Bonding day! Neutered boar and sow

Hiitshannah

Hiitshannah

Junior Guinea Pig
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After a long wait, today is the day Butternut (neutered male) got to meet Acorn (sow). They have been living side by side for a few weeks.

We put them into the bonding pen and I must say it was almost anti-climatic? I was prepared with windows open for lots of spraying and noise, but Acorn was immediately following him around, they were eating together, sitting together and she let him hump her. A little bit of rumbling from him, a tiny bit of humping, some bum sniffing, and that seems to be it, they are now laying together under a log bridge after eating hay and popcorning around.

It’s been a couple of hours, do you think I’m safe to put them into their cage? I’ve cut some new correx so it’s completely fresh :)
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I’d give them some more hours in the cage. I’m glad it went well.
 
Its great when a bonding goes well. I bonded my 3 old girls together in December last year. Betsy was on her own after the love of her life, Dennis< lost his battle with a very nasty URI. Meg and Patsy were left on their own after the sudden death of their husboar Christian. Betsy and Meg both wanted to be top pig and Patsy just left them to decide who it was going to be. In the end Betsy one (no surprise to me!) It took 2 weeks for the bonding to be firm. Now they all get on really well.
 
Betsy said:
Its great when a bonding goes well. I bonded my 3 old girls together in December last year. Betsy was on her own after the love of her life, Dennis< lost his battle with a very nasty URI. Meg and Patsy were left on their own after the sudden death of their husboar Christian. Betsy and Meg both wanted to be top pig and Patsy just left them to decide who it was going to be. In the end Betsy one (no surprise to me!) It took 2 weeks for the bonding to be firm. Now they all get on really well.
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I’m glad it worked out for Betsy, Meg and Patsy! It’s really upsetting watching piggies lose a friend isn’t it. We lost Butternut’s older male friend, Nutmeg, about 8 weeks ago, and he has been much more subdued since (though some of that is probably down to healing from his neutering!) it’s lovely to see him out exploring again with another piggy :)
 
Hiitshannah said:
After a long wait, today is the day Butternut (neutered male) got to meet Acorn (sow). They have been living side by side for a few weeks.

We put them into the bonding pen and I must say it was almost anti-climatic? I was prepared with windows open for lots of spraying and noise, but Acorn was immediately following him around, they were eating together, sitting together and she let him hump her. A little bit of rumbling from him, a tiny bit of humping, some bum sniffing, and that seems to be it, they are now laying together under a log bridge after eating hay and popcorning around.

It’s been a couple of hours, do you think I’m safe to put them into their cage? I’ve cut some new correx so it’s completely fresh :)
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Hi!

It is most definitely time for them to move in with each other. Count yourself lucky that neither of them is oversexed and that they are both very much on the laid-back side. Some bondings can be like that; they are such a relief compared to the usual nail-biting!

The first few seasons together may be bit stronger than usual.
 
Thank you everyone, their first few hours in the cage seemed to go really well, but there have been 3 incidents where Acorn has lunged at Butternut followed by some teeth chattering from them both. This seems to calm down, and is followed by her following him around and eating together. I assume this is normal and just sorting out the hierarchy? It’s a little scary to watch, having seen a number of full on boar fights over the years!
 
A quick update: we have separated them with bars. The lunging from Acorn seemed to be getting more aggressive and I didn’t want to risk escalation. Such a shame as they seemed to be getting on so well at first :( will try again tomorrow when they’ve had a chance to calm down!
 
My bonds that haven't worked have been wrong from the first. I think there's still hope as you had such a great start. Maybe absence will make the heart grow fonder?
 
Free Ranger said:
My bonds that haven't worked have been wrong from the first. I think there's still hope as you had such a great start. Maybe absence will make the heart grow fonder?
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Thank you, I really hope so! I celebrated too soon I think and jinxed things :(
 
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