Consistent mounting of two newly introduced boars? Normal?

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Sodapops

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Feb 4, 2010
Messages
1,684
Reaction score
1
Points
440
Location
With My Piggies :)
Hi there,

I posted a few days ago about the introduction of two boars. My elder piggie (Homer) was obviously delighted that i'd bought him a new friend and the two seemed to hit it off instantly (no teeth chattering - but plenty of rumblestrutting and mounting by Homer)

Ive been closely monitoring the two over the last 3 days, and although i was told the mounting was a normal occurance, - 48hrs in and things seemed to have settled slightly - until today!

Today Homer has been worse than ever for his mounting and poor JJ (our newest arrival) doesn't appear to have had a moments rest. He's having to wolf down what he can whilst being mounted.

Since pairing the two together Homer hasn't been interested in anything we offer. Normally in the morning he would be waiting in his run for his morning veg and grass. Lap time see's homer consistently pulling on my top as if to tell me something.

I am having both piggies together for lap time, but this is very infrequent due to the fact that when the two are together you get JJ trying to escape and homer following him.

Each time i have sat at the cage and spoke to the newer piggie JJ, Homer rushes in and begins his ritual mounting (which lasts about an hour then settles for 5 mins or until you begin speaking to JJ again)

If you attempt to stroke JJ whilst in the pigloo, Homer will headbutt and ram the pigloo until you move away. I realise he's only being territorial - but i just wonder how long this behaviour is meant to last - the screams from tiny JJ are getting almost unbearable.

We want to get the know the new piggie JJ - but don't want to interfere in normal proceedings. We also feel so sorry for Homer as he seems very frustrated.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
 
Ah I really feel for you, it's such a worrying time.
As i'm new to introducing piggies myself I have no idea how long you are supposed to leave them to it before making the decision it might be too much for one or both the guinea pigs :(
I'd be interested to know what advice people can give. I introduced Monty and Stanley yesterday and the mounting went on for hours, but they seem to have settled down a bit now after I spent a sleepness night on the sofa listening out for any worrying noises from them. Now it just seems to be a lot of rumblestrutting from the eldest pig. Hope it works out for you x
 
Hi Piggiewinkles,

I'm glad everything went well with your introduction - this will be the 4th day Homer and JJ have been permanently together and still the mounting continues (possibly worse than ever). Lap time this morning ended up with Homer on 3 occasions mounting JJ.

What's really odd is Homer's behaviour has completely changed - he's like a different piggie. It's great he's with his own kind - and there's nothing like another piggie for comfort, but he's like a pig possessed @)

The last two days have been extremely difficult listening to the noises coming from their hutch (JJ is very vocal - in fact Homer was very vocal in telling you when he wanted something, but now seem un-interested in anything we have to offer). Ive had to resist any course of action, but it did seem to be getting rather intense.

Is it quite normal for Homer to have changed his behaviour? Is the territorial guarding of JJ normal? Exactly how long will the (every 5 mins) mounting last for?

It's horrible watching Homer be so frustrated, and at the same time it's heart rendering listing to JJ's screams everytime Homer goes near him (although it ends up in poor JJ being mounted and having his bum bitten/licked consistently).
 
I haven't had this problem previously as when I introduced my boar to another he humped once and that was it.

I would separate if JJ is withdrawn, depressed not eating. If there are war wounds.

I would leave them too it for now :)! Just keep an eye, my intro had no humping and my pigs fellout maybe if they'd humped they would have stayed friends lmao :)). It is normal behaviour so I'm told :))!

Saying this I introduced my boar too 2 females and he didn't hump them either rolleyes.
 
It's interesting you say Homer's behaviour is completely changed, because Monty is different too. Before the introduction he was like a typical adolescent....he'd squeak and get excited when he'd hear me coming down the stairs in the morning, and during floor time he'd dart about in all different directions really quickly. I even caught him clinging to the bars of his cage gripping with all fours so he wasn't touching the ground! He used to jump up on top of my other guinea pigs cage (I have no idea how he managed to get up there!) and squeak with excitement. But since the introduction all of that has stopped and it's like he's sort of grown up overnight. He's no longer jumping on Ernie's cage or hanging from the bars, and during floor time he just rumblestrutts around Stanley. In some ways I feel quite sad as I'm hoping part of his chirpy character hasn't disappeared, although i'm pleased him and Stanley do appear to be getting on. Monty is still mounting Stanley but not anything like you say Homer is. Yesterday I was so worried I was thinking should I separate them and go back to them being in separate cages because it's quite upsetting watching them carry on the way they were, but then I thought I should follow the advice given on here and stick to it.
I really hope someone can give us some answers and advice on the subject.
Just out of interest is there much of a size difference between Homer and JJ?
Jenny x
 
Hi Sodapops, i have two brothers and occassionally the more dominant one (carrot) likes to hump poor pickle, its normally just once or twice but very occassionally it can seem a tad rampant. I just provided more hidey holes (hard to be mounted when you are tucked away in a little box), then when pickle has had enough he can go and hide until carrots urges have passed. I think its supposed to be a dominance thing (we have two female rabbits and one of them humps the other):{

As long as they are not fighting/hurting or seriously nipping at each other I would keep them together - it might be the novelty wears off?

This is just a suggestion, but a friend of mine had a boar who liked to hump her daughters pink fluffy slippers - maybe if you can find a suitable 'decoy' rolleyes
 
If it the humping doesn't abate within the next couple of days, I would separate, as it is hugely stressful for JJ if it goes as far as keeping him from eating properly.

