Introducing two pairs of boys to each other..

[SamanthaB]

Hi Guys,

I have two pairs of boys that live in separate hutches because I think they'd fight if they lived together. I put Billy and Bobby in their run yesterday and separated it into two to create another half for Teddy and Trevor. Billy went CRAZY! He was biting the bars and seemed desperate to get at Teddy and Trevor and Bobby (the usually dominant one) didn't seem bothered. So, I put Teddy and Trevor back in their hutch and removed the separator, I then placed Teddy in the run with Billy and Bobby (under close supervision!) and they seemed to be ok...

Teddy ran over to Billy and Bobby and they were all munching on the grass until Billy started to get a bit "rowdy"") - is this to show dominance or is it because of their age (they're around 3/4 months old)? Anyway, Teddy didn't seem too bothered by it and he even approached Billy in the same way. I took Teddy out of there and put Trevor in alone by himself. As long as there's no serious fighting do you think this would be ok? Maybe I could try putting Billy with Teddy and vice versa..Just in the run of course, so they get to know eachother?

Sorry for the essay! Advice appreciated

Sammyx

 

[wales1000]

I have only ever had one successful pair of boars living together - all of my others ones just fought all the time and even tried rehousing with other boys - I remember once Romeo and Charlie (who passed away now) fought once and Charlie ended up with cut mouth and another wound and I only popped out of the room for 15 minutes, I was gutted. I have tried mixing boys, but I have dont have much luck with boys living together! I'm sure someone on here will give you better advice and good luck!

 

[cavy slave]

Hi,

I managed to get an older boar to live quite happily with my established pair (who were about 2), i kept them out of sight but within smell/audio range for a couple of weeks (quarrantine, but obviously doesn't apply here). Then split my c&c cage and put my new boy in there. all three were quite chatty and nibbbling at bars, but left them like that for a couple of days until they got settled again. zzz

Then made a big open area which they couldn't escape from and added first one of the pair (not dominant one) & new boy, then added other, all seemed to go fairly well.

Once i removed separator from cage there were some dominance displays, rumblestrutting, the odd nibble pow-pow (no blood ,always take them out if it gets to fighting, have a towel ready to throw over, or you could get nipped too!) mallethead

And all seemed settled! -c Think we were lucky though, many people say they can't get more than a pair to live together.

If you have the right personality of piggies you may be fortunate, just take your time and be very vigilant. The forum has an excellent guide to introductions in the reference section.

Sorry for the long reply, but hope it helps xx>>>
Lindsey

 

[cavy slave]

oh, forgot to add, since your piggies are 'teenage' pigs i understand they can be a bit moody, but on the other hand the younger they are the easier it is to mix them! sure someone will add to this point, we got our boys when they were 1 so missed out on the teenager stage. |)