Re-bonding two boars

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The background.
Chewy and Spike lived together for a while and got on OK, but it was more of a case of tolerating each other then getting on really well. I had another pair - Sweep and Sooty. Sooty died and so rather than keep Sweep on his own I tried bonding all three together. Things were fine for a while, but then Chewy kept getting bites and scratches and after a few scuffles I decided to separate them. Chewy lived next to Spike and Sweep in a split cage.
This week Sweep died :( So now I have Chewy and Spike side by side in a split cage.
It seems a shame to not at least have a go at rebonding. I really hate to have single animals if I can help it.
So any advice? Should it be easier as they have been next to each other or does that make no difference?
Any tips welcome!
 
I think it would be well worth having a go. In my (admittedly limited!) experience, when I have had only two boars, they have been much more ready to accept one another as friends than when I have tried to keep more than two. I had a similar situation to you, where I had one happy pair and then adopted a second pair. Within days of arriving, the new pair fell out and had to be separated.
About a year later, one pig from each pair died within a fortnight, leaving me with 2 boars. They were both feisty chaps who'd never liked each other while I had all four. But when they were the only two left, you could almost see the little cogs whirring round in their piggy-brains as they both thought 'there's only me and him left now. Either I accept him as friend, or I'm on my own'.
So a new friendship was born.x)
As I always do when bonding boars, I first tried them on my lap together. When they were happy to snuggle up together on a lap, I tried neutral territory. I only moved on to a new stage when both pigs were happy.
I think you should try it..slowly, carefully and at their pace.
Good luck!
 
Sammyroo, wasn't it you who rehomed Tom and Jerry from RSPCA Medway?

With sucessful boar pairings space is always a key issue, two of everything from food bowls, bottles, hidey holes, toys and hayracks etc. As Sammyroo said, a lot of the time lap time can go well then move on to neutral territory. However some pigs take to each other straight away and you can just plonk them in together and it's fine from day one. With re-bonding, it's tricky, but not impossible!

Good luck :)
 
Hi, yes, I re-homed Tom and Jerry. Made the mistake of putting their cage next to my existing pair Sammy and Rupert and they fell out badly!
Well, then about a year ago I lost Sam and Tom in the space of a fortnight. So I thought I'd try Roo and Jez together....and as I said, you could almost see their little brains working out that it was 'him or nothing'. First I put their cages next to each other, then I tried the lap thing and then shared floor time. Now they are best friends! BUt I wouldn't put any money on their friendship lasting if I got any more boys...so I'm not risking it. That's why I don't visit the piggy-forum much now - I don't want to be tempted into getting any more pigs!:))
 
Thats really weird your boys have the exact same names as mine. lol

I think it would be easier to have them side by side for a while. When I bonded my Spike and Chewie, I put them on some clean towels on the floor and put one on either side and let them sniff abotu for a bit, Spike wasn't very happy at first, he didnt attempt to bite or attack Chewie or anything, but he was mounting andchasing him and it looks quite aggressive and violent. I used this to determine the levels of aggression, and although it looked quite aggressive and i really wanted to sperate them I stuck with it, once they settled down I put a big bowl of veg in the middle to calm them down, and then put them back into their seperate cages. The next day I did the same, I did this everyday until the dominant behaviour practically stopped until moving them in together. They've been together for 6 months with no problems :)
 
Poison said:
Thats really weird your boys have the exact same names as mine. lol

I think it would be easier to have them side by side for a while. When I bonded my Spike and Chewie, I put them on some clean towels on the floor and put one on either side and let them sniff abotu for a bit, Spike wasn't very happy at first, he didnt attempt to bite or attack Chewie or anything, but he was mounting andchasing him and it looks quite aggressive and violent. I used this to determine the levels of aggression, and although it looked quite aggressive and i really wanted to sperate them I stuck with it, once they settled down I put a big bowl of veg in the middle to calm them down, and then put them back into their seperate cages. The next day I did the same, I did this everyday until the dominant behaviour practically stopped until moving them in together. They've been together for 6 months with no problems :)
Click to expand...

That's a great website - when we first had pigs we referred to that site for loads of info all the time :)
 
Hmmm . . well I had some lap time with them yesterday - no reaction at all. They sat squished up against each other (coome dislike of me I'm afraid! rolleyes ) so today I have put them in a large cardboard box together so I could bring them inside safely and keep an eye on them for a few hours. They are doing absolutely nothing! They are neither of them very keen on me (my other guineas like me so not entirely my fault I don't think!) and don't tend to like being out of their own areas (run or cages) so they are just squashed together in a corner and not moving.
Not sure what to do next?
 
They should come around - just do as you would normally do with them and let them get used to the noise and comings and goings and they will soon learn to just get on with things together. It's all still new being a new partnership I suppose, so as long as you can't spot any obvious signs of bullying or aggression, they should settle in okay :) Just keep an eye on them to make sure they are eating and drinking properly etc. I find rustling hay around my pigs perks them up if they are having quiet or scaredy moments - they all popcorn like mad now if I do that, they seem to love the noise and it's a great distractor!
 
Well they've been together a few days now and appart from some minor teeth chattering on the first day everything seems to be going really well (fingers crossed!) So I'm hopeful they are going to get on well together this time :)
 
Still going well. They seem to be spending quite a lot of time together too rather than keeping to their own areas. I'm so pleased for them - its lovely to go out and see them happy together. Hopefully it will last!
 
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