No Means NO.

[Secktre]

So about 2 months ago, we got our first piggies (all boars) -Sugar, Spice, and Mango (we got them in that order, introducing them one at a time). Sugar quickly dominated Spice (who easily submitted). When Mango arrived, he quickly made his way to second place, as Spice submitted after only a couple of weeks. However, even though Spice submitted, Mango continues the behavior. Instead of the usual mounting, he regularly humps Spice, sometimes in the face. And I mean... imagine a dog humping your leg full force going at it. Until Spice runs and tries to physically distance himself.

We noticed there was something off when the largest, and most dominant piglet, Sugar, began hiding his butt from Mango and not letting him get behind him or groom him. At first, we thought it was kind of funny, so we nicknamed Mango the booty bandit for how often he attempted to hump or grooming (we think) the others butts. But then we noticed a bald spot on Spices butt cheek and what looks like ruffled hair on his back half, with some of his white undercoating come through. Although we haven't witnessed any nipping or fighting, the full force rapid fire humping alerted us. We have seen them do the normal mounting, but this behavior appeared sexually aggressive, and has caused the other guinea pigs to behave cautiously around Mango.

And please, have mercy with your responses. I know what I'm insinuating is probably dumb, and humanizing pig behavior, but I just watched Mango hump Spice so hard, I had to wonder if he finished, and I need to know what I'm dealing with here.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Humping and mounting is a normal dominance behaviour but the reason you are seeing problems is because the majority of boar trios do not function properly, so it’s highly likely to fail. A boar trio has a 90% failure rate and they will not make it to adulthood together. Once hormones kick in from four months of age, then things will likely get worse. Three boars together almost always ends up in fights and/or bullying (constant and excessive humping is considered bullying) non functioning relationships, broken bonds and ultimately separation being necessary. Boars need to be kept in pairs to be able to form a functioning hierarchy. Just because you haven’t seen a full on fight doesn’t mean they are all getting on and are happy together.

two boars together need a cage of 180cm x 60cm
to attempt to keep three boars together, then each piggy needs one square metre of territory so you need a three square metre cage - 300cm x 100cm cage. Lack of space, combined with not having compatible characters will cause problems Between them.

our advice would be to find out which two get on best and leave them together and separate the third one out into a cage on his own alongside the other two. This will give interaction through the bars. You can then decide if you can bond him with another piggy (the best way is via dating at a rescue centre, as buying a piggy on spec from a pet shop means you don’t know if they will have character compatibility and if they don’t, they won’t bond and you’ll end up with a pair and two singles). You’ll need two 180cm x 60cm cages for two separate boar pairs.

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Bonds In Trouble
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

Regarding the bald spot, it would be best to have your piggy vet checked for parasites rather than assuming it’s caused by over exuberant humping

 

[VickiA]

A juvenile boar trio is statistically very unlikely to survive as a trio into adulthood. They can’t help it. It’s hormonal. And that’s what you are seeing.
Great advice from @Piggies&buns. Please take time to read the whole post and all the threads linked in it.

 

[Secktre]

Thank you for the replies! We've separated Mango for now, and we're going to try to re-bond him. If that fails, we've already spoken with a local rescue ranch about possibly rehoming him (we wanted to know the process during the pandemic to make sure that he could be safely rehomed). We have a vet appointment set up today for all three piglets to address the missing fur on Spice's buttcheek.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you for the replies! We've separated Mango for now, and we're going to try to re-bond him. If that fails, we've already spoken with a local rescue ranch about possibly rehoming him (we wanted to know the process during the pandemic to make sure that he could be safely rehomed). We have a vet appointment set up today for all three piglets to address the missing fur on Spice's buttcheek.

I really wouldn’t try to rebond. Separating and reintroducing where there is already problems in their relationship causes stress to all of the piggies, but if spice and sugar are settling down as a pair (they will be in the process of reestablishing their hierarchy currently given mango has been removed) then reintroducing mango runs the risk of destabilising spice and sugar, then it could cause their bond to fail and then they’ll need to be separated and then you’ve got three single piggies.

 

[Secktre]

Y

I really wouldn’t try to rebond. Separating and reintroducing where there is already problems in their relationship causes stress to all of the piggies, but if spice and sugar are settling down as a pair (they will be in the process of reestablishing their hierarchy currently given mango has been removed) then reintroducing mango runs the risk of destabilising spice and sugar, then it could cause their bond to fail and then they’ll need to be separated and then you’ve got three single piggies.

Yeah, we took him to the rescue ranch after the vet appointment. We noticed that when we separated Mango, the other piggies didn't look for him. In fact, they seemed completely unphased. However, when Sugar and Spice can't see each other, they freak out and search for one another. We understood then that they simply did not want him around and did not care for him at all. We contacted the ranch after the vet appointment and asked if we could bring Mango in today instead of a couple of weeks. We just got back. I am personally MORTIFIED by rehoming Mango, even though I know it was what was best for him and the other piggies. But the ranch has two females they would like to introduce him to, so I'm sure he'll like the change.

 

[Siikibam]

If he isn’t neutered the. they shouldn’t be introducing him to the sows! Please tell them. Hopefully the girls don’t end up pregnant.