Concerned About Trio Of Boars Behaviour

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xkellyx

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Basically as the title says- I have a trio of brothers who have got on fine until now (they're approx 6 months old) over the last couple of days I've noticed a lot of running about, jumping and high pitched squeaking coming from their room so I left my phone in there to video them- the video shows tiger near mickeys hind quite a lot- it's tiger that's making the high pitch squeaking. He also does A LOT of rumbling even if he's not near the other two- also on the video you can see tiger moving his bum side to side which I thought may have been something to do with his hormones/mating but his other behaviour seems to be dominance. Then tonight when I gave them fresh hay I noticed the third one, Jett really buried himself in the hay as if he was hiding, then he shot out the hay and tiger chased him like mad round and round the cage while tiger was making this loud squeaking noise. Do you think I should separate them now before it's too late or see how it goes? I'm just worried that they'll fight while I'm at work and then there is nothing I can do :(

What are your opinions?
Thank you
 
It sounds like the hormones have hit. So far, it is just dominance behaviour. Please keep a beady eye on them and separate immediately if bloody fights with bites happen. Trios of baby boys have about a 10% chance of making it to hormonally adulthood without a separation. I hope that your boys can make it, but please have plan B at the ready!
Here are more tips: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boars-a-guide-to-successful-companionship.76162/
 
Thank you- I've been speaking to another member on here via Facebook and she also thought it was dominance. Is it normal to be pretty much all day! I've just got home from work and I can hear loud squeaking in my kitchen! The boys are the complete other end of the house and upstairs! I'm so worried that something is going to happen while I'm at work though :(

If for example I did have to separate them (excuse the obvious) but would it be tiger that I take away? Jett is very shy and runs away, mickey is more open and comes to me happily (not for pick ups yet though) and when I'm walking upstairs I can hear him squeaking but happy squeaks and he popcorns like crazy when I'm pulling the hay apart! And tiger occasionally comes to me but over the last few days he's been doing the chasing and loud squeaking with nearly constant rumbles and a bit of bum jiggling.

Do you think it would be best to separate him now before anything bad does happen that I can't get to in time? If I have to separate him should he go in a completely different cage or is a separation bar enough- they're in a c&c cage so I could put some grids in to separate him from the others physically but so he can still see and talk to them or would this make things worse? Again IF I separate him should I try him with a new baby boar so he has a companion or would that make it worse with the other two?
 
I f you need to separate them then you need to try and spot who fits best with who. Often the best bet is to takeout the 'middle' pig leaving the top, most dominant one and the bottom most submissive one together as that pairing has the best chance of working. Unless there is a pair who are already obviously close and one outsider.

It can also happen that all three don't get on.

If you do end up with a pair and a single then by all means just separate using grids at the moment to let them see and smell each other but not inflict and damage. Re-bonding the single one with a new friend shouldn't upset the other two but I would only do this with the help of an experienced person or rescue if at all possible to avoid the potential for another incompatible pairing. Take it slowly and make sure you know exactly what everyone's personality is like so you know what sort of friend you might be looking for.

Paws crossed. Keep a dustpan or thick glove handy in case you have to separate any fights, reducing he chance of you getting bitten. I assume you have already made sure there is as much space as you can physically give them and three bowls, bottles, hideys etc so they don't have to argue over these things....
 
They have a 5x3 c&c cage which is the biggest I can make it whilst being able to get in the room lol.

They have 3 food bowls, water bottles massive pile of hay, 2 cozies, a pigloo and a sofa cozy, 2 tunnels. They don't tend to fight over anything like that- they can just be stood in the middle and tiger starts chasing Jett. Mickey has been in a cozy and tiger has gone in the same cozy- even though the others are empty and then they started disagreeing.
I would say out of the 3 Jett is least dominant, tiger is highest and mickey is middle but tiger does pick on Jett and Mickey the same

Thank you
 
So, I've been monitoring the boys and tiger seems to be getting worse- I've sat with them for hours tonight and cleaned them out and I've noticed
1) the loud squealing is coming from Jett everytime tiger goes anywhere near him yet when mickey goes near Jett he's perfectly fine.
2) tiger seems to be chasing Jett around a lot more tonight and they nearly ended up in a fight but I moved to stop them and they all separated.
3) tiger seems to sit and rumble even if he's not near the others
4) tiger rumbles like mad when he's near mickey

I've contacted a breeder or guinea pigs and she says to separate tiger now. I have them in a c&c cage so could temporarily put some grids in to separate them but would need to rebuild the correx/buy more if this was going to be permanent. Would tiger be okay on his own? He would literally only have some grids separating him from the other two. I feel bad that the others will have each other and tiger will be on his own- I know he will be able to talk/smell/see the others but I don't want him to be lonely!

