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New Born Pup
One of my boar brothers died and, because they were so close and I worried about the impact on my surviving pig, I brought home a new pig the day after it happened (older pig did have plenty of time with his brother's body and is eating and vocalising as normal). The new one is four months and in his previous home he was being picked on by cagemates, so I thought he would be a good choice for my large, sweet, middle-aged boar who is very nurturing and dominant in a non-aggressive way.
They had a rough start together, with the new pig teeth chattering and my older pig getting a tiny nip on the nose (after that he was springing back into my lap every time I tried to put him on the floor), but after being moved to a cosy cat bed, they then miraculously fell asleep with noses almost touching an hour into the intro (very adorable). My older piggy then managed to have some eye licking and ear nibbling sessions and it seemed the hierarchy was maybe settled! The night seems to have passed uneventfully, but we've had some chattering from new pig today and he actually flew at older piggy, though didn't bite. The issue is that when new pig scares my older pig, the latter displays submissive behaviours instead of standing firm, so it must be really confusing for new pig? New pig seems quite confident and not scared of humans.
Is this all going to settle down soon? There's been no real biting and no fighting. I know it's wrong to anthropomorphise animals, but I can't help feeling sorry for my poor older pig - he seems on the one hand really keen to make friends, but then scared of new pig on the other (approaching him, then backing away). When he first saw new pig he was making friendly, happy noises of curiosity, and then it turned out the stranger didn't like him!
Can't deny it's been a strenuous few days and I feel so sad about my older piggy's loss (and ours, of course). Any advice appreciated!
They had a rough start together, with the new pig teeth chattering and my older pig getting a tiny nip on the nose (after that he was springing back into my lap every time I tried to put him on the floor), but after being moved to a cosy cat bed, they then miraculously fell asleep with noses almost touching an hour into the intro (very adorable). My older piggy then managed to have some eye licking and ear nibbling sessions and it seemed the hierarchy was maybe settled! The night seems to have passed uneventfully, but we've had some chattering from new pig today and he actually flew at older piggy, though didn't bite. The issue is that when new pig scares my older pig, the latter displays submissive behaviours instead of standing firm, so it must be really confusing for new pig? New pig seems quite confident and not scared of humans.
Is this all going to settle down soon? There's been no real biting and no fighting. I know it's wrong to anthropomorphise animals, but I can't help feeling sorry for my poor older pig - he seems on the one hand really keen to make friends, but then scared of new pig on the other (approaching him, then backing away). When he first saw new pig he was making friendly, happy noises of curiosity, and then it turned out the stranger didn't like him!
Can't deny it's been a strenuous few days and I feel so sad about my older piggy's loss (and ours, of course). Any advice appreciated!