BoarNewbie
New Born Pup
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2016
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 3
- Points
- 40
Hi, all...I've been reading great info on the site as a visitor since first we brought home Nathan in January, so figured it was finally time to join.
Here's the story: Nathan came home with a brother who bullied him, not letting him eat or relax, so we returned his brother and Nathan has been an only pig since. He has had plenty of attention, but seemed to be happiest when hanging out with our dogs and cats, popcorning with excitement when they got near. We took this as a sign that he wanted companionship, so we sought out a friend for him to rescue.
Enter Jose, the same age as Nathan (both approx 7 months), who was rescued from a situation where he was separated from the herd bc his father was bullying him.
In neutral space, they get along...with the occasional fluffing, head raising and nipping but nothing too worrisome. Their cages are side x side with a ramp that can join the two (each 2 x4)...we started with the gate closed and have been allowing periods of opened-gate time to get them to share space.
Here's the problem : Jose has no problem roaming freely and tries to play with Nathan. Nathan, on the other hand, seems to get stressed out when Jose enters "his space" and hides in his shelter and seems to get stressed out. I'm wondering of there's something we're not seeing when they're alone because, when we are in the room, they seem ok
..when we leave, Nathan hides. Today, I came back into the Piggie room after an hour of together time to Nathan squeaking strongly and found him UNDER the ramp with Jose on top of it!
So my question is: do you think this is just part of their teenager-y behavior or should we be concerned? We've bathed and cleaned their environment with natural cleaners to get rid of the scent but they both seem to know their own space.
Any tips are appreciated! I'm looking forward to learning more about all things Piggie on here!
Here's the story: Nathan came home with a brother who bullied him, not letting him eat or relax, so we returned his brother and Nathan has been an only pig since. He has had plenty of attention, but seemed to be happiest when hanging out with our dogs and cats, popcorning with excitement when they got near. We took this as a sign that he wanted companionship, so we sought out a friend for him to rescue.
Enter Jose, the same age as Nathan (both approx 7 months), who was rescued from a situation where he was separated from the herd bc his father was bullying him.
In neutral space, they get along...with the occasional fluffing, head raising and nipping but nothing too worrisome. Their cages are side x side with a ramp that can join the two (each 2 x4)...we started with the gate closed and have been allowing periods of opened-gate time to get them to share space.
Here's the problem : Jose has no problem roaming freely and tries to play with Nathan. Nathan, on the other hand, seems to get stressed out when Jose enters "his space" and hides in his shelter and seems to get stressed out. I'm wondering of there's something we're not seeing when they're alone because, when we are in the room, they seem ok
..when we leave, Nathan hides. Today, I came back into the Piggie room after an hour of together time to Nathan squeaking strongly and found him UNDER the ramp with Jose on top of it!
So my question is: do you think this is just part of their teenager-y behavior or should we be concerned? We've bathed and cleaned their environment with natural cleaners to get rid of the scent but they both seem to know their own space.
Any tips are appreciated! I'm looking forward to learning more about all things Piggie on here!