Confused About Bonding Boars

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Jolene9

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Hi All!

I’ve been registered on the forum for a while, and have got lots of useful information and reassurance by reading through the threads here, but this is my first post!

We had a trio of boars that we rescued and who were happily resident with us for their retirement years. Marshall was the last man standing and sadly he went over the rainbow bridge at approx. 8 or 9 years over Christmas. He was blind and a bit deaf, and he lived indoors with me after his brothers passed away and always seemed very happy bumbling around with no issues. Because of his age and his health issues, we never tried to bond him with another piggy, we just made sure he was happy and had plenty of attention and love and he seemed more than okay with that.

After he passed away, I had no intention of getting any more pigs, but on a trip to the pet shop we found another little boy all on his own who had been abandoned there. The people who left him there didn’t leave much information on his background, but the pet shop believe he’s only around 3 years old, and he hasn’t been neutered. We decided we would be able to offer him a happy home but I told my partner I would only bring him home if we could look at getting him a friend as he’s still very young.

We’ve now had him about 6 weeks, we’ve updated his living accommodation to a 5x2 C&C cage and he’s doing really well, he was very quiet when we first got him home but he is now wheeking when he sees us and is pop Corning about in his house which is a good sign.

I’ve been in touch with a few local rescues trying to get him a friend. One had come back to me today to say that they won’t rehome boars with an un-neutered boar as they will end up fighting. I’m waiting on a call back from another rescue who offers a mixing service but they are over an hours drive away. I was wondering what peoples thoughts are on the following:

- Should we be looking to get Pop neutered to give him a better chance of bonding? From what I’ve read on the forum, I’m not sure it’s necessary and I don’t want to put him through and operation that isn’t really needed.
- Would it be too much for him to travel in the car for over an hour to go to the rescue that offers mixing (and the same journey back again with a new piggy if successful)
- Should we just look to get a baby friend that might give him what he needs?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated at this point! I’ve attached a picture of Mr Pop so you can see how lovely he is 😂

Thank you ☺️
 

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Welcome to the forum and I’m sorry for your loss

Neutering him is not going to make a single bit of difference to his ability to bond with another boar. A bond is about character compatibility; Any two pigs will fight if they don’t have compatibility with their cagemate regardless of whether they are neutered or not. Neutering piggies does not calm them down like it does in other species.
Some rescues have taken the approach that they won’t bond unneutered boars but it is just their decision - absolutely none of it is based in fact surrounding the ability to bond unneutered boars.
Sadly rescues telling people that unneutered boars will definitely fight so they won’t attempt to bond them is perpetuating the misconceptions about boars. It’s a real shame.

No it isn’t too far for him to travel for that distance/time.

As a bond does come down to compatibility, it is impossible to know what will work unless and until you try two pigs together.
This is why going dating at a rescue is the safest option - the two life can meet and see is they like each other before you commit, so you won’t be left dealing with a failed bond and will have the option of trying another single boy with him if one is available.
A baby can be well accepted because the baby won’t challenge the hierarchy, but it is not a guarantee (we have seen adult/baby bond failures due to incompatibility and when baby becomes a teen and tries his luck). If you were to go down the route of getting him a baby friend, then that is absolutely fine to do but as with any on spec bonding, a back up living plan of side by side is always needed to be in mind.

I hope that helps
 
Hi 👋

This is a great help, thank you! It is such a shame that we’re having some problems finding him a buddy via the rescue route as that would be our preference, it always has been but we’ve never rescued a single boy before.

If he is okay to travel for over an hour, I think our best bet is to wait to hear back from Wood Green and get him over to a guinea pig mixer as soon as can 🥰

Thank you for you reassurance/advice! I feel better knowing that it’s not necessary to put him through the neuter operation at this stage!

Thanks,
Jo
 
Wood green are good, they will definitely help if they have available single boys.

Rest assured about travel - we have members on the forum who travel up to 6 hours from all ends of the country to get to the best guinea pig vet in Northampton!
I’ve added our travel guide below.


There are many unneutered bonded pairs on here.

I only keep boars, unneutered ones as that.
I had a bonded pair. I also had a pair of youngsters but sadly their bond failed when the teens hit and they had to be separated.
One of the older bonded pair died almost a year ago at 6 years old. The one left behind lived beside my separated piggies (so I had three separate cages each with single pigs in). Once the grieving period had passed, I bonded the older bereaved boar with one of the youngsters and they hit it off immediately. They spent the next six months together until the older one passed away a few weeks ago at almost 7 years old.

Neutering makes absolutely no difference, it just opens the possibility of having a female friend if no boars are available.


Wiebke

Thread 'Travelling with guinea pigs'

1 Preparations
- Recommended carriers
- Travel training and feeding before the journey
2 The journey
- Securing carriers in a car
- Reassurance and travel provision
3 Tips for special travelling conditions
- Travelling in hot weather
- Travelling in cold weather
- Travelling in the dark
4 After...
  • Like
 
Ahh I’m so sorry to hear you have also had a recent bereavement, hope you are okay and your remaining pigs are all settling down.

