Introducing a third pig has caused fighting between a bonded pair

[TJR]

Hi,

I have had bonded pair of boars for a while now (3 years) and they have lived quite happily. However a month ago I adopted a young guinea pig that had been kept on his own from a pet shop. After quarantining him I tried to introduce him to my pair on neutral ground. Things seemed to go well and eventually I put them all into a large cage, for the first few days there was some mild dominance behaviour between the more laid back of the pair and my new younger pig, eventually this all calmed down and the three seemed to getting on really well. All three were even sleeping in the same house.
However a week ago my previously bonded pair have begun to compete with each other for dominance, with rumble strutting, teeth chattering and some fighting (no blood has been drawn yet). Yesterday I separated the more dominant of the pair from the more submissive pig and my new younger one. They are in the same cage but I have put a divider in place, they can still interact through the bars.

I am not sure where to go from here, having read advice online, it seems a trio was a bad idea from the start, the pig who is on his own seems to want to reunite with the other two and doesn't like being on his own, the two that are currently together (the younger pig and the more submissive male) don't seem to have any dominance issues.

Ideally I would like the three to get on again but that seems unlikely based on what I have read, it seems more likely one pig needs to be removed but who should it be? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Welcome to the forum
I’m so sorry they’ve had a fallout, it’s such a shame but well done you for taking on a little lonely boar.
Sadly boar trios rarely work, boars find it difficult to form a hierarchy with three. It is very unlikely that these three will establish a bond

what size cage do they have, it does look like one will have to live side by side. An L shape is often great for space saving
How old is the youngster?
It really is a matter of seeing who gets on best

 

[TJR]

Welcome to the forum
I’m so sorry they’ve had a fallout, it’s such a shame but well done you for taking on a little lonely boar.
Sadly boar trios rarely work, boars find it difficult to form a hierarchy with three. It is very unlikely that these three will establish a bond

what size cage do they have, it does look like one will have to live side by side. An L shape is often great for space saving
How old is the youngster?
It really is a matter of seeing who gets on best

Well initially I would have said the bonded pair but they are the ones fighting! I may try and remove the younger one and see if those two can get on again though. It terms of size its 5.7 ft x 3.4ft

 

[Piggies&buns]

Sadly adding a third boar to a bonded pair is not only likely to fail but it can ruin the relationship of the bonded pair. Added to that, your cage is nowhere near big enough to attempt a boar trio (your cage covering 1.6 square metres but to attempt a boar trio you would need at least 3 square metres but even that isn’t a guarantee of success). It’s a great size for a boar pair though.

You can certainly give the older two time to calm down and try a neutral territory reintroduction and see if they can work things out. If they do, then the youngster will need to be kept in a separate cage side by side with the older piggies for constant interaction through the bars.
If the two older boys won’t go back together, you may need to try to bond the youngster with one of the older boys and then the other older boy one will need to be kept side by side so he can still interact through the bars only.

Do be aware not all behaviours you see through the bars are signs they want to be friends - it can be because they want to fight, or it can also be territory marking behaviours.

 

[TJR]

Sadly adding a third boar to a bonded pair is not only likely to fail but it can ruin the relationship of the bonded pair. Added to that, your cage is nowhere near big enough to attempt a boar trio (your cage covering 1.6 square metres but to attempt a boar trio you would need at least 3 square metres but even that isn’t a guarantee of success). It’s a great size for a boar pair though.

You can certainly give the older two time to calm down and try a neutral territory reintroduction and see if they can work things out. If they do, then the youngster will need to be kept in a separate cage side by side with the older piggies for constant interaction through the bars.
If the two older boys won’t go back together, you may need to try to bond the youngster with one of the older boys and then the other older boy one will need to be kept side by side so he can still interact through the bars only.

Do be aware not all behaviours you see through the bars are signs they want to be friends - it can be because they want to fight, or it can also be territory marking behaviours.

Well that is a shame. Thank you for the advice. I suppose my last question would be, will interaction through the bars be enough for the pig that is left on his own? I know its not as good as having a mate.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Well that is a shame. Thank you for the advice. I suppose my last question would be, will interaction through the bars be enough for the pig that is left on his own? I know its not as good as having a mate.

Yes interaction through the bars is good enough.

I have two 6 month old boars who were bonded but their bond broke down when the teens hit and they now live separated but side by side. Their enclosures are L shaped to each other. They are much happier now they don’t have to live together!
(I also have a 5 year old bonded boar pair who live in the cage above the two singles).

If you can handle a fourth piggy then the option would be to take the one who is left single dating at a rescue centre - you’d then obviously create two bonded pairs. That way he can choose his own new friend, and you can rest assured of a successful bond.