drawn.
Seperating them means you have to start the bonding process again so can do more harm then good. If one is driving the other mad just take them out for cuddles so they can still see each other but can have a little break.

Kate (slave to 5 boys!)

 

[tax622]

Well I think the boys just tricked me into building them a bigger cage - once they could see me working away on it they started behaving again! Very cheeky. However they are nice and happy in their new palace now, and I still havent had any trouble . This is their new home:

I'm very impressed with them, i've read some posts from people who have had guinea pigs that wouldn't use ramps, but my two have been zipping up and down them no problems!

Tanya