What would you do? I really don't know what's best :( if I was to separate him from the other two- their cage would obviously be smaller :(
 
A 5 by 3 is too small to divide so you will need to increase it. If you decide to separate Tiger he will need his own friend to prevent him from being lonely. Hopefully somebody will come along and advise on separating but trios of boars rarely work.
 
Thank you. It's going to be so difficult to increase the cage as they take up the whole spare room as it is. I'll only be able to get it to a 3x6 which is then only going to be 3x3 for each pair of boars. I think due to money, space and time of finding a suitable friend for tiger it may be best in the long run for him and myself if I was to find him a suitable home to rehome him :((
 
I've also noticed that Jett who is the weakest of the hierarchy and always has been is the one that does the loud squealing as he's obviously scared/intimidated. Tiger does a lot of rumbling and dominance and mickey doesn't really seem to care too much. Would it be best to separate Jett or tiger?
 
Am bumping this thread for Kelly. Am tagging a couple of members who may be able to help ok hun.
@Wiebke or @MerryPip or anyone else willing to help, please Help Kelly, she is struggling at the moment and needs advice. Thanks :)
 
I'm sat with the piggies now watching them closely and I can see the noises are all coming from Jett, when mickey or tiger go near Jett he does this really loud squealing. I feel so sorry for him! Tiger is out and about eating veggies normally and then all of a sudden slows right down, rumbles and bum wiggles. He just walks around rumbling not necessarily at one of the others. Any help would be appreciated as I just don't know what to do anymore and the lady I got them off just said to separate tiger and leave him on his own so I feel a bit rubbish about this situation. Jett doesn't seem to want to come out his cozie either. Any one help? Please! Lol
 
Hi! The loud squealing is submission squealing. It means "don't be nasty to me, I'm not a rival!" and it is usually quite effective; you get it mostly during the dominance phase when piggies are establishing a hierarchy in a new territory, especially towards the end of it when the underpiggy gets a bit more of a say in how much it allows itself to be pushed. Rumblestrutting is normal mild dominance behaviour, boars do it pretty much all the time, even my neutered boars. There are times when I wonder whether some boars have any other vocabulary - everything seems to come out as rumble... :mal:

You may find this thread here helpful to judge the behaviours. Anything up and including medium dominance behaviours you have to tolerate, unless the mounting is truly relentless and keeping the pursued piggy from eating and sleeping.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boars-a-guide-to-successful-companionship.76162/
 
Thank you for your reply. I'm sat in with them still and Jett was just laid in a cozie minding his own business and then tiger just went in and started fighting. Jett squealed and tried to run away- tiger just ran after chasing him! I've got the dustpan at the ready incase I need to stop anything as I'd rather they bit a dustpan than my hand! Jett is sat shaking and won't come out. He hides so much from tiger and has started squealing at mickey even if he's no-where near- it's as if he's been traumatised by tiger! This is horrible :'(
 
I have just read over both of those links- thank you for those! It all seems to be normal dominance such as bum wriggling, rumbling, scent marking. I'm just so concerned that Jett is going to get hurt as he seems to be such a weak piggie anyway. It sounds silly but when I was watching them a few minutes ago I sat and cried because Jett just looks so unhappy and I feel like I should leave them to sort things out but I can't just leave him. He looks so fed up! Someone just said to take Jett out and let him live alone for a bit with lots of cuddles from me etc but if it's not Jett that needs to be separated and it's tiger- Jett can't just be put back with Mickey can he?
I don't know what to do :( I feel like giving up and finding them all a home where their owners know what to do because I feel like such a pants owner :'(
 
:( Its totally understandable how you feel, but your a great mum and love them so much. It often sounds so much worse than it is and because piggies squeek and squeel so loud it can sound awful :(. I would get Jett out for cuddles,, but keep him in with the boys for now. If any of the warning signs start to happen I would take Tiger out. But for now i would leave them if you can. You can give Jett lots of TLC and cuddles and extra veggies. Hopefully Tiger will grow out of it soon. But only you can do what you feel is best.
 
