Brothers Ganging Up On Younger Boar

[yuraha]

Hello everyone, i have 2 boars that are 1/and a half years old, and for the past 4 months they had a little baby i rescued with them. Problem is: in the past 3 weeks they've been ganging up on the young ALL the time. They don't hurt him, but the 2 of them keep mounting him for hours, until they shun him to his preferred fleece tunnel, from where he can't get out because they keep guard on him.

I've been taking the young out everyday to give him food and hay, because the brothers are not letting him do anything, And it hurts my heart seeing the poor baby all depressed that the 2 brothers suddenly started being mean to him like so :/

Their cage is 4meters x 5meters, and it always had plenty of hideys, toys, etc... I Didn't wanted to separate them and leave the baby all alone, as he's already so sad.

 

[Crystella]

Boar trio's rarely work out and can result in messy fall-outs.
Best thing to do now would be to get the baby one in his own separate cage away from the bullying brother's (but close by for interaction) and see if there is any rescues near by that could do boar dating to find the baby a friend. You'll probably see him perk up once he's away from them as it gives him a chance to let his personality out.
Here's a good thread to have a read of
Boars: A guide to successful companionship.

 

[yuraha]

So in the end i have the divide the cage? if there was another baby, would the 4 be able to live together?

 

[Crystella]

So in the end i have the divide the cage? if there was another baby, would the 4 be able to live together?

Divide the cage so the baby has space of his own and still have interaction with the others
With boar's, pair's is best as any other amount end badly (a group of 4 could fall out and have to be separated and found friends for each male) Please read the thread I linked, it does have really good information in it.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello everyone, i have 2 boars that are 1/and a half years old, and for the past 4 months they had a little baby i rescued with them. Problem is: in the past 3 weeks they've been ganging up on the young ALL the time. They don't hurt him, but the 2 of them keep mounting him for hours, until they shun him to his preferred fleece tunnel, from where he can't get out because they keep guard on him.

I've been taking the young out everyday to give him food and hay, because the brothers are not letting him do anything, And it hurts my heart seeing the poor baby all depressed that the 2 brothers suddenly started being mean to him like so :/

Their cage is 4meters x 5meters, and it always had plenty of hideys, toys, etc... I Didn't wanted to separate them and leave the baby all alone, as he's already so sad.

Hi! Trios are the most difficult constellation of guinea pigs to get right; they end up all too often with either one boar waging war on the other two or two ganging up on the the submissive one. Yours seem to have reached the acute full-on bullying stage.

I would recommend to separate. You will find that your third boy will perk up noticeably as soon as he has his own space. Make sure that he still has got interaction with other guinea pigs, even if it is just through bars. That is important for his social stimulation. More tips and information in this guide here: Boars: Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[yuraha]

Thanks to everyone's advises, i separated the cage i got a new baby to be friend of my younger one. He'll take a bit to get used to not being bullied, but he looks more comfortable already!

Just a final question: Would be possible after some months of seeing and smelling each other through the fences i used to divide the cage, would there be hope the 2 pairs could live together?

 

[eileen]

it is very difficult to have four male guinea pigs together,you need a vast amount of space,you could potentially end up with four boars falling /fighting,Is it worth the risk if you have two stable pairs?I'm sure some else may be able to give you a more expert advise.good luck.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks to everyone's advises, i separated the cage i got a new baby to be friend of my younger one. He'll take a bit to get used to not being bullied, but he looks more comfortable already!

Just a final question: Would be possible after some months of seeing and smelling each other through the fences i used to divide the cage, would there be hope the 2 pairs could live together?

If you thought boar trios would be difficult - boar quartets have a fail rate of 100% unless you are dealing with a disabled/carer companion situation or the boars are all elderly and no long hormone driven.
Boars are best in pairs or then in large groups of over 10 with lots of space to get away from each other.

We have had at least one case on here where the lady in question has ended up with four single boys that would not go together, but more usually with a quartet, you end up with a pair and two singles. Definitely not worth trying, as big as the temptation is - and you are not the only one that would love to have all their piggies getting on. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that with boars, and even with sows group dynamics can go wrong.