I’m really hoping Wood Green will be able to buddy him up ❤️ it’s good to know that they are recommended!

I’ll read through the travel advice so we’re right ready to take him when the call comes!
 
Hi ☺️

Just wanted to let you know that we’ve been in touch with Wood Green and they’ve approved our set up now that we’ve made the necessary adjustments, and they have put Pop on the waiting list for a pal, we’re hoping it won’t take too long 🤞🏻 we’re really happy they’re going to help us!
 
Fab news! Fingers crossed a new friend is found soon and the bonding goes well - keep us posted
 
Hi! I have some good news, Wood Green have been in touch with a potential match for Pop, he’s off for his play date on Monday… keeping everything crossed for him that the match is good one and he will finally have a buddy 🤞🏻🤞🏻

I have an old cat carrier that I’ll put towels in with plenty of hay for the journey, will that be sufficient for him for travelling?

Thanks for all your help!
 
Hope all goes well with the bonding. Personally I would pop some cucumber in with him to ensure hydration.
 
Jolene9 said:
Hi! I have some good news, Wood Green have been in touch with a potential match for Pop, he’s off for his play date on Monday… keeping everything crossed for him that the match is good one and he will finally have a buddy 🤞🏻🤞🏻

I have an old cat carrier that I’ll put towels in with plenty of hay for the journey, will that be sufficient for him for travelling?

Thanks for all your help!
Click to expand...

That’s great news!

Yes a towel, hay and cucumber will be fine.

Is it a residential bonding ie your boy is going to stay at wood green for a week or so and then you bring him and his new friend home together?
If so then they can come home in the same carrier.

If it is just there you are going for the day to find a match ie speed dating; then they will need to come home in separate carriers. Speed dating does not allow enough time for bonding to complete so you won’t want even in a confined space of a carrier together. You then have to continue bonding on neutral territory when you get them home
 
Poor Pop has failed his first match up this morning 😢 feeling so sad for him, but they do have another young boy they’re going to try and match him with tomorrow… they did say that they didn’t think it was pop’s fault that it was a fail this morning so I’m hoping that tomorrow will be a bit more successful 🤞🏻🤞🏻 keeping everything crossed for more luck tomorrow!
 
Pop has failed his second match today 😢 seems he hasn’t had luck on side poor boy! We’re now on our way to pick him up and bring him home… really not sure what to do now, speaking to the lady who was doing the matches, she is also suggesting we might want to look at neutering Pop so he could maybe try matching with ladies, I just don’t know what to do for the best for Pop now 😢
 
Thank you for all your advice - I’ll give the vets a ring and see if we can get him booked in, it does seem as if neutering him would give him more options 🤞🏻🤞🏻 is there a chance he would still struggle to find a match even if we did the op?
 
Jolene9 said:
Thank you for all your advice - I’ll give the vets a ring and see if we can get him booked in, it does seem as if neutering him would give him more options 🤞🏻🤞🏻 is there a chance he would still struggle to find a match even if we did the op?
Click to expand...

Often you find that when boar will not accept another boar, they then find their lifelong companion in a younger sow.
You are opening his chances by neutering. A bond with a sow still comes down to compatibility but it is the sow who has to accept the boar.


Let’s say he was the rare ones who did not want to share territory with any other pig at all, then your alternative is to get another pig (or even a bonded pair) and have them live as neighbours with Pop. That way he gets side by side interaction and communication without the pressure of sharing territory. But, to be clear, after only two failed bondings I would be a very long way off calling it this situation (8 or 9 failed bondings maybe, but not after only two).
 
Jolene9 said:
Thank you for all your advice - I’ll give the vets a ring and see if we can get him booked in, it does seem as if neutering him would give him more options 🤞🏻🤞🏻 is there a chance he would still struggle to find a match even if we did the op?
Click to expand...

Hi

It depends on the sow - bonds with sub-adult sows nearly always work; acceptance from older sows past their ideal pup-bearing age 3 years plus) are increasingly prone to fail. However, it still all depends on a personality match and there is no firm rule or full guarantee. Baby sows are usually no problem at all.

However, I have had a number of older sows who were ever so head over heels with a younger 'toy boy' and sows who would not accept any piggy they had not lived with before they turned 6 months old. They would as creaky old ladies coming up to 7 years rather make peace with the litter sister they had fallen out with years ago than accept a new piggy - or even a neighbour they had known for years through the bars...


Several of my neutered 'husboars' were actually 'unbondable' boars who found a very happy second half to their lives with my Tribe and with sow company. :)

All the best. Here is our comprehensive neutering guide, which you will hopefully find helpful:
Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths, Facts and Post-op Care
 
Thank you, that’s reassuring! I really want to make sure I’m doing the right thing for him and for him to be happy so we’ll keep trying for sure ☺️❤️
 
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