Transporting baby (3 weeks) 1.5 hours

TheSmoresBoars

TheSmoresBoars

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Hi Peeg People! We're adopting a baby boar to be buddies with one of our adult boars (about 4-5 years). He'll be 3 weeks when we're due to pick him up. We'll have to drive about 1.5 hours to bring him home - there aren't any rescues with babies any closer. Need advice on whether to transport baby alone and bond him as soon as we're home, or to bring his soon-to-be friend along and let them do a bonding session first and then travel together. We've never adopted a baby before. I'm a little worried that travel stress might upset the bonding; on the other hand, I'm worried about baby being without other pigs for too long. Perhaps 1.5 hours isn't that long, but I have no experience here. Thoughts? Thank you!
 
I don’t specifically have experience with this, but I do know that placing two very recently bonded guinea pigs in a small space is not a good idea.

As long as he is kept at a comfortable temperature in his carrier, has plenty of hay and or fleeces to bury himself in, and no one makes too much noise around him, he should be fine. They are fairly robust little creatures.

Depending upon where he’s coming from, perhaps you could take a piece of fabric or some used hay from his old cage just to travel with him in the box so that it smells like his territory.
 
Pantalaimon said:
I don’t specifically have experience with this, but I do know that placing two very recently bonded guinea pigs in a small space is not a good idea.

As long as he is kept at a comfortable temperature in his carrier, has plenty of hay and or fleeces to bury himself in, and no one makes too much noise around him, he should be fine. They are fairly robust little creatures.

Depending upon where he’s coming from, perhaps you could take a piece of fabric or some used hay from his old cage just to travel with him in the box so that it smells like his territory.
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Thank you. I think that the solo trip was where I was leaning, and I appreciate the reassurance and suggestions. (ETA: love your username)
 
When I adopted 6 week old Squeaks to be Zebedee's new cagemate, they were bonded at the rescue then I drove them home 1.5 hours in a cat carrycase. Older piggies will probably accept a baby without any problems, because at that stage they won't challenge them for dominance. I think that would be better, because the baby will be terrified on his own, especially having just been taken from his mother.
 
We adopted 5 week old Kiki who had a journey of 300 miles 5/6 hours. She had already been bonded with our new neutered boar a few days before. I think baby will be ok. Put in lots of hay and a few wet veggies and a hide to feel safe in. I would bind straight away
 
Bill & Ted said:
We adopted 5 week old Kiki who had a journey of 300 miles 5/6 hours. She had already been bonded with our new neutered boar a few days before. I think baby will be ok. Put in lots of hay and a few wet veggies and a hide to feel safe in. I would bind straight away
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So, did Big Boar and Baby Boar make that 5-6 hour trip together?
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
When I adopted 6 week old Squeaks to be Zebedee's new cagemate, they were bonded at the rescue then I drove them home 1.5 hours in a cat carrycase. Older piggies will probably accept a baby without any problems, because at that stage they won't challenge them for dominance. I think that would be better, because the baby will be terrified on his own, especially having just been taken from his mother.
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Thank you. That's comforting. How long did you give then at the rescue to bond before driving home with them?
 
TheSmoresBoars said:
So, did Big Boar and Baby Boar make that 5-6 hour trip together?
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Absolutely no problem. It was Big Boar and baby sow. Big Boar Hector is not that keen on travelling but Kiki doesn’t mind at all. I used to travel the 600 mile round trip every 6 weeks with Bill and Ted so Ted could have a conscious dental for a molar spur. They were always snug and relaxed too
 
Generally you don’t want piggies who have been through speed dating (ie just met for a short while and not yet through bonding) to be in the same carrier on the way home (you take them home and continue the bonding in neutral territory for several hours before moving them to their permanent cage). However his age, removal from his mother, long journey could make it a very stressful experience for him.
Id be leaning towards trying to get them together in a neutral pen for at least an hour before starting the journey home and then having them in the same carrier.
 
Bill & Ted said:
Absolutely no problem. It was Big Boar and baby sow. Big Boar Hector is not that keen on travelling but Kiki doesn’t mind at all. I used to travel the 600 mile round trip every 6 weeks with Bill and Ted so Ted could have a conscious dental for a molar spur. They were always snug and relaxed too
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600 miles! You really went the distance for Ted, literally. :) I have no idea how my Big Boar will travel - he's only ever been to the vet, who is thankfully very close. But he's generally a very chill dude. He's so snuggly with us, I'm hoping he will fall in love with a baby and find his calling being a nanny boar.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Generally you don’t want piggies who have been through speed dating (ie just met for a short while and not yet through bonding) to be in the same carrier on the way home (you take them home and continue the bonding in neutral territory for several hours before moving them to their permanent cage). However his age, removal from his mother, long journey could make it a very stressful experience for him.
Id be leaning towards trying to get them together in a neutral pen for at least an hour before starting the journey home and then having them in the same carrier.
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I'm starting to lean this way, too. Our contact at the rescue seems to think it'll be easy-peasy due to baby's age so I'm getting more comfortable with the idea of taking my adult boar along for the trip.
 
