Boars Scrapping After Bath

[katanamoon]

Oh dear... All I wanted was to make my boys smell better and I think I've broken them!

I have two 13-week old brothers from my first surprise litter and one from the second, who is a few weeks younger (some of you may remember my extra-toe piggy whose extra toe fell off...!) They've all been sharing a cage for weeks in perfect happiness.

Tonight, I decided it was time to upgrade their cage to a larger size, and what better time, I thought, than the same night as I had received my lovely boar shampoo in the post? So I sorted the cage and gave each one a bath in turn. But - now extra-toe piggy has gone feral and decided to start humping and scrapping with much gnashing of teeth, and the brothers are not impressed! There doesn't seem to be any blood shed but I am rather worried! Is this likely to settle down (since I guess I've inadvertently stripped their dominant man-stink away)? Or should I consider separating?

 

[maxdawn]

Is he chatting is teeth like albie and wiggling bum

 

[katanamoon]

Yeah, when he goes in for a hump-attack, his victims try and shake him off and they have a very loud rumblestrut, sometimes followed by a lunge and then a chorus of tooth chattering.

I am about to go check on them for the first time today - a bit scared of what I'll find!

 

[katanamoon]

Well, things seem to have settled slightly overnight - still the odd confrontational nip when they meet under the hay pile but certainly a lot quieter than last night! They're all munching away so hopefully it was a temporary upset caused by the bath and new, clean cage - lesson learned!

 

[Tbag]

Oh dear! If they are 13 weeks it may be that things are starting to get a little too hormonal for them all to continue living as a trio.
Its odd as a bath can usually help bonding piggies by creating neutral smells but perhaps the sudden fall out could be down to the removal of all their old familiar baby/mummy sort of smells? The new cage could also be a factor like you've said as there'd be new territory for them to sort out.
Hope the peace continues!

 

[Wiebke]

Sounds like your little ones hormones have woken up early and that he is a rather dominant little guy!

Boar baths, changes of territory (sometimes a simple cage clean) can trigger it as the usual scents are removed, necessitating a new hierarchy sort-out/dominance.

We generally do not recommend bathing youngsters before they are 16 weeks old until their is a medical reason for it. Unless your boys are really covered all over in muck and testosterone laden pee, it is wiser to just give them a bum bath to take care of the messy bits.

"Buddy" bonding baths are only necessary after a borderline situation or a fall-out that has ended up in a short-term separation. They serve to remove the stink of the excess testosterone before a re-introduction on neutral ground after a suitable calming down period of at least overnight or a whole day.

 

[katanamoon]

Oh dear I hope I haven't caused piggy warfare, as these are the boys that I'm trying to find a home for The two brothers are still perfectly happy with each other, but extra-toe pig - their younger cousin - is not making life easy for anyone at the moment!

I am meeting my local rescue tomorrow (recommended on here, which is a bonus) so will put out the feelers for some help or advice. Meanwhile, things are much more calm in the boy pen than they were; hopefully they're starting to stink themselves up again!