Pairing a baby boar with a 4 year old boar

Kilimomo

Kilimomo

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hey there. My Kili died last week and I'm looking for a new boar to bond with my Momo-boar. There aren't any rescues around here but there are a few licensed breeders within 100km so I'm getting a baby from a reputable breeder, probably in a few days! Momo needs guinea pig company so I'm getting the new piggie soon. I can see that Momo has been acting a bit differently since Kili died. He seems to be a bit more timid.

I'm new to bonding boars so I have some questions. I've read many bonding guides so far and watched a few videos.

Momo, 4 years old, was the dominant pig when Kili was still around. Do you think I can bond Momo and a young boar? Momo and Kili were bonded as babies by the breeder. They had their fights, especially when they both were teenagers, but in the end they got along decently/fine. Lately Momo hasn't been as pushy as he was as a teen.

Momo has a big personality, he likes it when I pet him and he's loud and not scared of humans. Kili was very timid, scared and quiet. I'm most likely getting Momo a texel friend (Momo himself is a texel too, they will look alike!).

Guides say to leave the newcomer alone for a day or two. Does this mean I leave him alone for a day and then start the bonding? Should I place him next to Momo's cage for the day or in a separate cage away from Momo?

Apparently it takes many hours to bond. When does the bonding end? How do I know when to let them into the cage? Once they have napped together and seem content with each other? Any other tips?


Thank you.
 
Kilimomo said:
Hey there. My Kili died last week and I'm looking for a new boar to bond with my Momo-boar. There aren't any rescues around here but there are a few licensed breeders within 100km so I'm getting a baby from a reputable breeder, probably in a few days! Momo needs guinea pig company so I'm getting the new piggie soon. I can see that Momo has been acting a bit differently since Kili died. He seems to be a bit more timid.

I'm new to bonding boars so I have some questions. I've read many bonding guides so far and watched a few videos.

Momo, 4 years old, was the dominant pig when Kili was still around. Do you think I can bond Momo and a young boar? Momo and Kili were bonded as babies by the breeder. They had their fights, especially when they both were teenagers, but in the end they got along decently/fine. Lately Momo hasn't been as pushy as he was as a teen.

Momo has a big personality, he likes it when I pet him and he's loud and not scared of humans. Kili was very timid, scared and quiet. I'm most likely getting Momo a texel friend (Momo himself is a texel too, they will look alike!).

Guides say to leave the newcomer alone for a day or two. Does this mean I leave him alone for a day and then start the bonding? Should I place him next to Momo's cage for the day or in a separate cage away from Momo?

Apparently it takes many hours to bond. When does the bonding end? How do I know when to let them into the cage? Once they have napped together and seem content with each other? Any other tips?


Thank you.
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Hi! Would the breeder be OK if you brought Momo with you to let him choose which baby he is happiest with? That is a very good start for a stable bond and your long term chances are much higher. You would only come home with baby where acceptance has already happened.

Babies are desparate for company, so the usual considerations re. longer run-up do not apply. Boars can go overboard with mounting, so you want a little escape place with two exits on different sides that Momo cannot get into, either a small tunnel or a cardboard box filled with soft hay in case it gets too much.

You can transfer the boys into their cage once they have slept together and are still OK after waking up.

The dominance phase lasts around 2 weeks but depending on how good the bond is, it can be only a day or two with happy piggies and then it is just a fairly gentle putting in place. A baby-aduly bond can sometimes fail during the first two weeks if the baby is standing up to a fear-aggressive over the top boar when it has the chance to say just how far it allows itself to be pushed at the end of the dominance phase.
We have got a chapter on boar bonding behaviours and dynamics, including specifics on baby boar/adult intros, in our bonding guide.
Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
 
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I wish you luck with your bonding! I have only bonded 2 boars with 3 girls and although that is not recommended surprisingly it worked and they are all living happily together as a fully bonded herd.
 
Hi! My last successful boar-bonding was with a 4 year old and a baby boar (6 weeks old). I was able to take my lone boar dating at a rescue fortunately, that made it much easier at that point. I did worry that they might fall out when the baby became a teenager; my bouncy baby duly became a very bossy teenager - luckily my 4 year old turned out to be very laid back and submissive, so we were spared fighting and fall-outs. There is always going to be that risk when you can't find an adult pig with a known temperament, unfortunately. Best of luck finding a new friend for Momo!
 
Thanks for the replies! Sadly I can't take Momo to the breeder's place as I have no car or license. I'm getting the baby on Saturday! I'll read those guides again before he gets here and I hope all goes well!
 
Benson was 4yrs old when his brother,stan, died. Stan was the dominant pig and benson much shyer.

We had a baby boar selected for us to pair with benson.
We made a complete new cage layout with the c&c which was a good size and had popped the new pig (mike) in with benson.

It is a couple of years ago now so it is hard to recall exactly what happened but i do remember them running round and round and round because poor benson (he is the large gray rex in my avatar) collapsed onto his side huffing and puffing with exhaustion in the end. We were a bit worried he had really over done it.

Anyway, it was within an hour they were settled and we never looked back. The pair of them are hilarious. Mike is very chatty and benson is like a grumpy old man and looks quite irritated with mike's constant chit chat. And mike has a habit of cuddling up to benson which benson tolerates. They remind me of e or and piglet from winnie the pooh!

What is nice though is that benson became much more confident once stan died and really relaxed and chatty with us - a side of him we would not have seen had stan not died before him.


Good luck withyour pairing - hope it is as successful as with mike and benson!
 
tabelmabel said:
Benson was 4yrs old when his brother,stan, died. Stan was the dominant pig and benson much shyer.

We had a baby boar selected for us to pair with benson.
We made a complete new cage layout with the c&c which was a good size and had popped the new pig (mike) in with benson.

It is a couple of years ago now so it is hard to recall exactly what happened but i do remember them running round and round and round because poor benson (he is the large gray rex in my avatar) collapsed onto his side huffing and puffing with exhaustion in the end. We were a bit worried he had really over done it.

Anyway, it was within an hour they were settled and we never looked back. The pair of them are hilarious. Mike is very chatty and benson is like a grumpy old man and looks quite irritated with mike's constant chit chat. And mike has a habit of cuddling up to benson which benson tolerates. They remind me of e or and piglet from winnie the pooh!

What is nice though is that benson became much more confident once stan died and really relaxed and chatty with us - a side of him we would not have seen had stan not died before him.


Good luck withyour pairing - hope it is as successful as with mike and benson!
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What a lovely story
 
I've started the bonding a bit over half an hour ago. Very little rumble strutting, a couple mounting episodes, wheeking. No teeth chattering so far. First 15 minutes Ninja was too scared to move but then Momo went next to him. Momo lets Ninja very close. He never, ever let Kili that close to him. They've been chasing each other and sniffing butts and mouths. Momo comes to my side of the play pen sometimes and wheeks at me "Let me go back to the cage!" or something. They've been eating hay together. Seems to be going well so far!
 
Three hours have passed. They're on their second nap now. There was some chattering and Ninja, the baby, seemed a bit aggressive towards Momo. Momo on the other hand has shown no aggression towards Ninja. Ninja sometimes approaches Momo sideways and chatters his teeth. I think I'm keeping them on neutral ground for some more time!
 
It seemed to go well! They're in the cage now together. Ninja is very scared of me but I hope he will learn to trust me over time. They slept next to each other in the play pen and napped many times so I decided to put them to the cage and so far so good!
 
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