Rehoming Advice? Alternatives?

[Lily & the Boars]

Sorry about the long post—I wanted to be sure to include all the information that might be necessary.

I have a bonded pair of boars, both an estimated year and a half old. They have been living in a double midwest set up and things have been great with them together. In October, my brother's coworker who had been breeding pigs was searching for a home for the six month old father of a recent litter. She seemed eager to get rid of him and didn't appear to care who he went to, so, being afraid he'd end up alone in a tiny Petsmart cage somewhere, I offered to take him in.

I know boars work best in pairs, but I made bonding attempts anyway. The new guy, Tank I've been calling him, is of course riddled with hormones and would not stop chasing and humping my docile pig while the dominant guy shoved himself into a corner and didn't budge for an hour. Long story short, it didn't work out. Realizing that Tank was probably experiencing a testosterone spike at that age, I tried a few months later. Same result.

The living situation is... meh. Now my pair is confined to one midwest cage, which I do not like at all, and poor Tank is living by himself. I've even had to put a cardboard square between their cages because he can (and has) hopped over into the next cage if he gets worked up enough, and was obsessively chewing on the bars which only served to stress all of them out even more. If he has floor time after the other two, he goes crazy, chattering his teeth and searching for them everywhere.

I know he is unhappy on his own, but I don't know what to do with him. Originally I was going to wait until he was ten months, when his hormones should be calming down. However, I would have to wait another month and just hope (as he did not seem to calm down after the six month spike—he is just a complete ball of energy and frustration) somehow that he calms down and bonds with pigs he has unpleasant memories of. I would also be risking a break up in my pair's bond. It's a long shot and too big a risk—I don't think it will work out.

It looks like I'm going to have to find him a better home. I can't get him a new mate, because I want my pair eventually to have a wooden cage upgrade, and otherwise I would have to have two pairs living in one midwest each.

I don't know how to go about finding Tank a new home. I would ideally want somebody I know and trust to take him, but I have no guinea pig-owning acquaintances. I live in Georgia, USA. There are 0 rescues in my state. I don't want to use Craigslist because of all the risks associated with it. Are there any other options? What should I do? I love my little guy. I need him to go to a better home, but I don't know if I really can.

 

[Piggies&buns]

We would always recommend surrendering to a rescue centre. Are there any near you, even if the are quite a journey away?

In terms of if you can’t find a rescue -

As you have found boar trios simply do not work. His hormones won’t calm down until he is much older - they are teens until 14 months old and even at 18 months old, they are still only just out of the teens so still can be a tricky. The space needed to even attempt a trio is a lot larger than two Midwest cages - they would require at least three square metres. given bonding is down to character compatibility and mutual liking and it is very hard to get that balance in a trio so even with a lot of space, it is still not likely to work.

Would it be an option to use stacking cages? Put one on top of the other, probably easier when you have their new cage, but it is always an option and something plenty of people do on this site when they have two pairs. You could then find him a new friend and he can live either upstairs or downstairs to your other pair.
The only issue you would face in finding him a friend would be as there aren’t rescues near you - this is the safest way to find a friend for him given bonding comes down to character, you can’t just put another pig in there and expect it to work.
Also be aware that one Midwest cage is usually not big enough for a boar pair, particularly where teens are concerned, so if you were to were to keep him and find him a friend with the option of looking to stack cages, then that has to be taken into account.

 

[KathT]

I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that a boar that’s been with sows won’t bond with another male? If you want to keep him have him neutered and then find him a nice wife pig - that will make him happy!

 

[Lily & the Boars]

I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that a boar that’s been with sows won’t bond with another male? If you want to keep him have him neutered and then find him a nice wife pig - that will make him happy!

That was one idea, but if I get a female wouldn't I have to distance the two of them considerably from my other boars to keep pheromones away? I don't think that would be possible, as they live in my small bedroom and my highly prey driven German Shepherd roams every other place in the house.

 

[Bill & Ted]

That was one idea, but if I get a female wouldn't I have to distance the two of them considerably from my other boars to keep pheromones away? I don't think that would be possible, as they live in my small bedroom and my highly prey driven German Shepherd roams every other place in the house.

As long as you were to stack the cages with the female on the bottom then it should not unsettle your bonded boar pair. I have heard that once a boar has bred then they will not bond with a boar too. best to get him neutered and find him a little lady friend x

 

[Lily & the Boars]

As long as you were to stack the cages with the female on the bottom then it should not unsettle your bonded boar pair. I have heard that once a boar has bred then they will not bond with a boar too. best to get him neutered and find him a little lady friend x

Why is it that the pheromones will not be a problem in that case? Is it a guarantee?

 

[Siikibam]

For some reason the smell can’t travel upwards. I’ve got stacked cages with sows in the bottom and boars at the top. And it’s not caused a problem (and hopefully never will). What I would say is always remember to deal with the boar pair first before the pair with the sow in. So when cleaning, handling etc.

