Fighting Boars! Help!

[GP1GLova]

Hi let me start by saying we have never had Guinea Pigs in the past and so feel quite out of our depth... got three boars, 3 months old, last few days two of the boys are fighting, one is being aggressive towards the other literally the second he sees the other he rumbles, swaggers, and they have fought and the less aggressive one bit and hurt the ear of the aggressive one. Since then we've separated them but the less aggressive one is trying to get into the partition with the aggressive one!? In fact since splitting them up they all seem totally miserable.



1) Is there no hope of reconciliation? From what I've read it's not sounding good and gone well beyond usual hierarchy establishing behaviour. We've tried some reintroduction but they continue with this cycle and we are worried they will hurt one another again.

2) Do we need to consider another guinea pig for the lone aggressive one? Isn't that running the gauntlet of more fighting? Will he be happy enough on his own being able to see the others?

3) On the above, when we tried reconciliation, we noticed that both the aggressive and less aggressive one keep radiating towards one another and spending all their time together and were at times quite calm.

4) Since al this started they seem quite withdrawn and seem to all be spending less time together/interacting together (prior to the separation).

We are all upset as they are such amazing little creatures and we want them to be happy.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum I’m sorry to hear this.

Sadly three boars together is a recipe for disaster. Did they come from a pet shop? Did they tell you they’d be ok together and sell you a likely too small cage?

Boars can only be kept in pairs. More than two find it very hard to form a functioning hierarchy and compatibility issues come to light sooner or later. Most boar trios do not make it to adulthood together.
Added to that, the space required to attempt a boar trio is far beyond what most people expect or can/know to provide. A cage would need to be at least 300x100cm (there is no commercial cage big enough for a boar trio) but that of course won’t stop compatibility issues.

While rumbling, mounting, chasing are in themselves mild dominance behaviours because a boar trio is not likely to be successful the behaviours are going to escalate and end in a fight due to incompatibility. Now that a fight and injury have occurred, there is sadly no hope of them going back together. They will be happier apart.

They are biting the bars and seemingly trying to get back together for hostile reasons. These behaviours are territory marking and making it clear to the other that they will fight to defend themselves and space.
Please don’t attempt a reintroduction.

If you have two of them who did not fight, and are compatible, they can remain together as a pair.
Ensure their cage is big enough for a boar pair, that is 180x60cm or a 5x2 c&c cage.
Ensure you have multiple of everything in the cage and that all hides have two doors. Single exit hides should not be used for teen boars as they can be a flash point amongst a pair. If one piggy traps the other inside a hide it can cause a fight.

The single can live alongside them permanently. It is essential he can interact with them between the bars only. His cage needs to be a minimum of 120x60cm. He cannot have physical contact with them though.
He does not need a new friend.

You can of course get him a new friend if you wish to do so.
Is it running the gauntlet? Yes and no!
If you go out and just buy another piggy from
A pet shop for example, then yes it is and does risk another failed bond. This is because you can’t know if they will be a character match before bringing a new piggy home.
The best and most secure way of finding a new friend is with the help of a rescue centre. They will find a compatible friend for him and assist you with the bonding process (which is a specific neutral territory process which needs to be followed). If you decide to get him a new friend then do let us know and we can help further with that

The guides below will help you further

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

I would also add, if they are pet shop piggies then please do check they are all indeed male. Two boys will also fight with each other if a female is present and of course should one be female there is the pregnancy risk.

 

[GP1GLova]

Thank you so much for your help and prompt response. It is then as we feared. We probably won't risk another pal at the moment but we will contact a local rescue to see if we can match him a friend in due course as he looks so lonely in there on his own. We have kept them partitioned as an emergency solution but have ordered an extension so each side of the divide will have a large space. We've also put more toys and similar on both sides so hopefully they will play and not keep squaring up to one another through the divide.

 

[Piggies&buns]

They are likely to continue squaring up while they get used to the new arrangements and likely beyond as that territory marking continues. I have a separated boar pair (who are coming up to 2 years old now) who have been apart after a fight 19 months ago and they still patrol and rumble at the divider (one of the them does now live with my bereaved 6 year old boar) at times.

The pair left together will also go through a two week period of establishing their relationship as a pair.

What size are the cages you have for each (the pair and the single)?
Space is vital for a boar pair (lack of will cause them to fight also)

 

[GP1GLova]

They are likely to continue squaring up while they get used to the new arrangements and likely beyond as that territory marking continues. I have a separated boar pair (who are coming up to 2 years old now) who have been apart after a fight 19 months ago and they still patrol and rumble at the divider (one of the them does now live with my bereaved 6 year old boar) at times.

The pair left together will also go through a two week period of establishing their relationship as a pair.

What size are the cages you have for each (the pair and the single)?
Space is vital for a boar pair (lack of will cause them to fight also)

The main cage is a 5x2 Kavee C&C cage, we've ordered more c&C panels from Amazon (same size for rapid delivery) and sourced a massive piece of coroplastic board we will DIY an extension so they should each have around 8-10 foot squared each possibly bigger depending upon our DIY abilities! We would have ordered another Kavee one but the one we've got took over a week to get here and don't want to leave it that long for them. Such a minefield. We've only had them about a month and they are already a part of the family so we are all so shocked!

They seem like such amazing and docile little creatures.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry you’ve found yourself in this position with a failed boar trio.
A 5x2 is perfect for the pair; the single needs a minimum of a 3x2 c&c
(If you mean the pair will have 8-10 square feet in total (if I’ve read that right) then that isn’t big enough. The pair need 12 square feet (10 at an absolute minimum but from experience 10 is too small - anything less won’t be big enough and risks them having space issues).

They are fantastic animals. Boars are character filled little things!

I had four boars (was two pairs, then the youngest pair fell out so it was a pair and two singles) up until March when one of my 6 year olds passed away. I then had them as three singles until last week when I managed to bond one of the youngsters with the bereaved 6 year old.