Lively Play? Or Warning Signs?

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Amyscoobybarnie

Amyscoobybarnie

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I have two males and prior to getting them I didn't want males because the fighting I keep hearing about. But I fell in love with these two when I met them. They are not brothers from birth but have been together from a very young age. From the second week I noticed scooby taking barnies food and doing that luring dance and mounting Barnie. Now they seem to have established who is boss but sometimes scooby still does little things to remind Barnie. I think in general they get on as always look out for each other, and I have seen them grooming each other when we have cuddle time... Normal?

When they have there play time either on the floor or outdside (depending on weather) they just run chasing each other. They look like they are popcorning and jumping around, very fast. 97% of the time if you make physical contact they just go the other way! a bit like piggy tag ... But sometimes scooby will pur, wiggle his bottom and mount Barnie. Sometimes Barnie lets it happen other times he gets him off and away from him.

I know it's dominate behaviour scooby is portraying and I know at the end of the day they have wild intricts but I don't want to be over looking something that could be dangerous.
 
Your boys are behaving totally normally and there is nothing for you to worry about at the moment! Rumblestrutting and mounting is perfectly normal daily behaviour for boars (even my neutered boars). Popcorning and playing dodgems is a favourite pastime for youngsters and means that you have happy, well settled boys.

You may find our information threads at the top of this section helpful. You will know from the sheer amount of tension if and when things get touchy when your boys hit the teenage months. Thankfully more boars than not make through them together, but it would be useful to have a plan B in place just in case you need to separate at some point - but please don't do it at the first sign of dominance behaviour out of sheer panic and apprehension on your part, unless there are bloody bites.

PS: It is unfortunately a widely spread myth that litter brothers won't fall out. They do just the same as other boars!
The key to any successful piggy bond is character compatibility. If you happen to have two dominant boys, then no degree of consanguinity will keep them from clashing! Letting boars choose each other and a good age difference (ideally with one hormonally settled adult boar in the mix) will go much further to stabilise a bond than having two youngsters, related or not, hitting the big hormones together. But you will only know when your boys develop their adult identities how well they will get on as mature boars.
 
Thank you for your reply. I thought it was all good But I am a first time piggy owner and a massive animal lover and want to do what is best for them. I was wondering about if they do fall out when they get older whether it is a good idea to separate them and get them neutered and pair them each with a female?

I hope I never have to do that and am pleased for the reassurance at the moment but if it did happen I would want the best arrangement for them where I don't have to leave them alone or worse still, get rid of one :/:(.
 
Amyscoobybarnie said:
Thank you for your reply. I thought it was all good But I am a first time piggy owner and a massive animal lover and want to do what is best for them. I was wondering about if they do fall out when they get older whether it is a good idea to separate them and get them neutered and pair them each with a female?

I hope I never have to do that and am pleased for the reassurance at the moment but if it did happen I would want the best arrangement for them where I don't have to leave them alone or worse still, get rid of one :/:(.
Click to expand...

If you have the option to get to a good vet to minimise the risk of post op complications and a good rescue for bonding after a 6 weeks post op safety wait, then neutering is certainly an option in case of fall-outs. You have got The Potteries rescue in Kidsgrove/Stoke-on-Trent that have a single boar neutering policy and can point you towards the vet they are using as well as the RSPCA Walsall who also offer cross gender bonding; I can recommend both rescues most warmly. Honeybunnies by Leicester are another good and knowledgeable piggy rescue where you will be in safe hands.
We also have a piggy savvy locator on the top bar, as well as a rescue locator where you will find contact details for the rescues I have mentioned.

It is the way I would go down provided I had a safe vet for the op. But then I am a big fan of cross gender bonds, which are the most stable of all pairings, especially as I live in an area where all local rescues within convenient reach (which includes the three rescues I have mentioned) have a boar neutering policy.

However, just keep that in the back of your mind and enjoy your boys as they are. As I have said, thankfully more boar pairs than not make it to a safe adulthood together! ;)

However, don't stress yourself
 
I hope this helps. My boys have mounted each other every day for the past year. I can't see it stopping!
 
They sound like normal boys to me. One of my boars fudge mounts the other one all the time. Sometimes Alby isn't too fussed and other times he chases fudge away.
 
Thank you :) yes I think they are ok for now but I will definitely keep in mind my options if they begin to fight. Its strange because certain times of the day they become more annoyed with each other, usually when one ready for a nap and the other wants to play that usually brings out some nose nudging behaviour but other than that and what I described before they do get on well I think and seem to care for each other. Infact they both snuggled together right now... Bless :)
 
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