Help with new boar needed please!

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EmmieMart

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Hello,
I recently acquired a new boar 'Cali' from friends. They couldn't keep him and wanted to return him to P@H. I have another two males.
I followed all the guidance available and kept him in quarantine (a good job as well as he had a URI).
He recovered and seemed to be settling in so I decided to introduce them all. I did this by putting them in a neutral area and after about an hour of rumbling and teeth chattering in the dominance game they seemed to settle down. I then took the next step and decided to move them all in together, I thoroughly cleaned the cage, added an extension (its a large C&C) and moved some items around. All seemed to be going well and my alpha Marty and Cali are getting on really well.
The problem is with my other pig Emmie. I would say the majority of the time they live in relative peace but ..... when Cali and Emmie fight they really go for it!. I learnt during the whole introduction that your not supposed to split them up straight away but I have had to separate them now as Cali cut Emmies nose.

As I said most of the time the get on fine but the last fight was so bad (they were literally leaping at each other in a spinning ball of fluff) I have had to separate Cali off in a section of the cage.

I really need some help or tips so I can introduce some piggy harmony into the cage. I dont want to have Cali sectioned off forever as he really gets on with Marty. Hes not agressive to humans and is very sweet but at the same time I need to make sure Emmie is safe.

Please Help!
 
i am very sorry, i tried to keep3 together, it did nt work for me, and as thefighting is serious now between yours it is unlikely to for you, keep the two together that get on, you may be able to get a friend for the one on his own, but go to a rescue, who will help find him a friend that is suitable, then you will have two pairs,failing that, if the lone boy can see and smell the others, but not meet them, he will know they are there, and this is better than him being totally on his own x
 
Unfortunatly the odds of a trio of boys working are very very low. It can sometimes work, if the personalities are matched and they are given TONS of space, 3 of everything, etc. However once blood has been draw its unlikely they will every be able to go back together. In the uk some rescues provide boar dating, where you can find the lone boar a new friend that you can be sure he will get along with.
 
Thank you for your help,
I had a bad feeling this would be the case its seems a shame as they seem to get on the majority of the time. He's sectioned off in a C&C cage with grids so he can see and squeak to the others and I think Ill still mix them for playtime as they don't seem to fight then?
Hopefully that'll mean he wont be lonely. I really don't want to risk getting another pig in case he doesn't get on with them, the reason we have him is because he didn't integrate at our friends. I guess he likes humans more than guinea pigs!
 
Boar dating provides the oppertunity for your lone piggy to meet other male piggies, to decide which one he actually likes, the one he likes he can then go home with. This means you dont have the worry of buying a new friend and then them not getting along. Piggies are much like humans, they choose their friends. I dont think i would like to live with someone without any choice in who it was, they are much the same. :)

Play time may not be a good idea, while they seem to get along, every time they meet they will have to reestablish dominance. This is very stressfull for them.
 
Hello,

I had a similar problem as I have 3 boars and when I introduced another one (to make a total of 3 GPs) they were a bit fighty fighty.

What I found helped significantly (which was a very useful tip I got out of one of my guinea pig books) was I put them all in the bath together. (This sort of scares them into all being friends.) I gently washed them all (obviously making sure to avoid their ears and eyes) and then put them on the sofa on a nice dry towel. This then encouraged them to re-introduce themselves but on friendlier terms.

I only bathed them after they had had several introductions over a period of a few days.....basically doing the same thing as what youre doing (and yes mine did also fight like yours have) but I remained optimistic and this really did pay off.

Once they all established which echelon of the dominance ladder they were on, they have been fine. I have since seen some really cute brotherly love. They now all cuddle up next to each other (always making sure the youngest one is in the middle :-)

Dont get me wrong they still have some small squabbles every now and again, but its usually when one of them is being a bit bossy and wants the whole carrot to themselves. Lols.

Good luck xx
 
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