Some of the screaming IS part of the dominance ritual - it tells the top piggy that bottom piggy has got the message LOUD and CLEAR and is not contesting. However, it is now up to Homer whether he moves on to the next step of the relationship and is muting down the humping.

A few piggies are VERY territorial and jealous - Homer seems to be one of them. Perhaps it would be better if you took a step back for a couple of days in order to give JJ more breathing space to see whether it works that way.

If it doesn't, I would call the whole thing off. I am very sorry for you - you can never tell how a piggy is going to react with another!
 
Hi, thanks for all the replies

Just out of interest is there much of a size difference between Homer and JJ?
Click to expand...

We got Homer when he was around 10-12wks old and at the time we thought he was tiny, but JJ is much smaller (he's about 6-8wks old) in fact he's that tiny you can cup him in your one hand when holding him.

Ive just weighed both Homer and JJ:

Homer weighs 911G
JJ Weighs: 327G

Nice pink teddy bear
Click to expand...

Unfortunately i couldn't locate a pink teddy, but what i did find was a grey one wearing a pink t-shirt, ive put it in their hutch, but Homer is not impressed :)p

I'll continue to monitor the situation, i guess I'm just being over-protective of both piggies, i don't want to see homer so frustrated and so un-responsive to us, but i also don't want to see JJ hounded.
 
A few piggies are VERY territorial and jealous - Homer seems to be one of them. Perhaps it would be better if you took a step back for a couple of days in order to give JJ more breathing space to see whether it works that way.
Click to expand...

Homer used to spend many hours wandering our living/dining area - he also used to love lap time where he'd fall asleep on my chest, even just removing him from their hutch to weigh him, within 2mins he was tugging at my clothes.

The funny thing is that upon observing the two, JJ doesn't appear to be at all bothered (yes, he'll run away continually) but when Homer gives up for 5 mins, JJ is right there behind him. If i open the cage door for run around time, Homer is usually the first out, closely followed by JJ. Until Homer begins his mounting, i get to witness a wonderful piggy train with Homer leading and JJ following behind.

Since getting Homer, we always spoke to him - each time i passed his hutch to go into the kitchen i used to sit, talk and stroke him. In fact if i didn't go up to his hutch after speaking to him from a distance he used to grab the bars with his teeth and rattle the hutch door till i went over.

At floor time if i grabbed the keys for the back door and he heard them rattling he would squeak loudly until his fresh grass was laid in his cage next to his hay. The same thing happened when anyone went into the kitchen, if he heard a rustling of plastic he would wait patiently by the door until his 'yum, yums' was bought to him - very inquisitive.

So would you suggest we lay off supervised floor and lap time for a few days and see how things go? It's obvious Homer is being protective as like i said he's started tugging at my clothes within minutes of picking him up, and if you hold JJ he is literally bouncing off the walls, consistently searching for him.
 
Hi Sodapops

How are Homer and JJ getting on now? Has the mounting stopped?
Hope it's calmed down a bit :)

Jenny x
 
Hi Piggiewinkles :)

Actually things haven't been too bad yesterday and today - i haven't seen much mounting from Homer. It's quite funny really because i was thinking about renaming JJ to either squealer or faker lol

Every time Homer goes near JJ, JJ squeaks - sometimes when hearing constant squeaking from the hutch, ive had a peek and Homer is no where near JJ, it's a bit like having a small child in the house again - when they cry for attention - quite amusing really.

There is still plenty of rumblestrutting from Homer - this happens every time JJ walks by or when Homer brushes against JJ. I'll continue to monitor the situation, but at the moment things have thankfully calmed down.

How are Monty and Stanley doing? Have things calmed down your end?

I really appreciate you asking - am hoping your two are doing just as well :p
 
Hi Sodapops
I have 2 boars together; one is bigger than the other; I provided a small hidey so the smaller one can escape the bigger one if the mounting gets too much for him.
Good luck
 
That's great things seem to be settling down between them! Monty was only mounting Stanley for a day after the introduction and I was so worried, so to have that go on for a few days must've been awful!
Haha! Faker! That's funny!
Monty and Stanley are getting on great! At one point in the introduction I was going to separate them as Monty started getting agitated and I thought it was going to get nasty, but i'm so glad I didn't as they are best buds now! There's the occasional bit of mounting going on but nothing major. And it's so sweet because they follow each other everywhere, when I hold Stanley, Monty is running around the floor and he starts squeaking loudly as if to say 'where are you?!', then Stanley replies with an even louder squeak!
I was a bit worried about Stanley last night though as he appeared to be making a sort of nasaly snort with each breath and I was concerned he might have a chest infection as when I held his chest close to my ear it sounded quite congested. Last night I cleaned them out and replaced the hay bedding with shredded paper, and this morning his breathing didn't sound so loud. Made an appointment to see the vet this evening anyway, but when I got in from work and checked him there's no noise from his chest/nose whatsoever. So I cancelled the vets but will keep a close eye on him tonight. Hopefully it was just the hay, so i'll stick to paper bedding from now on.
Sorry to everyone who's reading this reply when it's a bit off the subject of the thread, I can't seem to send PM's at the moment otherwise I would've messaged you directly sodapops! :)
 
It's good to hear that things are settling down now.

The squealing is typical for the later phase of the bonding process. It's now JJ's turn to make clear where his boundaries are and how much stick he will take from Homer.

My little Telyn did the same with the bigger sows when she joined the tribe (her name means "the harp").
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top