Because Jett is so shy he's the worst to be picked up and you know what I'm like jenny! I tried to give him veggies earlier and he just wouldn't take them (which is a step back) so I left them in the cozie with him. He's been hiding under a pile of hay too so I've put some hay at his entrance to the cozie so he may feel a bit more secure.
 
As soon as I put the nuggets down he went straight to them and he's eaten some veggies. Hopefully with a pile of hay at his door he'll eat some of that too. I'm thinking about taking Jett out of the cage and putting him in a separate cage so that he can have a bit of peace and I can monitor him eating etc. will he be okay in the same room still or will it torment him incase he wants to be with the others? Should I let him settle down on his own and get some confidence back and then maybe find him a baby friend? Or will 4 piggies in the same room but separate be more trouble?
 
If you feel you want to separate the three you could do a double level cage and get the seperated one a friend. Good luck with them.It's horrible when they fight.I tried to put my duo in with my quartet and there was a full on fight within 5 minutes.Just gave up and keep duo separate
 
So 4 boars in the same room will be okay and they won't fight between their pairs due to other boars in the room?
 
No, all boars in one room is perfectly safe! It is one of the reason why you will find that many of us have either boys or girls/girls and neutered "husboars".

It is just sows that need to be out of sight and preferably out of reach of their pheromones when they are in season!
 
I've it a tempory cage so I can separate one tonight but would you take Jett who's being picked on or tiger who's being dominant?

If say I took Jett out how long should I leave him before I find him a new friend?

And the same for tiger?
 
Reading back through what's happening it looks like it may be best to leave Tiger and Mickey together and find Jett a new friend who suits him better. But this isn't an exact science so you would need to monitor the remaining two closely.

If you choose to separate them then please don't leave it too long before finding a friend for Jett. Although he will be able to see and hear other piggies, it's not the same as having your own cage mate. Please don't just go out and find any old piggy either. Piggies, like us they have likes and dislikes and it can take a few tries to find the right partner. You wouldn't get married and move in with someone after a half hour date so we shouldn't expect our piggies to do the same. Please use our rescue locator which will give you the support to get Jett a mate he really likes and is comfortable with. They will also be able to help you with the bonding process and support afterwards.

Please add your location to your personal profile, that way we can give you better advice based on your location e.g. US, UK or other countries as we have members primarily from the UK but also around the world!
 
I've been given a cage and it's tiny :( I would probably keep a couple baby guineas in it. So I'm going to set it up and have it as the just in case although if I'm honest I think I'll be separating them and it's too heartbreaking watching Jett sit alone all the time! My only problem now is I don't have the room for any more c&c cages unless I can work out a double c&c on top of the other. The closest rescue on the rescue locator is 2 hours away from me :( thank you!
 
It's awful to see them alone but it's much more stressful to have vet trips, abcesses and injuries. It's heart breaking I agree, I've been there before myself and had to give one of my beloved boys to a friend as we couldn't keep another separate cage. I know now I absolutely made the right decision as Arran is so happy I his new home, neutered with a beautiful girlypig to love him. It hurt a lot at the start but it was absolutely the best for everyone.
 
I keep monitoring them and I'm so 50/50 as to whether to split them- tiger has started mouting mickey so tiger is obviously the dominant one as he's showing dominance towards both. Jett squeals whenever either mickey or tiger go near him. It's just tiger that chases him round the cage. There is no blood but there is the occasional squabble and fight (not too vicious though) it's hard to see as this tends to happen when they're in the pigloo.
I just don't know if I should continue monitoring them and hope things settle down once the dominance is sorted or whether to separate now and find Jett a new home/friend- depending on money. I just don't think I can afford to equip 2 cages. I can extend the c&c cage but then they'll only have 3x3 cages each as that is literally all the spare bedroom taken up. If I was to rehome him I would want him to go to a good home who know what they're doing. The squealing whenever mickey and tiger go near him says to me he would be better on his own but I don't want to make the wrong decision for Jett. And if tiger is mounting mickey- would tiger be better taken out?
 
I have just received this message off a rescue :

I would definatly split now as thongs will only escalate . Its unusual to manage to keep more than two boars together .
Personaly I think I would remove the dominant one . He may be better being neutered and pairing with a female .

Would you agree with what they've said?
 
I would agree. The two more submissive boys have a much better chance of making it together as a pair.

Whether you want to go down the neutering route (which requires an experienced vet with a good track record in piggy neutering to minimise the risk of post op complication and includes a 6 weeks post op wait before he is 100% to go with a saw) or try to find a rescue that is prepared to bond your boy with another boar is your choice.
 
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