Pair of boars- DILEMMA!

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Kitel

Kitel

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I hope I'm putting this in the right place! :)

I currently have two boars, Pigsworth who is around a year, who i rescued from my old boss who kept him in awful conditions; and Pugsley who is 5 months who came from the p@h adoption centre as the staff said he was too ugly to sell as he does have quite small eyes that make him look a little sinister bless him :))

When i first got Pugsley i tried to introduce them, but this unfortunately has not worked. They are currently each in one half of a primrose cottage and go out together in the run in the evenings when i can supervise their "playing." Whilst they are ok i don't trust them and Pigsworth ended up with a ripped ear recently. Now i worry that they are both basically on their own, whilst they do receive some time together it's not really comparable to having a friend to snuggle :(

Now I've been thinking about this a lot and i guess i have a few options;

1) carry on the way they are

2) get them both neutered and find them both a nice rescue sow each to live with (in this case would the hutch they are in now be big enough with added floor and run time?)

3) re-home somebody 8... and neuter the other to have a female companion.

The only reason it's a dilemma is because i never really intended to end up with one guinea, let alone two. Now i have them i love them very much, but my boyfriend may actually kill me if i then say we need two more on top of the 5 rats :)) I don't want to get rid of either of them, but then i want them to be happy and have the best possible lives. So i just wondered what you guys would suggest? And of course if you say option 2) then my boyfriend may be out-numbered :))

Thanks

Lucy
 
Pugsley is at a difficult age right now - he is right in the middle of being a stroppy teenager at that stage when fallouts between boars are most likely.

If you do not mind the risks of having a neutering op, cross gender pairings are the most stable of all pairings.

However, if that is not possible, it might be worth hanging onto your boys and trying to create a hutch/cage setup where they can interact through the mesh and share run time throughout the year; that way they do have their own territory but have still got company.

You may even be able to try and see how they are getting on together as full adults - or at least have time enogh to talk your bf round!
 
Wiebke said:
Pugsley is at a difficult age right now - he is right in the middle of being a stroppy teenager at that stage when fallouts between boars are most likely.

If you do not mind the risks of having a neutering op, cross gender pairings are the most stable of all pairings.

However, if that is not possible, it might be worth hanging onto your boys and trying to create a hutch/cage setup where they can interact through the mesh and share run time throughout the year; that way they do have their own territory but have still got company.

You may even be able to try and see how they are getting on together as full adults - or at least have time enogh to talk your bf round!
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Thank you for your reply Wiebke

The strange thing is Pugsley is an angel and basically spends his time being followed round by Pigsworth, despite the fact that Pigsworth was the one who ended up being hurt. Is this because he smells extra interesting during his teenage months? I had heard that neutering doesn't really have an effect on temperament like it does with rats (sorry they are my example for everything) but would the fact that there's nothing there possibly calm down the situation? It would be fantastic if i could get them to get along in the long run as they are seeing each other every day. I know it must be different for every pig but is there a time when they're classed more as adults in terms of age?

I think Pugsley is a lot more relaxed as he has always been in with other pigs at p@h but then Pigsworth was kept on his own in a tiny cage for 8 months so is possibly a bit socially stunted? :))

Thank you!
 
Sadly for you, neutering in guinea pigs only takes away the ability to make babies, but does nothing for the temperament. It is only of use for pairing boars up with girls after a wait of 4-6 weeks after an operation to make sure that all the "tadpoles" have dried up.

I think your older boy is simply asserting his dominance.

Here is a link about boar behaviour:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949
 
Ah yes thank you :) I think for now then i will continue with trying to get them used to each other as their evening sessions aren't aggressive really, but on that one occasion Pugsley must have just snapped. I just wanted to make sure that this was ok for them, as i hate to think of them being unhappy, especially Pigsworth as he has such an awful start in life :( But i will persevere if there is a chance that this may sub-side, thank you very much for your help!
 
Lucy,
you are not alone.
we presently have 4 single boars (original pair fellout, got them a baby boar each, but both these pairings collapsed when the youngers hit teenagehood).
our youngest are both coming up one year old, and they have all been side by side for the last few months.
interestingly it looks as if one possible pairing may be able to get back together now the hormone/dominance issues are settling now the 'baby' boar is older.
don't make any quick decisions, think about all the options, and what the worse case scenario for each option is, and whether you can cope with that.
Good Luck
Becca (GP Mummy to the Cumbrian Fighting Boars :)):)))
 
boozyfruits said:
Becca (GP Mummy to the Cumbrian Fighting Boars :)):)))
Click to expand...

Haha! I love it :)) I'm glad to know it's not just me! I guess once again i am tainted by my experience with rats, who really do get depressed on their own. But hopefully things will settle down. They do get to spend time together and they get lots of cuddles, but like i said i just want them to be 110% happy :) Maybe i should go for girls in the future rolleyes
 
Sows! reading stuff on here they sound as if they are just as bad!

our problem is all our boys want to be the alpha.
if you have them in the run together, keep nearby, and with a towel ready to throw on them if needed. please don't put your hand between them - i have the scars to show why you shouldn't do this:))!
try them side by side in their cages so they can get used to each other. Hopefully in 6 months the little one will be not so little and be less of a bratty stroppy teenager, and they can sort out who is alpha male and who is beta.
Becca
 
how did you try to bond them? i recently introduced a neutered boar to my sows, and one of my girls had a major strop on, and actually drew blood when she bit another of the girls. they became fast friends after a recommended bath though. don't take my word on that at all, just a suggestion for someone more experienced to build on
 
I tried them in a neutral area first ( a run outside) with igloos and tubes in it, this went fine so left them for a while then opened the hutch door which leads onto the run and this was also fine. They were actually fine for a whole week before Pigsworth got injured. I had considered the idea of a paired bath...Pigsworth needs one anyway so i guess Pugsley may have to grin and bare it :))
 
We have a collections of tips for bonding here.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38562

I agree that a buddy bath can help on occasion - especially with boars or when the inital bonding didn't go all that well.

My Ffion also didn't like being bothered by Llewelyn on introduction and still doesn't want to be humped by him (rather the other way round when she's in season); but you can see them often sleeping next to each other... Piggies! malletheadmalletheadmallethead
 
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