New boar bond in trouble

[Idag]

Hi all
After some advice please. We lost our boar a month ago , and successfully (we thought ) bonded him at a rescue with another single boar. We have had both together in a 2 x 4 C&C cage indoors for 4 weeks now with no problems until this week when the new boar, Willow, has been demonstrating dominance behaviours like mounting and chasing Cocoa. Nothing major until this evening when we heard loud squeaking and found Willow relentlessly chasing and mounting poor Cocoa. I divided the cage down the middle with C&C grids and separated them. At this point Willow started to go mad, biting the grids, trying to burrow under and literally flinging himself at them trying to get back to Cocoa. It was clear that the grids would not stand up to it all night so I had to make the decision to put Willow in a completely separate cage unfortunately. They cannot see each other but can smell and hear each other. Both are now calm. Kids are very upset and I don't know where to go from here to be honest. Cocoa was bullied a bit by his old mate and is a submissive older pig, but Willow was so aggressive tonight it was quite shocking. Any advice? Bigger cage? I changed their fleece today but have done that numerous times before with no problems. Cocoa is around 4yo and Willow around 2 yo, both rescues. Thanks all x

 

[Siikibam]

Chasing and mounting can turn into bullying if it’s so incessant that the underpig can’t eat or rest. But you have to know where that line is and not intervene.

How long did the chasing and mounting go on for? And was Cocoa allowing Willow to mount and/or hump him? How is Cocoa doing now? How have their weights been?

They can still have the occasional hormone surge even after their teenage phase, and Willow isn’t long out of it to be honest. Sometimes a cage clean can also trigger dominance behaviour. If your boys are like that, then it’s advised you leave something soiled in their cleaned out cage. Since you use fleece, it could maybe be a bath mat or a pee pad etc. If their hay is in a tray, you could clean it a day or two before you change the fleece and leave it in there as their ‘soiled bits’.

Because humping and chasing is ‘normal’ dominance behaviour, and Cocoa was being submissive, I would give them a couple of days apart then re-introduce (on neutral ground).

Two points on cage size. Boars need a 2x5 c&c as a minimum. 2x4 isn’t big enough for them, even if they’re no longer in their teenage phase. They also need two of everything is needed as well. I would expand the cage ready for when you re-introduce them. Secondly, if you split the 2x4 it’s really not enough space for them to live individually. A single pig needs 2x4.

Lastly! Have a read of the dominance behaviour below and see where that line is
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! Here are our tips for bonds in trouble and how you can work out whether they are still functional or not. Please follow the advice in the link; you may find it helpful.
Bonds In Trouble

All the best!