alison357
New Born Pup
Hi all,
I've got a male pig (Hammy) that I've had for about 3 weeks now. He was unwanted at his previous home. He has also been bullied previously and is quite timid. Therefore I decided to castrate him (which was done about a week ago), and get a female to be his companion.
Yesterday I acquired a female (Daisy), which is also of a timid disposition so hopefully in time they will get along.
I won't put them together for another couple of weeks to guard against unwanted pregnancy. My plan was to put the cage side by side for them to get to know each other first, and then introduce properly in a fortnight.
However, last night when I put the cages side by side, Hammy went absolutely mental, squeaking dementedly and trying to chew out of his cage into hers. I've never seen anything like it - he normally hardly makes any noise although he frolicks about quite happily. Daisy's response was to sniff him briefly through the bars and then retreat into her hidey hole.
We moved the Daisy into a different room as I thought it was a bit much for her first night in a new place. None the less, Hammy carried on trying to chew through the bars for another half hour in a most distressing way.
I don't know whether he is just so pleased to see another pig after several weeks, or whether it's his remaining hormones making him desperate and frustrated.
My question is, would it be better to keep them completely separate until introducing them properly in 2 weeks? Or would it be better to put the cages nearby and put up with the obsessive chewing and squeaking? I'm sure it will wear off eventually but don't want Hammy injuring himself in the meantime!
Any advice gratefully received!
Alison
I've got a male pig (Hammy) that I've had for about 3 weeks now. He was unwanted at his previous home. He has also been bullied previously and is quite timid. Therefore I decided to castrate him (which was done about a week ago), and get a female to be his companion.
Yesterday I acquired a female (Daisy), which is also of a timid disposition so hopefully in time they will get along.
I won't put them together for another couple of weeks to guard against unwanted pregnancy. My plan was to put the cage side by side for them to get to know each other first, and then introduce properly in a fortnight.
However, last night when I put the cages side by side, Hammy went absolutely mental, squeaking dementedly and trying to chew out of his cage into hers. I've never seen anything like it - he normally hardly makes any noise although he frolicks about quite happily. Daisy's response was to sniff him briefly through the bars and then retreat into her hidey hole.
We moved the Daisy into a different room as I thought it was a bit much for her first night in a new place. None the less, Hammy carried on trying to chew through the bars for another half hour in a most distressing way.
I don't know whether he is just so pleased to see another pig after several weeks, or whether it's his remaining hormones making him desperate and frustrated.
My question is, would it be better to keep them completely separate until introducing them properly in 2 weeks? Or would it be better to put the cages nearby and put up with the obsessive chewing and squeaking? I'm sure it will wear off eventually but don't want Hammy injuring himself in the meantime!
Any advice gratefully received!
Alison