Boars fighting

[wilsonn]

Hi everyone, i’ve been having a few issues with my two male boars. They are both 3 years old and have grown up together from a very young age with no issues. They established dominance and i haven’t had any issues until now. In the past few days, my dominant boar , Nesquik, has been nipping, humping and baring his teeth as such to Tony my other boar. As i’ve said they have never had any issues and live in a cage that is 2m long by 1m wide, two of everything and they go on the grass during the day in a cage with Benson my rabbit. All three get along fine but it’s just lately i’ve noticed Nesquik showing this behaviour and have tried to let them sort it out but i have had to seperate them in case a proper fight breaks out. I’m at a loss as to why this is happening and hoping someone may be able to shed some light and give some advice. I’m not too sure how to attach photos so if any photos of anything are needed please let me know.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

The first thing when there is this kind of change in behaviour is to have a vet check carried out. Sometimes this kind of thing is down to a brewing medical issue of pain so getting that checked is a good thing to have done first.

I would suggest you switch from the lifelong routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh him daily so you can more closely monitor hay intake. Often if a piggy is feeling unwell then it shows on the scales quite quickly. If he has lost weight, then step in with syringe feeding to stop any further weight loss.

If he is deemed healthy then you would look to their bond next but if they’ve been together this long with no issue then looking at medical would be my first thought.

Please don’t let them near your rabbit. Rabbits and piggies should never mix. Piggies can get injured by rabbits and rabbits can carry illnesses harmlessly to them but they can make piggies poorly.
There is no mutual communication between rabbits and piggies so there is no benefit in them being together.

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry your boys aren’t getting along so well. Good luck at the vets. I hope it’s just a phase they are going through and they settle down again soon.

 

[wilsonn]

Welcome to the forum

The first thing when there is this kind of change in behaviour is to have a vet check carried out. Sometimes this kind of thing is down to a brewing medical issue of pain so getting that checked is a good thing to have done first.

I would suggest you switch from the lifelong routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh him daily so you can more closely monitor hay intake. Often if a piggy is feeling unwell then it shows on the scales quite quickly. If he has lost weight, then step in with syringe feeding to stop any further weight loss.

If he is deemed healthy then you would look to their bond next but if they’ve been together this long with no issue then looking at medical would be my first thought.

Please don’t let them near your rabbit. Rabbits and piggies should never mix. Piggies can get injured by rabbits and rabbits can carry illnesses harmlessly to them but they can make piggies poorly.
There is no mutual communication between rabbits and piggies so there is no benefit in them being together.

Hi, I was definitely thinking it was medical related after reading a few posts on here but I was unsure as they recently went in last week for their yearly check up so i’ll definitely take them in again to be sure nothing has come up during this time.

Neither boys weight has changed but i’ll definitely start daily weights now instead of the weekly and hopefully it stays stable. I’ve observed them both eating and there’s no issues there but i’ll definitely keep an eye on it as I know how quickly these guys can change.

If the vet says that they’re fine I might have to look at separating them permanently as the last thing I want is injuries or death.

I also did not know that about rabbits and guinea pigs and I would hate to put my animals at risk, it was not intentional at all and thank you for bringing that up I will definitely be putting them in two different outdoor runs from now on. I didn’t know about the spread of illness between the two so that was completely my fault for not researching correctly but thank you for letting me know, I will put that into effect as of tomorrow morning when they go out.

I’ll keep everyone updated if that’s what they would like and thank you for the response, it’s definitely shed some insight and taught me a valuable lesson about mixing the two, it’s my first time owning a rabbit but i’ve had guinea pigs for as long as I can remember so I should of researched it more but it’s a lesson learnt and definitely an important one. Thank you again

 

[wilsonn]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry your boys aren’t getting along so well. Good luck at the vets. I hope it’s just a phase they are going through and they settle down again soon.

Hi, thank you. I’m hoping it’s just a phase too but I will definitely be taking them to the vets to be sure that neither of them are ill. They don’t seem to be in any obvious signs of pain when I hold them or touch them but I know how good they are at hiding it until it’s severe. But hopefully the vet will be able to give me some answers otherwise it will have to be permanent separation and maybe in the future see if they can be put together but not until it’s less of a risk

 

[Piggies&buns]

Do let us know how you get on at the vet.
It might not be medical but it is always the first thing when there is a change in behaviour.


