Introducing Piggies

[Toni]

Advise please.i an shortly going to be setting up my new c&C cage all my boys are in pairs i would like to try and introduce taz and harley to bailey and max i dont think smudge and gizmo could be with bailey as iv mentioned before that bailey and smudge had issues and not sure if it would work iv not tryed since there castration 6Months ago its just that i would like to condense my cages down as the bedroom is small that they being moved into help needed please i dont want to upset any of them by doing this

 

[MerryPip]

Boar bonding is a very delicate process and if you already have 3 well bonded pairs then there is a substantial risk that introducing them to each other will lead to problems with the worst case scenario leading to injuries and 4-6 single unhappy boys that don't want to be with anyone. That puts even more pressure on cage space. Neutering shouldn't make a difference to the situation as it generally doesn't affect behaviour, only the ability to make babies. Neutered males have the best results when paired with a single female or group of females.

Most often for boars, more than 2 is a crowd and groups and trios can only be considered very carefully with a lot of bonding experience and knowing the personalities of your piggies and their behaviour very well. Space is a huge issue for the stability of boar groups and pairs and to keep four boars happily I am pretty sure your cage would have to be really huge. Probably at least more than double the recommended size for a pair so it is unlikely to make your cage requirements in terms of space any less, in fact it may likely increase the floor space they need.

It is possible to do with a lot of space, time and patience but unless you have contingency plans for any fall outs, arguments etc then I would steer clear of a group. I used to let my 4 boys socialise as a group for floor time when they were young and they loved it but as they got older the dominance behaviour was just too much and it was too difficult to keep them happy even in a whole living room's worth of floor space so we made the decision to keep them in their preferred pairs and although they still love to socialise through the bars, being together just isn't an option for them.

 

[biscandmatt]

you're brave! i have only ever bonded two together so no advice on more than that. i personally wouldn't risk upsetting them as they're settled in their pairs, but good luck if you do decide to go for it.

 

[Rodentopia]

I have a group of 7 boys and by no means was it easy. As Merrypip mentioned if it goes wrong you could end up with 4 single boys although in my experience I find existing pairs tend to stick together, but it something you need to consider. Boars works on personality and a bit like humans no two boars are alike and will get on. A mix of ages is better as a group mine range from 9 months to 3-4 years. Key is don't have them all the same age as trouble can and will arise. Neutering sadly won't change behaviour it just takes away the capability to breed. You also need to consider the cage size for a group of males you need a large space. My pen takes up half my spare room. So for a group of 4 you would want either a large c&c 2x6 minimum or join two 120cm cages together to make 240cm but even then in my opinion its not big enough. Which may defeat what your actually trying to achieve with creating space. If you do decide to go ahead you need to make sure its on a week when you can be around most of the time and watch them closely if they do bond

 

[Toni]

I have a group of 7 boys and by no means was it easy. As Merrypip mentioned if it goes wrong you could end up with 4 single boys although in my experience I find existing pairs tend to stick together, but it something you need to consider. Boars works on personality and a bit like humans no two boars are alike and will get on. A mix of ages is better as a group mine range from 9 months to 3-4 years. Key is don't have them all the same age as trouble can and will arise. Neutering sadly won't change behaviour it just takes away the capability to breed. You also need to consider the cage size for a group of males you need a large space. My pen takes up half my spare room. So for a group of 4 you would want either a large c&c 2x6 minimum or join two 120cm cages together to make 240cm but even then in my opinion its not big enough. Which may defeat what your actually trying to achieve with creating space. If you do decide to go ahead you need to make sure its on a week when you can be around most of the time and watch them closely if they do bond

Thankyou for all your messages and all mine are same age so i think it prob abit tricky so a gd hard think abt this taz and harley have met them all before except max he a few months younger than all the others and after all the problems i had with bailey him and max are inseprable always together it just a shame that bailey had a bad mounting problem with smudge and gizmo just think smudge had had enough and both wanted to be in charge the three of them did use to all live together i will put a photo of them up in the group in the early days so wish that it had worked out in the beginning

 

[Rodentopia]

Sadly trios rarely get through to adulthood as a trio, mine got to one year before I have to split but others before. Personally if they are happy I would leave them as they are especially if space is an issue.