How do I know my two boars are bonded?

[Guinea Pigzzzzz]

They are 5 months old, both always growing at the same rate, I can feel them getting bigger when I hold them, so I guess they are from the same litter or born at the same time.
Just recently this month Jojo started getting a bit territorial and chasing Momo away when he would want to be left alone in his hidey or while eating (blamed that on hormones).
I upgraded the cage from 2x9 grids to, 3x4 on one side and 2x6 on the other, so pretty huge for 2 pigs.
Well the last few days I noticed that they are getting a bit better with each other again, right now they are relaxing in the big hidey face to face and enjoying each others company again.
The chasing still occurs but it is a lot less than when it started, so that is a good sign.

But my question is, how will I know when they are fully bonded? What can I do to help them along?
I really care about my guinea pigs as they are my first small pets (former dog owner), and I want them to be extremely happy together.

 

[Glynis]

Hi and welcome to you, JoJo and Momo to the forum
The boys will be so happy having a lovely big cage! Boys definitely need more room, otherwise they can get rather testy with each other in their teenage years, which what your boars are going thru now! rolleyes
you'll find they go thru different stages.....as they get older they're usually very happy to share snuggles more often.
Enjoy looking around the forum, you'll find some really helpful threads up the top of each section.
I adore your avatar x) which piggie is this? whee all love pigtures on here so if you can post some in our photo/stories section everyone can droolx)

Glynis, Velvet and Onyx x

 

[Guinea Pigzzzzz]

Hi and welcome to you, JoJo and Momo to the forum
The boys will be so happy having a lovely big cage! Boys definitely need more room, otherwise they can get rather testy with each other in their teenage years, which what your boars are going thru now! rolleyes
you'll find they go thru different stages.....as they get older they're usually very happy to share snuggles more often.
Enjoy looking around the forum, you'll find some really helpful threads up the top of each section.
I adore your avatar x) which piggie is this? whee all love pigtures on here so if you can post some in our photo/stories section everyone can droolx)

Glynis, Velvet and Onyx x

Thank you, that piggy in the avatar is Momo
And yeah, I actually found a thread relating to my question after I posted up lol, looks like I am doing everything right so far.
I am trying to get them passed their hormonal stage as stress free as possible so they stay good friends, even my parents think I am crazy caring for them so much lol, my parents just think they are "rodents".
But, they do see how smart they are, Jojo will actually come sometimes when I call his name.
And when I'm on the couch, and I put Jojo way on the other side, all I have to do is tap my chest and call his name and he comes running up to my chest. Its sooooooooo cuteeeee lol.
I am going to put up a video on youtube soon of him doing so, I will share with everyone here.
And I will put up some pigtures for sure

 

[mikulinek]

Your boys are entering there hormonal stage of their lives so it will be a while before you know for sure. Their adolescence can change everything and previously happy boars can end up not tolerating each other.

Have a look at this post and the link posted in it by Wiebke for more detailed information

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=1311331#post1311331

Hope it helps. If anything, I've been through it all with boars so feel free to PM me if you're worried about something

 

[Wiebke]

Your two boars are definitely bonded, but they are now in the stroppy, hormonal phase until they are fully grown mature adults at 12-15 months old.

You will find lots of tips and further links (including detailed behaviour in mounting grades of aggression) to help you and your boys through the most difficult time in our boar guide: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=76162

 

[njschmitz]

Aww, you can never care enough, you should see me when I leave for holidays, the list and grief I give everyone that look after them rolleyes

And don't worry, my boars go through phases, it's always the bigger one, Henry, "bullying" the little one, Ian, but if you separate them then Henry gets very upset, starts whistling and as soon as you put Ian back in the cage henry is very caring and snuggling up to him. They are more or less the same age (Henry is 2 weeks older) but Henry eats a lot more and would bully Ian off his food at times but sharing a cage there is not much I can do. I make sure Henry gets a lot of exercise and give Ian some extra treats in the meantime so it equals out eventually.

I have had them for a year and a half now and I think as much as they hate each other at time, they cannot live without each other either.

 

[Guinea Pigzzzzz]

I just noticed new behavior in Jojo.

Well I went to go pick up Momo just a little while ago and when I picked him up I noticed Jojo standing right by the cage where I was standing.
He was just looking up at me holding Momo and all of a sudden he started popcorning, ran through a tunnel and came back watching me and popcorning again.
When I put Momo back in, Jojo ran up to him and started sniffing his bottom.
Is this a good sign?

 

[prodic58]

Enjoy looking around the forum, you'll find some really helpful threads up the top of each section.
I adore your avatar which piggie is this? whee all love pigtures on here so if you can post some in our photo/stories section everyone can