Looking For A Little Help

[Viv_h]

so we've had buddy for 2 months now so it's time to start looking for a cage mate to introduce to him. We went to look at an absolutely stunning boy at the local rescue but I'm kinda worried that they're not gonna get along.
He's is lovely, a bit skittish to catch but once you have him he's fine, only thing is he's in the rescue because he had to be separated from his previous cage mate, they're saying it was the other one who was becoming dominant but I'm not totally convinced! Plus he's quite a bit bigger than buddy so not sure that's gonna work out.

When we got buddy they reckoned he was around 10 months so he'll be about a year now, this rescue one is 2, and he's been in the rescue for 6 months I really liked him but my oh wasn't as keen as we don't want to end up having to have two huge cages in the house permanently if intros don't work.

So what should we be looking for in a potential friend? Would it be better to get a younger one or does that matter?

 

[Viv_h]

This is buddy

 

[Viv_h]

And this is chips at the rescue place.

 

[madguinealady]

Would the rescue let you introduce them on neutral ground or take him back if they didn't bond?

 

[Wiebke]

Does the rescue allow a meeting before adoption to see whether they get on or not? You are in Scotland, am I right?

What your options are:
- adopt Chips as a next door neighbour. You can do intros in due course and see whether they gel or whether they are happier as neighbours. That depends less on size or age but on the personality of the boars involved and how dominant they are. Chips has the advantage that he is a hormonally settled adult.
Will the rescue take him back if they don't gel (minus the adoption fee, obviously)?
- buying a baby boy means that the baby is going through the whole teenage hormones, so you only find out whether he and Buddy gel once the baby develops his adult identity. If not, you can also end up with two next door neighbours.

It is much tougher when you live in a area where there is no easy access to a piggy savvy rescue that offers boar dating.

 

[Viv_h]

No I don't really think they're too keen to have him back if they don't get on, they made a big point of asking me about that and I said I'd just keep them separate if that happened.