Share your boar bonding experiences? :)

mackenziejanetaylor

mackenziejanetaylor

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Hey guys, got a lone boar after his brother died and I’m going to soon get him a new companion!

I’ve read all about bonding boars and have experience with past Guinea pigs, but would love to hear your stories about boars you’ve bonded? How it went, how long it took etc…

Share them below :)
 
I can't help really I've been very lucky to have bought two very well bonded little lads nearly 6 years ago and they've never had an argument that sulking in separate hides for 10 minutes can't solve. You hear so much fear mongering about how difficult boar bonding can be and how easily boys fall out but that's not been my experience at all.
 
Sweet Potato said:
I can't help really I've been very lucky to have bought two very well bonded little lads nearly 6 years ago and they've never had an argument that sulking in separate hides for 10 minutes can't solve. You hear so much fear mongering about how difficult boar bonding can be and how easily boys fall out but that's not been my experience at all.
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Wow lucky you! I’ve heard so many stories of it not going well, that’s so great for them both and for you :)
 
I have no experience with bonding boars as I got mine as a ready pair. I never had any issues with them and loved their bond (loved my girls’ bond too). Good luck and I hope you can find him a suitable friend. If you can take him dating then that’s the best way. They do have a reputation but I feel that this is due, in part, to a couple of bad experiences, perhaps some inexperience with regards bonding and tarring them all with the same brush.
 
First I had Percy and Pippin. Unfortunately I think Pippin was a runt and not very healthy and he passed away at only 4 months old. So I had to rebond Percy.

Percy was about 8 months old when I got Pepper. Pepper was about 8 weeks old. I put them together in the bathroom for about 2 hours and it was obvious that they were going to be fine so I popped them in a small cage in the house overnight and put them in their hutch the next day. They were absolutely fine together.

Then Percy got a bladder stone and passed away after surgery.

So I had to rebond Pepper. He was getting over an operation for a tooth root abscess and had been entirely syringe fed for 8 weeks. This was last August. I was a bit unsure if Pepper would be too ill to want to bond but I got Pebble who was youngster. Maybe 6 weeks. I bonded them in a pen in my living room all day and overnight. No problems at all.

Boars get a bad press. But I’ve had good experiences with them. So far so good 🤞🏻

Good luck with your bond.
 
The only boar bonding i have done is with a 10 month old and a 2 month old when the older ones ‘pair’ passed away suddenly from a stroke.

They were introduced in a neutral place and after around an hour of arguing and doing usual dominance stuff they were sat eating hay together and they have been inseparable since.

They are now 5 and 4 and 6-8ish months, and they are the best of friends, they love to rumble strut and argue but they always end up snuggled together.

I have only had one failed bond which was off my own negligence of knowledge (trying to put a new one with a already bonded boar pair), which was sorted and the wee rejected guy found his own friend and was adopted by a lovely couple.
Please just ensure they have plenty of space on newly washed bedding, multiple places to hide and multiple places to eat, in their cage and when they’re introduced.

With boars generally they seem to get along better with a baby, although saying that I am about to lose my older boar in a month (terminal diagnosis) and I am not interested in having more guinea pigs so would either have a lone piggy or try to bond him with a rehomed older boy, obviously starting with trying to bond him with another.

I would recommend doing it in the morning, so when they start getting along after a couple hours you can move them to their cage and continue to watch them.
I understand you were looking for personal experiences but this may be helpful incase you haven’t had a read of it - Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

Wishing you the best of luck and please let us know how it goes!
 
I would say don’t put any hides in with them when bonding so they have to be together and not hide from each other.
 
:agr:

It is true perhaps on the first meeting an open space would be good but generally in my experience creating a comfortable experience and a place where the feel safe is also beneficial.

You should be able to tell the vibe, perhaps an empty space with a pile of food to start and if it is going well you can add to it and give them a bit more latency.

As shown in the photos of the link i provided a mutual eating area is best for bondings.

I would still recommend perhaps putting in a multiple exit hide as when bonding my boys they got a chance to take a break and have a breather. But it is completely up to you and every experience will be different.
 
My boar Bertie lost his lifelong mate before Christmas. He was 4 at the time and he lost his mojo very quickly but I was fortunate to find a local rescue who had a similar aged boar who had also lost his companion. I was given the option of dating but Bertie was so subdued I didn’t want to wait. I put them in separate C&C runs but close by for a few days mainly because I wanted to wait until I had a fully free day to start the bonding. On the day I used some C&C grids (5x2 I think although they didn’t use all the space) and a huge pile of hay in the middle. There was a fair bit of rumble strutting, chinning, and attempted nipping (not biting) but after a short while (an hour or so) I think age got the better of them and they seem to decide that it was all just a bit too much effort! The rescue boar Hutchie was very chilled and Bertie became the dominant one. I put them in their clean cage together after about 3 hours in the bonding cage. All hides double exit, masses of hay. Every now and again Bertie has to assert his dominance and Hutchie just potters off. They live as companions not best buddies :love: but it works. Best of luck finding a companion for your boy x
 
We recently lost one of our Guinea Pigs, Hector, which left Hamish on his own.
Hamish went to meet another boy, Billy, at the rescue, where the boys originally came to us from. Initially Hamish & Billy were getting along ok. (Both about 3yrs old). Unfortunately spring hormones seemed to get the better of Billy, after a week of over the top dominance humping, we made the decision to split the boys.(Hamish also has a sore back, Billy wasn’t helping!)
They now live side by side contentedly. We may consider attempting to reintroduce them in a couple of months, when hopefully Billy’s hormones have died down, as initially it was a promising friendship match.
 
mackenziejanetaylor said:
Hey guys, got a lone boar after his brother died and I’m going to soon get him a new companion!

