Trouble With New Boars

[Curly2412]

Hi, I've had my two new boars for 6 days so it is still early days. They are brothers and have always lived together as far as I'm aware. They are coming up to 8 months old.
I got them from a rescue who said they are very close but I am yet to see them sitting together. They mount, teeth chatter, rumble strut and although there are no physical marks, they also look often like they are trying to bite each other. I know they are adolescent boars and display dominance but surely if they have always been together a hierarchy should already be established?
Also, they seem to be taking steps back rather than forward when it comes to getting used to me. They take food out of my hand and on my lap but they sqeal when I pick them up and whereas the firsr 4 days they were fine to sit and let me pet them while they ate, they now are physically trying to run off my knee to hide and get away from me. I can't have them out together because they start fighting.
They haven't had any floor time yet which I think will help them get rid of some of their pent up energy, I'm just scared as to how on earth I would watch them to put them back! I already have 2 deep cuts from their sharp claws on my hand and I know again these will file down with floortime, I just don't want to scare them further by having to spend awhile chasing them to put them back in their cage!

Please help!

 

[Tiamolly123]

How about giving them a break on holding for a while, & just feed them in the cage for now. Also if you put a cover over one end of the cage that will give some security. Although they were bonded at the other place it's probably going to be a little time before they can settle with you. Are they indoor or outdoor piggies?. Only separate if they draw blood on each other, & make sure you wear oven gloves if you have to separate them. Otherwise you could lose a finger or 2 & I'm not kidding.
Be patient & they will be snuggling up to you, in no time. Oh I forgot ours squeal & run when we try to pick them up & leg it. To get them out herd them gently into a large cardboard tunnel or sleeping bag then gentle put them on your lap, also I wouldn't pick them up together for now. Oh all hiders must have two entrances so one doesn't trap the other.

Can we have some photos when they are settled Pleaseeeeeee.

 

[Curly2412]

How about giving them a break on holding for a while, & just feed them in the cage for now. Also if you put a cover over one end of the cage that will give some security. Although they were bonded at the other place it's probably going to be a little time before they can settle with you. Are they indoor or outdoor piggies?. Only separate if they draw blood on each other, & make sure you wear oven gloves if you have to separate them. Otherwise you could lose a finger or 2 & I'm not kidding.
Be patient & they will be snuggling up to you, in no time.
Can we have some photos when they are settled Pleaseeeeeee.

Thank you! They are indoor piggies! This is Noel and Liam

 

[Tiamolly123]

What a handsome pair. Your lucky. If you go onto the forums & it will tell you how much space you need for 2 boars. It may be your cage is to small, boars especially need a lot of space that could be why they are bickering, put them in a bigger cage & they should be fine.

 

[Jesse's pigs]

Hi (I'm first time boar owner also and have two hooligans- Mo & Steve) you're two new additions are gorgeous -teddies I presume?

It may be that they are indeed bonded but the change of environment and new cage has meant that whoever was dominant before must make it clear that they're dominant too. Though they have been together awhile it is possible for bonded pairs to fall out with each other and at around 8 months you'll notice they might get a bit fiesty with each other because their hormone levels rise as their testicles descend. Normal dominance behaviour that you should expect to see is: rumbling, chasing, mounting, squeaking and nipping. What you should look for is full on biting and lunging etc- that is not good and if blood is drawn you must separate.

I advise leaving piggies for about 5 days after bringing them home before handling so they can settle however if you've done it earlier don't worry! Try talking to them when you enter the room thy reside in and always bring food when you go to interact so they associate you with treats- I call "here pig pigs!" When I go to see my boys and then they know it's me. Also try leaving your hand in their cage for them to smell and approach.

Floortime even with tame pigs can be rather difficult to finish lol. My two boys absolutely hate being picked up and will run when I go to put them back in their cage. I just slowly approach them while talking until I have them in a corner or against somewhere. Then I stroke them softly and talk to them so they know I'm not here to hurt them and then I lift them up.

 

[Curly2412]

Hi (I'm first time boar owner also and have two hooligans- Mo & Steve) you're two new additions are gorgeous -teddies I presume?

It may be that they are indeed bonded but the change of environment and new cage has meant that whoever was dominant before must make it clear that they're dominant too. Though they have been together awhile it is possible for bonded pairs to fall out with each other and at around 8 months you'll notice they might get a bit fiesty with each other because their hormone levels rise as their testicles descend. Normal dominance behaviour that you should expect to see is: rumbling, chasing, mounting, squeaking and nipping. What you should look for is full on biting and lunging etc- that is not good and if blood is drawn you must separate.

I advise leaving piggies for about 5 days after bringing them home before handling so they can settle however if you've done it earlier don't worry! Try talking to them when you enter the room thy reside in and always bring food when you go to interact so they associate you with treats- I call "here pig pigs!" When I go to see my boys and then they know it's me. Also try leaving your hand in their cage for them to smell and approach.

Floortime even with tame pigs can be rather difficult to finish lol. My two boys absolutely hate being picked up and will run when I go to put them back in their cage. I just slowly approach them while talking until I have them in a corner or against somewhere. Then I stroke them softly and talk to them so they know I'm not here to hurt them and then I lift them up.

Thank you for your help! Yes they are teddies! I love their fuzzy coats! And I need to clean their cage out today so they'll need floor time while I do it! Hopefully all goes well!

 

[Reenie]

Aw what lovely wee boys! I'm mum to 5 boars (a group of 3 and a group of 2). Two of the trio behave like that all the time - I guess they'll never be the best of pals, but they've never had a full on fight, and their cage is huge so they can get away from each other. A suggestion for floor time - I have a small cage area which I set up for floor time and I put them in it, then open the door and let them out. When floor time is over, I put some food in the cage bit, and in they pop - I shut the door, and they're easy to catch because it's such a small area. I used to do the same thing with a fold up run - I just reduced the size of it once they were all in to make it a smaller area to catch them in.