A week ago I bought two (now) 8 week old piggies (both boars) to live with my old man, 5 year old Sisu. At first, everything was great. All three got along very well and the newbies, Sipsi and Sipuli basically adored Sisu and he liked them. But then, couple days later, something happened. Sipuli started to chase Sisu around their 3x6 c&c cage and Sisu chattered his teeth very loudly to him. This went on for awhile and because it seemed that Sisu would soon lose his mind, I let him out of the cage. At night I put him into his factory-made cage so he could at least sleep in peace. For the next few days I tried putting him in the cage but the outcome was always the same: him chattering his teeth and running away from Sipuli, looking stressed af. One time he even opened the cage by himself to run away from Sipuli - I mean, how strong can a piggy be?! The funny thing is, they could still eat together without any problems but as soon as they're done, the chasing started again.
Then I thought that maybe he just needs time to adjust his new life; the fact that gone are the days when he was the only one running on these floors and eating all the parsley I carry from the store, so I moved his cage next to the c&c cage. Now they all can see, hear and smell each other but Sisu won't be as stressed as he was when Sipuli constantly chased him.
Sipuli tries to make contact with Sisu all the time but Sisu just chatters his teeth and runs away if Sipuli comes too close (actually I think that's not the real case, but rather that Sipuli sends some signals to him that I just don't see
). Anyway, I have no clue what to do next. How long should I keep them separate? Or did I f*cked up when I took them apart in the first place? Is this normal or is this a sign that Sisu and Sipuli just don't have the chemistry and won't be able to live together? I didn't expect the dance for the dominance to be THIS rough if that's what this is. I've read every locked post related bonding and dominant behaviour, I've checked and read every link that's suggested on those posts that could be related to my situation, but I'm still lost. Could someone please explain in plain English to me what the heck is going on. Is there something I can do or something I definitely must not do before I could try to introduce them again? Aaargh I feel like I'm the one who's the most stressed at the moment.
By the way, I treat Sisu as he's the leader of the pack. I feed and pet him first, fill up his water bottle first etc if that's any help in this situation.
Then I thought that maybe he just needs time to adjust his new life; the fact that gone are the days when he was the only one running on these floors and eating all the parsley I carry from the store, so I moved his cage next to the c&c cage. Now they all can see, hear and smell each other but Sisu won't be as stressed as he was when Sipuli constantly chased him.
Sipuli tries to make contact with Sisu all the time but Sisu just chatters his teeth and runs away if Sipuli comes too close (actually I think that's not the real case, but rather that Sipuli sends some signals to him that I just don't see
). Anyway, I have no clue what to do next. How long should I keep them separate? Or did I f*cked up when I took them apart in the first place? Is this normal or is this a sign that Sisu and Sipuli just don't have the chemistry and won't be able to live together? I didn't expect the dance for the dominance to be THIS rough if that's what this is. I've read every locked post related bonding and dominant behaviour, I've checked and read every link that's suggested on those posts that could be related to my situation, but I'm still lost. Could someone please explain in plain English to me what the heck is going on. Is there something I can do or something I definitely must not do before I could try to introduce them again? Aaargh I feel like I'm the one who's the most stressed at the moment.By the way, I treat Sisu as he's the leader of the pack. I feed and pet him first, fill up his water bottle first etc if that's any help in this situation.
