Humping Pigs = Blood Drawn

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Kerrie

Hi,

I have three boars, only the two older boars live together due to one of the older boys being ill often, will be trying to bond the younger one with another boar or neutered sow.

Anyway, for around three nights Big E has been relentless and hasn't left Sheamus alone, I don't know why he keeps doing it because the pet rescue said they were bonded, but Big E does it quite regular, I know it's them sorting out who's boss but the problem is Sheamus isn't going to let Big E be the boss by the looks of it and shouldn't them sorting out who's boss be sorted if they have been together since they were born? That's if what I've been told by the guinea pig rescue is true, but I've had them for 5 months and they've been doing it on and off the whole time!

I went to get them all some veg and to sort out my dog's food, I must have been about 10 minutes, when I got back to the boys cage I noticed blood on some fleece and then I looked at Sheamus and he had it on his face and a bit on his die, I checked him, then I checked Big E, Big E has been bitten on his stomach, it's stopped bleeding and doesn't look bad, plus he's already on antibiotics so I really don't think he needs to go to the vets with it? Unless you guys think otherwise? I'm not very experienced with boars biting. I've taken Big E out of the cage and put him in their pet carrier, don't worry it's one that you can fit cats in, it's a biggish one.

What I wanted to ask is, was removing him the right thing and what should I do next? I'll be cleaning Big E when my son's up because he's not exactly fond of being picked up and not a very good patient. He's up here with me so I can keep an eye on him.

I also have the parts for a 5x2 C&C coming on Tuesday, don't know if that will help?

Thanks in advance.
 
As a general rule of thumb most people say once you're pigs have fought and drew blood then it's kind of over and the pair is very unlikely to work.

However it sounds maybe more as if your pig might have just got caught rather than attacked if theres only one small wound and you didn't hear any big commotion.

Male pigs really do just hump all the time, my two boys have been together for over 3 years since birth and literally as i type this there is humping commencing, it's a daily occurrence, it's not all that glamorous but there can be odd occasions when my submissive pig gets a little tired of the dominant one and they have a little bicker and the submissive pig will bare teeth and things and throw himself around, but then a few hours later they'll be back together happy as larry again.

It really depends on how well you think they got on in general, do they always seem angry with each other or is it only every now and then?

How old are your pigs?

What size cage are they in at the moment? And do you have multiples of food bowls? Some pairs find having two lots of everything means each pig gets their own and can lessen any arguments.
 
They normally do get on, they share with no problems at all, it's just when Big E over does it on the humping, Sheamus will get a bit angry and snap at him, he's only really pulled his fur before, this is the very first time he has bitten him and I think it's when Big E has been humping Sheamus's head, because of the location of the bite. Sheamus will hump him as well and all Big E does is cry? I've never seen him snap at Sheamus at all! How can you tell which is the dominant one? There was a bit of noise but nothing to say that Sheamus was going to bite him. I think it could have been a bite to warn him?

I will agree with you, I do think that Sheamus has just simply gotten fed up and snapped, it has been three nights of humping, plus Sheamus isn't 100% health wise.

Well when we adopted them the woman said they were "about" 18 months old, we've had them since the end of Feb this year.

The cage is the R6 cage which cost £130 on offer, I think they're usually £200.

This is the cage they have at the mo.

http://www.littlepetwarehouse.co.uk...-16518.html?osCsid=s5omqav2uujvdikh6pp68kqkr7

Should I still get two of everything? Like I said they are usually ok!

Thanks for trying to help :)

PS

What should I do about putting them back together? I was thinking about sorting the floor out and putting them both on the floor for a bit? Problem is, we moved the base of their cage to my bedroom because it's far too hot for them in the living room (upside down maisonette, bedrooms down, living room up).
 
It does sound just like my boys, likely if you can hear rumbling and then a light squeal almost, but not quite so terrorised just almost a whining guinea pig sound? Then thats the submissive pig (basically whoever is getting humped) saying okay okay i'm sorry you are the dominant pig sort of thing. When the submissive pig rumbles back or teeth chatters, then he's saying right i've had enough get off me you big banana!

Every pair or group of pigs will have a dominant and submissive, it's just how nature works, your dominant sounds a bit confusing at the moment but sometimes things do change, and if one pig isn't in 100% health then they can be seen as weaker so another animal will use it as an opportunity to try and get one up and be dominant if that makes sense?

Sometimes with piggy teeth being so big and they can just get in the way and cause little nicks that they didn't mean to. Especially if he was humping his face like you suggested, i can't imagine Sheamus being too pleased, so he probably just tried to flick him off and caught him in the midst of it all.