 

[Lily & the Boars]

We would always recommend surrendering to a rescue centre. Are there any near you, even if the are quite a journey away?

In terms of if you can’t find a rescue -

As you have found boar trios simply do not work. His hormones won’t calm down until he is much older - they are teens until 14 months old and even at 18 months old, they are still only just out of the teens so still can be a tricky. The space needed to even attempt a trio is a lot larger than two Midwest cages - they would require at least three square metres. given bonding is down to character compatibility and mutual liking and it is very hard to get that balance in a trio so even with a lot of space, it is still not likely to work.

Would it be an option to use stacking cages? Put one on top of the other, probably easier when you have their new cage, but it is always an option and something plenty of people do on this site when they have two pairs. You could then find him a new friend and he can live either upstairs or downstairs to your other pair.
The only issue you would face in finding him a friend would be as there aren’t rescues near you - this is the safest way to find a friend for him given bonding comes down to character, you can’t just put another pig in there and expect it to work.
Also be aware that one Midwest cage is usually not big enough for a boar pair, particularly where teens are concerned, so if you were to were to keep him and find him a friend with the option of looking to stack cages, then that has to be taken into account.

I have been thinking about what you've said all day and have listed out my options, considering all the pros and cons. They are as follows:
- Surrender to a shelter
- Rehome through a website
- Try somehow to find another boar he can bond with
- Neuter and try to bond with sow

I think I will need to try and rehome Tank because I am still in school, the sole caretaker of two rabbits and three pigs already, and I do not want to overexert myself so that none of my animals get all the attention that they need. I don't think it would be responsible for me to take on a fourth guinea pig, even if I don't want to say goodbye to Tank. Can you understand this?

I cannot keep him alone nor bond him with my pair. He has to go to a better home.

I did more research and have found that there is apparently a newly opened rescue in my state. However, and please hear me out, my gut is telling me to find him a new home myself through a website. I know that everybody here discourages rehoming through websites because of the snake-food risk involved, but as I am rehoming a single boar, is it not expected that I will have to set up meetings with other boars to see if theh can bond, instead of handing him away to someone? Meeting somebody in person, bonding my boar with theirs, asking for videos of setups, attaching a decent rehoming fee—these things are all a safety net, are they not?

I would rather do this than surrender him to a shelter and never know what happens to him.

 

[Siikibam]

I'm worry but that sounds like a really bad plan. A shelter will vet people properly before they’re allowed to rehome your boar. And they will also bond him with another boar or possibly neuter and pair with a sow or two. That is the best way to go rather than through a website. You won’t know how much research someone has done about piggies before they go looking for them through the website.

If you do it through the website I they would not let you do a home check or see if their boar will bond with yours. Or show you videos of their setup. That’s not how it works. And you won’t know he ends up - he could be kept as a Single.

Please go visit the rescue and speak to them.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes we can understand and commend you on doing what is best for him. If you know you aren’t able to care for him, then you are doing the right thing by finding him a new home. It’s clear you care about him and his welfare.

You have to make a decision which you are comfortable with. We will always advise you that finding a rescue to take him to is the best course of action - his welfare will be guaranteed with a reputable rescue (he will be vet checked, bonded (no matter how long it takes, possibly neutered) and prospective owners checked), but there are some variables you can’t control when using a website. For example, the bonding, I may be catastrophising but you will likely have to try him with many piggies before a suitable friend is found. Once two piggies are put together, it can become obvious within minutes if it is an outright failure. However the bonding process goes beyond initial introduction and actually takes a couple of weeks and can fail even if initial introductions seem to be ok. If initial introductions go well, but the new owner takes him home and things then don’t work out down the line then you won’t have any control over what happens from then on. If he was with a rescue, then he will simply be tried with another piggy or a centre will help adopt him to with a person with another single and would be contactable for help the bonding failed down the line.

As I say, I may be looking too far into it, but these are the things which I would be concerned with. I am sure there are many well intentioned people looking to rehome from websites but my opinion is that it’s just not guaranteed and there are more variables than you can control so a rescue is the best way

 

[Zombiepanda]

Were you able to find a home for him? There are a few rescues in Georgia, but hood luck getting hold of any of them. There’s a vet in Decatur that will take in surrendered guinea pigs. They ONLY do exotics such as pigs and rabbits so they’re very experienced. It’s called For Pet’s Sake and the phone number is 7702488977

 

[Lily & the Boars]

Were you able to find a home for him? There are a few rescues in Georgia, but hood luck getting hold of any of them. There’s a vet in Decatur that will take in surrendered guinea pigs. They ONLY do exotics such as pigs and rabbits so they’re very experienced. It’s called For Pet’s Sake and the phone number is 7702488977

Not yet, unfortunately. I feel terrible about his situation but now that we will be stuck in our homes for the next few (presumably) months I am trying to give him as much attention and enrichment as possible. Thank you for the help, I've found one rescue as well so it's good to know we have these options.