Fighting boars

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Joeelliottwalker

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Hi,

I use to have two male guinea pigs but unfortunately one died recently. We didnt want the remaining one (rupert) to be on his own so we bought him two new boars (Harvey and ralph). At first all was fine no fighting at all, they slept and ate happily with each other.

However after a couple of weeks Harvey started to annoy rupert and would chase and nip at him. This ended when rupert had enough of the new annoying guinea pig so told him off and harmony was restored. I put this down to them establishing the pecking order in the group.
Ralph had always kept out of it but now he has become very aggressive, especially towards Harvey to the point they are now in seperate homes which are next to each other.

In the evenings I put them in a larger neutral run. Ralph still follows rupert around and they occasionally bicker but harvey is terrified of ralph and runs away as soon as he gets close

My questions are;
First should I have the two homes next to each other or is that causing more stress?
Secondly is this behaviour steaming from adolescence and Ralph trying to assert dominance on the other two?

Any suggestions on how I can stop this?

Thanks
 
I’m sorry to disappoint you but three boars rarely live together in harmony. The beat thing to do would be to separate them and leave Ralph with Rupert if they get along. Then either find Harvey a friend or have him neutered and introduce a sow after six weeks.

If you decide to do the latter, you would have to keep Harvey and his girlfriend either in a separate room, across the room or underneath the paired boars. Catching her scent could cause a ruckus and a breakdown in their bond.

How old are the three?
 
Unfortunately you cannot keep three boars together. Boars need to live in pairs and no more. The failure rate is 90% and most boar trios will not make it to adulthood together. To even attempt a trio you need an exceptionally large space, of at least three square metres but even then, we would still not recommend it as the chances of it working are very low.
You will need to work out which two get on best and have them live together in one cage. We recommend a cage size of at least 150cm x 60cm for two boars. However, if you can give them bigger, then do so.
Once separated, they can never have contact again. you should not have them live separately but then put them together for playtime - guinea pigs cannot interact this way, it is stressful for them to be separated and reintroduced, particularly where you are talking about three boars
Your single boar can live alongside, in a separate cage, for company so they can talk through the bars. The best long term alternative would be to find him a character compatible friend to live with.
Mutual liking and character compatibility is the key to a successful bond. Just buying a new piggy and putting them together is always risky as you have no idea if they are compatible.
 
I wouldn’t recommend neutering him. Having a sow anywhere near a functioning pair of boars can disrupt their bond and they may also fight and need to be separated.
If you were to neuter and pair him with a wife, then you would need to keep the sow/boar pair in a different room to the boar pair
 
Thank you all for your responses! Its really annoying as the pet shop told us that three is better than two! Harvey is separated at the moment in a hutch next to the other two. He seems ok, just worried he will get lonely with out a physical connection. Would switching harvey and ralph around every couple of days be ok. They both get on with rupert individual?

(Sorry for the delay, I was waiting for email notifications!)
 
Joeelliottwalker said:
Thank you all for your responses! Its really annoying as the pet shop told us that three is better than two! Harvey is separated at the moment in a hutch next to the other two. He seems ok, just worried he will get lonely with out a physical connection. Would switching harvey and ralph around every couple of days be ok. They both get on with rupert individual?

(Sorry for the delay, I was waiting for email notifications!)
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Sorry you had such poor advice. We made the 'mistake' of adopting a third pig who was on his own. We did eventually find him another boar friend. 3 can work for a short period but it seems fighting will eventually result and you can end up with 3 singles, which is not good.
 
I’m afraid you can’t do any swapping round. Leave the pair as they are and make plans to get Harvey set up with a friend as soon as possible. Preferably through a rescue.

Sorry you were given the wrong information. Unfortunately it happens quite often.
 
:agr: With @ siikibam. You cannot swap them around. Harvey needs to remain by himself at this point until you can find him a new compatible friend.

We see bad advice about boar trios all the time unfortunately and the result is always the same - fights, falls out and single piggies I’m afraid.
 
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