If they get on fine getting two of everything isn't particularly necessary, but it's an idea you could always try especially if you do have spare bowls and stuff just to see if it does make a difference. Your cage sounds perfectly big enough for two pigs as well so that shouldn't be causing a problem.

I would recommend some floor time to put both your pigs together and something like a big plate of grass or a big bowl of some nice hay just some treats that will take their minds of each other and just focus on the food rather than bickering. If they seem pretty chill then you can always put them back together in the cage and see how they get on, i always find trying when my pigs get a bit moody, i just use hideys where they're too low for the pigs to hump inside so and try to use things where theres more than one exit just incase a big gets blocked in and wants to get out. So maybe a few cardboard boxes and things could be an idea.

Hopefully they'll kiss and make up!

Good luck.
 
Yeah but Big E was doing the noise as well as Sheamus, I'll try and explain lol, Big E is a little bit of a mardy piggy, he makes a noise which reminds me of a dog whining, he does this often and if Sheamus turns the tables and humps him he does the same noise but louder, so what I've been hearing for the past three nights is Sheamus doing his normal noise like he's saying to Big E look come on now I've had enough, but no teeth chattering (he did teeth chatter when he was previously ill and we did separate them for a bit which worked) and Big E has been making his whining noise.. so I'm really confused as to who is the dominate one lol.

Yes it does make sense because thinking about it, Big E seems to bother Sheamus more when his health isn't 100%, Sheamus has been ill a few times now since we got him, he's got his third cold and has had a couple of ear infections, 2 or 3 vets have said it's maybe a lesion causing him to get ill so often and one other has said maybe it's a parasite. So they're are both on meds and worming stuff, Big E is very healthy though. Plus he's slightly smaller than Big E even though he eats more.

I'll try them on the floor when we've given it a good hoover, dog's malting a lot at the mo.

Thanks again for the advice :D
 
Haha, hopefully it all sorts itself out pigs can be confusing and it can be frustrating when you can't just speak to them and ask them what the problem is!
Hope Sheamus is better soon.

Good luck, keep us posted!
 
Well I've got them on the floor and Big E is STILL trying to bother Sheamus... do I need separate them for a bit longer or just leave them on the floor for a while? I'm just concerned that Sheamus is going to get annoyed.
 
Kerrie said:
Well I've got them on the floor and Big E is STILL trying to bother Sheamus... do I need separate them for a bit longer or just leave them on the floor for a while? I'm just concerned that Sheamus is going to get annoyed.
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I'd leave them for a little bit longer, have you got any nice snacks, or some fruit you can try and distract them with, something you can maybe hand feed?
 
How old are your two boys?

You can separate them for a day or two without problems to help the hormonal/dominant boar calm down. After theat, you need to do full formal intro with a buddy bath.

If they are adults, you can also keep them next door to each other with interaction through bars somewhat longer. If they haven't fallen out completely, they will get together at least for shared run time again and hopefully to live together again eventually. But give them space and time to calm down first before you force them together after an upsetting episode.
 
That's the problem, we don't know their exact age :( we were told they were around 18 months when we got them at the end of feb, so about 23 months? It LOOKS like Big E has been castrated unless Sheamus has some weird problem lol, Sheamus back end looks big and Big E's is small?

It's ok, they are still out, they've got water and food and places to sleep/hide, Sheamus is in the carrier making a bed lol and Big E is playing in the tunnel. They seem sort of ok now they've had a sleep, he's not trying to hump Sheamus as much.
 
Piggies reach hormonally settled adulthood at around 15 months of age, so yours are definitely adults. Boars can still very occasionally be plagued by short term hormonal spikes. Illness (depending on what it is) can upset the hierarchy and the relationship as well, but generally, total fall-outs are much, much rarer than with with subadult boars. You always have a much better chance of the boys going back together after an upset.

Figures can vary a lot, end even some boars can be rather pear-shaped; not just sows! You always judge the heft/health of a piggy around the ribcage, as the bum end is genetically determined. ;)
 
They seem fine now, however Sheamus has now hurt his back leg/paw.. ugh... he likes to nest/burrow and cover himself up, I think he may have pulled his paw.. the toe as I call it... I don't have a clue what you call them lol. Going to see how he is in the morning and if he's still limping I'm going to book him into the vet with our baby boar.

I really hope that there's no more accidents or illnesses after this! I'm trying to save to move home but I keep spending it on the Guinea Pigs and my Dog lol. I don't mind though, it's not like they can go and book themselves an appointment lol.

They are still up here with us, the floor has grass and nuggets and poop/pee on it but they seem happy, that's the main thing :)
 
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