TheSmoresBoars said:
600 miles! You really went the distance for Ted, literally. :) I have no idea how my Big Boar will travel - he's only ever been to the vet, who is thankfully very close. But he's generally a very chill dude. He's so snuggly with us, I'm hoping he will fall in love with a baby and find his calling being a nanny boar.
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Aww he sounds lovely. A nanny boar :)
 
My Truffle was about 6 weeks old when I got her to pair with my other 6 week old girl. With heavy traffic coming home (through a major city at rush hour) the drive was probably close to 2 hours. She stayed huddled in the corner of the carrier under the hay I brought for her. I wouldn't say she enjoyed the ride (though that may have been more the new environment than anything ... probably should have asked to rub the towel on something familiar), but she was fine. I think I was probably more nervous than she was. I bonded the two girls at home, and they remained bonded for their entire lives.
 
TheSmoresBoars said:
Thank you. That's comforting. How long did you give then at the rescue to bond before driving home with them?
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They were in a neutral pen for a couple of hours I think. The rescue lady was very experienced in bonding and was happy that there were no signs of disagreement between them; it helped that Squeaks was still a baby in need of adult company and Zeb was a submissive older boy. (Squeaks did become the dominant one when he got to puberty, but they were still happy together).

In fact that was the 3rd boar bonding I had at that rescue - with the others, they stayed together longer in the neutral pen to be sure they were OK, as they were all adults. But they then travelled home in the same carrier without issue.
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
They were in a neutral pen for a couple of hours I think. The rescue lady was very experienced in bonding and was happy that there were no signs of disagreement between them; it helped that Squeaks was still a baby in need of adult company and Zeb was a submissive older boy. (Squeaks did become the dominant one when he got to puberty, but they were still happy together).

In fact that was the 3rd boar bonding I had at that rescue - with the others, they stayed together longer in the neutral pen to be sure they were OK, as they were all adults. But they then travelled home in the same carrier without issue.
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My adult boar can definitely get uppity when interacting with his upstairs neighbor, but I also think he'll be just fine with a baby. I have a hunch he'll end up the submissive one eventually.
 
Princess Dustmop said:
My Truffle was about 6 weeks old when I got her to pair with my other 6 week old girl. With heavy traffic coming home (through a major city at rush hour) the drive was probably close to 2 hours. She stayed huddled in the corner of the carrier under the hay I brought for her. I wouldn't say she enjoyed the ride (though that may have been more the new environment than anything ... probably should have asked to rub the towel on something familiar), but she was fine. I think I was probably more nervous than she was. I bonded the two girls at home, and they remained bonded for their entire lives.
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See, I think this will be me - I'll be the most nervous one in the car! But I'm getting a lot more comfortable with the idea of taking Chestnut with me to get the baby.
 
So, if you're interested, this is how it ended up going (TL;DR: SUCCESS!):

We took our adult boar, Chestnut, with us on the drive to meet the baby. The rescue was an hour and a half from our house. The baby was 3 weeks, 1 day old the day we went. We really liked the rescue (East Tennessee Guinea Pig Rescue). Clean cages, piggies clearly well cared for, humans who are obviously gaga for guinea pigs. The human who met us put Chestnut and the baby together in one of those round collapsible play pens and we watched them. Chestnut was SO chill and gentle. Barely a rumble. (I could hardly believe this was the same boar that would relentlessly get up in the faces of our other two pigs, who outweighed him by 200 and 400 grams respectively.) They were eating together almost instantly. The baby was very well socialized to people, having been held and handled every day since birth. Still squirmy and skittish, but nowhere near what we expected. We went around and met the other piggies while the boys were getting acquainted. So many sweet babies. Still zero signs of any trouble from the bonding pair. We drove them home together in the same box. And still no trouble. We got them home and placed them in a makeshift pen (neutral space) for several hours. Baby didn't eat for a few hours and we got a little nervous, but eventually he did eat. (We removed his hiding places in the neutral pen, so he started following Chestnut around and nibbling as he went.) Today's day 3 and all is well. They are so sweet together. Chestnut is a pig transformed. It's hard to explain - he's always been chill, but now it seems like a contented chill rather than an "I'm tired and lazy" kind of chill. He is very gentle when setting boundaries with the baby. The two of them chut-chut and squeak at each other a lot. They've been found cuddled up together several times. I think Chestnut's even putting on weight, which has been a struggle for us as long as we've had him.

I really appreciate all of you sharing your thoughts and perspectives. This ended up going extremely well and we're so in love with baby. (His name is Wilboar Rumblestrut, by the way.)
 
Fantastic, I'm so happy for you and them. Looking forward to photos.
 
I am so pleased for you all that the introduction and journey went well. Congratulations on your new arrival.
 
fluffysal said:
They are absolutely adorable. Fingers crossed that it's all smooth sailing when Wilboar Rumblestrut hits puberty ♥️
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Things definitely got a little wonky when our original pair of boars hit puberty, like they switched personalities. We have high hopes for Chestnut and Wilboar, but we're prepared to love them even through baby's teenage years.
 
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