I’ve read all about bonding boars and have experience with past Guinea pigs, but would love to hear your stories about boars you’ve bonded? How it went, how long it took etc…

Share them below :)
Click to expand...

Mine have all gone horribly! The only good bonding was after my senior boar died in his sleep. His partner was SO SAD that I started looking for new friends immediately. I found a baby and they bonded wonderfully and easily. As for the rest of my boys...long story short, I have tried doing bondings myself between two boys, and failed. The boys seemed fine on neutral ground and then there was nonstop fighting in the cages. I even had the local rescue try bonding them, but it didn't work.

Luckily, there is hope in letting the boys live side by side in a divided cage. It sucks not having a pair, but the boys are happy to live where they can see, smell, and interact with their 'partners' - they just can't fight each other. I have 4 single boys, in 2 different cages. One 'pair' to a cage, divided down the middle.
 
Last year I had to bond a bereaved boar with a new friend. I posted a thread about how I went about it and how it all went. I can't link you to it on my phone but if you want to look it up it is titled "A new buddy for King Edward Potato"
 
I've done a bonding with a VERY laid back older pig and a youngster (Max) which went well immediately but after the older pig died I tried bonding Max several times unsuccessfully, so he had to live side by side with his friend eventually. In all cases of bonding they were fine for about 3 or 4 hours and then fought once I thought it was all going well. I have since rescued two 18 month old boys who fell out badly last Summer after 2 years of being together, so they too have to live separately, but engage a lot through the bars.
 
I've been lucky up to this point with boys who were already bonded and stayed that way, but our current boys have had a much rockier road. To read the full story you can check out the thread "The Adventures of Popchop and Fuzzable" in Guinea Pig Chat, but briefly: we got them when Fuzzable was about 6 months old and Popchop about 4 months. They fell out dramatically after a few weeks when Fuzzable bit Popchop's ear in half, so then they lived in a divided cage.

A lot of people are happy with boars living side by side, but we didn't think it was ideal when they were so young and there were other options. So we decided to neuter them, on the basis that it would give a small chance of calming them down enough to rebond them, and if that didn't work, then they could each be found a girlfriend.

In fact, we won the jackpot and we did manage to rebond them. As per all the advice, we set up a big pen with freshly washed bedding, no hideys or bowls, just a pile of hay and water bottles.

They started in very dramatic, lots of rumbling and loud squeaking, displaying by walking crabwise towards each other. But it only lasted about 10 minutes before the little guy either realised that Fuzzable was bigger, or decided he didn't want to be boss pig after all, and backed down! It was fascinating to see, very clear and unambiguous. Fuzzable is, in the end, not an aggressive pig, and took his victory very gracefully. After another hour or two of Popchop being very nervous and Fuzzable expressing that he wasn't going to attack, they ended up sleeping, not together, but about a foot apart, with Fuzzable having chosen the sleeping place and Popchop following him.

Ever since they've been very happy together. We do get rumbling and occasional noisy arguments, but they both seem very content with their positions and I don't foresee any problems in future.

If you want lots more boar bonding stories, check out Scotty's Animals on YouTube. He's got a whole playlist. Interestingly he doesn't follow the neutral space rule, but he's a seasoned expert pig whisperer, and I think the rest of us should stick to those rules to give as much chance as possible for bonding to work out.
 
Here is our bonding guide with pictures and videos, including the video of the very uneventful bonding between Nosgan (who just wasn't interested in sows despite having been neutered after the death of his boarmate to live his with one of his previous owner's sow groups) and happy go lucky young Nye who provided the perfect foil for skittish Nosgan, personality-wise as well as optically.

However, if you can, consider rescue dating. With boars you generally know fairly quickly whether they vibe or not, unlike with sows.

What you can never do is make your piggies like each other - they are very much their own fully formed personalities with their individual dynamics between them. You can only ever give them the best possible chance and have a plan B at the ready in case things don't work out if you can't date your boy at a rescue.
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
 
I have Finn and Bear who have bonded and live together harmoniously. My baby boy Ben is new, and lived with my boys for about a month in the same cage but fight broke out so he lives next to Finn and Bear.

Finn and Bear sleep together and this means they really like each other. Finn will be 7 years old this fall and Bear will be 2 years old. I got baby Ben, now 6 months old, because of Finn's old age.
 
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