please help newbie

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tinks79

I had 2 brothers and unfortunatly 1 died, spike now spends all day in his house just popping out to get food then he goes right back.I have heard about getting a baby for him but i dont know what to do.He is so sad since loosing his brother i just want to help him :'(
 
Hello, I'm so sorry you have lost one of your boys 0:),I was in the same position a while ago, but mine was a girl,I think a friend would be a good idea , but not sure about the bonding bit :-\ someone will be able to give you better advice on that one! anyway welcome to the forum, chat soon S xx
 
Hi Tinks,

Welcome! :) Sorry to hear about your pig. A friend would be for the best if you look at the animal resuce section on here some lovely people run rescues and you may be able to take your pig to one of the rescues so he can choose a friend himself. This is better than going to a pet shop and buying a random pig because your little guy may not get on with your chosen boar. :)

Also if you get no joy here try guinea pig rehome (type it in google and it pops up) there are lots of rescues there and you will find one in your area.

In the meantime though give your lone pig lots of cuddles (I'm sure you do anyway) until he finds a forever friend.

Good luck!

Louise
x
 
Have you looked at the Barmy4Boars website:
http://www.susieandpigs.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/optionsmenu.htm

You are in the same position I was in about 15 months ago. We had 2 brothers, Sammy and Snug. Sadly, Snug died and Sammy was left alone. Sam was then 4 years old, too old to risk neutering, so the options were to pair him either with a baby boar or with an adult.
Pairing with a baby is often recommended as the easier option, as the baby will accept the older boar as 'boss'. But the downside is that when the younger boar reaches maturity, he may launch a challenge for boss spot (!) This can result in conflict a few months down the line, when you are perhaps no longer expecting it.

Bonding adult boars can take much longer than introducing a baby. When we introduced Sam and Roo, it took us three weeks before we left them in a cage together unsupervised. But the good news is that, with bonding adults, you get all the conflict in the early stages when you are alert to it and watching, and once this stage has been successfully passed, you can get a really strong friendship.

You don't say how old your little chap is...if he's still young, then a third option would be to have him neutered and get him a girlfriend. There is always a risk in this, and it depends on how experienced your vet is. Even then, not all boars/sows take to each other, but the advantage is that a rescue will let you take your neutered boar along to meet a sow before you adopt. You can not do this when introducing adult boars, as they will take time to get to know each other. Also, many rescues refuse to let boars be adopted to live with other boars as the staff believe it can not be done and they will fight.

Hope that is some help! If you decide to go for an adult friend, I can give you more info on how we did it with Sam and Roo.
 
Sorry for your loss 0:)

Until you decide on another piggy try leaving a radio on low for him for company - my lone boar loves it O0

Good luck if you do decide to pair him up O0
 
Thank you all so much for your advice,i have been out this morning and picked up a baby,i introduced them and spike is gettin very friendly (if you know what i mean ;))is this normal thre is no conflict yet.I put the baby in a box in spikes cage and spike keeps tryin to get in but the hole is only big enough for the baby,i hope i have done the right thing spike seems to have picked up already if that is posible many thanx again, any advice is welcome i am newbie and appreciate any help O0
 
The mounting is normal, he's just showing him who's boss! Have a look at the barmy 4 boars link above, there will be a few tips on there. Good luck! x
 
Aw cuteness! :) As Emma said Barmy for Boars is a good site for getting tips on bonding. Some people bath their pigs together to help bonding too!

Hope to see some pics when you have a min! :)

Louise
x
 
Ahhhhhh! That's lovely :smitten: Glad he's perked up (and yeah the effect can be instant) Has the little un got a name yet? Good luck with them O0
 
Hes probably just sad because he lost one of his house mates...Theres not alot you can do apart from get him a friend... :-\
 
awww thats great, i was in the same situation last month and i got my duke a friend after his brother had died, they get on well.. they will never have the bond duke and shakey had but i think he secretly likes archie lol
 
I have woke up this morning and baby is following spike around everywhere,spike is still mounting him but not as often i think i made the right choice.Spike isnt depressed anymore i am so happy ;D
 
Ahhhh! That's really lovely :smitten: Yeah Spike'll probably continue to mount the little un for a while but it should get less and less. Looks like you picked a good buddy for him O0
 
Great. O0
When they are settled post some piccies for us all to see. :smitten:
 
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