As an aside, I’m a veteran rabbit owner - just over 35 years of keeping them now!
Rabbits need a lot of space (a minimum of a 3 metre by 2 metre enclosure) but they also need to be kept in ideally opposite sex pairs and must be neutered/spayed to prevent health and behaviour issues but also to allow them to be bonded. (You may be able to bond two does but only if both are spayed. Two bucks together doesn’t usually work out). Do you intend on getting your rabbit spayed/neutered and a friend?

 

[wilsonn]

Do let us know how you get on at the vet.
It might not be medical but it is always the first thing when there is a change in behaviour.


As an aside, I’m a veteran rabbit owner - just over 35 years of keeping them now!
Rabbits need a lot of space (a minimum of a 3 metre by 2 metre enclosure) but they also need to be kept in ideally opposite sex pairs and must be neutered/spayed to prevent health and behaviour issues but also to allow them to be bonded. (You may be able to bond two does but only if both are spayed. Two bucks together doesn’t usually work out). Do you intend on getting your rabbit spayed/neutered and a friend?

Hi, when I first adopted Benson she was only 4 months old. The previous owners didn’t want to spay her so I decided to wait until she was a little older as she was recovering from an upper respiratory infection and didn’t seem 100%. I took her to the vet after I adopted her and that’s when i was informed of the infection, and they recommended waiting till she recovered. When she went to get spayed she had issues under anaesthesia before they were able to begin the surgery, her vitals dropped very low, and after talking to the vet he said it would be too risky to try again as she was very poorly after that. I have attempted to get her a friend, started off in seperate cages and she never bonded with them, always showing anger. I rehoused the other rabbits as it was unfair to them to be paired with a rabbit who didn’t like them and they went to great homes where they were able to bond with other rabbits.

I have definitely thought about getting her spayed and maybe trying again but I am definitely worried about her going into surgery again and not making it. I have also thought about her being alone with no friend and i would much rather her have a friend to connect with but she hasn’t shown any signs of depression or being lonely. She has always preferred human contact, even when we were introducing the other females so i’m at a loss as how to pair her with a friend, hoping you may have some ideas seeing as you have lots and lots of experience

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hi, when I first adopted Benson she was only 4 months old. The previous owners didn’t want to spay her so I decided to wait until she was a little older as she was recovering from an upper respiratory infection and didn’t seem 100%. I took her to the vet after I adopted her and that’s when i was informed of the infection, and they recommended waiting till she recovered. When she went to get spayed she had issues under anaesthesia before they were able to begin the surgery, her vitals dropped very low, and after talking to the vet he said it would be too risky to try again as she was very poorly after that. I have attempted to get her a friend, started off in seperate cages and she never bonded with them, always showing anger. I rehoused the other rabbits as it was unfair to them to be paired with a rabbit who didn’t like them and they went to great homes where they were able to bond with other rabbits.

I have definitely thought about getting her spayed and maybe trying again but I am definitely worried about her going into surgery again and not making it. I have also thought about her being alone with no friend and i would much rather her have a friend to connect with but she hasn’t shown any signs of depression or being lonely. She has always preferred human contact, even when we were introducing the other females so i’m at a loss as how to pair her with a friend, hoping you may have some ideas seeing as you have lots and lots of experience

If she has issues with anaesthesia then that is one thing and something you need to discuss with the vet.

To correct something you’ve said though - it’s not that she prefers humans at all. She was aggressive and had problems bonding with other rabbits because she is not spayed. Females are very territorial and need to be spayed to be help to be successfully bonded. It is not safe to try to bond an unspayed female as it can result in fights and is pretty much always going to fail.
Even if you tried to bond her with a male who is neutered or another female who is spayed the fact she herself is not spayed will always work against her ability to bond.

They often don’t show the signs of loneliness and depression because they simply get on with life. It doesn’t mean they don’t feel it.

Without her being spayed bonding her with another rabbit is going to be difficult unfortunately.
Living alongside another rabbit but in separate suitably sized enclosures is the only alternative for rabbit companionship if she needs to remain unspayed.