Unhappy Pair

[helenk6]

I've had my 2 boars now a month and a half they havent every really got on Peppa used to be the boss but now George has taken over, the thing is they just don't seem happy living together, George seems to always be at Peppa trying to nip him, should I try a trial separation? Or do u out think this will be bad for them?

 

[Keiko The Pig]

The general rule is no blood no foul. So as long as they aren't a fur tornado of fighting piggies they are probably okay. How old is George? hormones kick in around 4 months and it may be that he now has the balls (pun very much intended) he has challenged and won over Peppa's previous authority. Changing in hierarchy is not a reason for separation unless one pig will not back down and this results in fighting or bullying. Nipping is a normal dominant behaviour and it is done just so the other pig can feel the teeth, as long as George isn't yanking fur or breaking the skin I wouldn't be too worried about it. Not all pairs are cuddly or like to spend a lot of time doing things together. As long as George allows Peppa to rest, eat, drink I wouldn't say they need to be separated.

 

[Caron's Cavies]

I agree with Keiko The Pig.

Boys will be boys.

If they are in the hormonal age group this may happen but should settle down once they pass that stage.

xx

 

[Wiebke]

The behaviour is still in the mild dominance range with George enforcing his new-won status, so no reason to separate. This stage of a hierarchy change can last several weeks.

Nipping is a very carefully judged gesture of power wher the top piggy lets the underpiggy just feel the teeth, but does not bite or hurt. The underpiggy's response is typically submission squealing - again, it is perfectly pain-free!

Trial separation means that you get more dominance behaviour afterwards, so it can cause more harm than good unless the bond is really on the brink of functional with hormonal boars, either to let the boars cool down after a hormonal spike that very, very nearly ended in a fight (you can't mistake the intensity of that) or if you suspect systematic bullying on a much more intense scale (incessant - and I mean incessant - humping, no chance of sleeping peacefully, systematically preventing from access to food, water and hay etc.)
Your boys are definitely nowhere near that!