Very Aggressive: Worried about my little piggie boy...

[JennyC]

I could really use some more experienced advice, and I hope I'll get it here

It all started with a rabbit lol. I have always wanted one, and I saw one in need of adoption or foster in my area. She came with a cage really better suited for a pig I now know, and I immediately bought her a much nicer home and a play pen. But that left an empty cage.....

After some research my daughter began plotting. She is only 6, but has a gentle steady hand for animals. We were in our local pet store one day, and she fell in love with the only baby piggie left from a litter. Now, I know pet stores are normally a terrible place for any animal, but this particular store is owned by an animal activist and friend. The mommy and a number of other animals were rescues or surrenders. Anyway, my daughter begged and I caved. She named him Moon.

After a few days, we decided to go back to the petstore and pick him out a cage mate now that he was settled. Unfortunately every other pig in the place was a girl! So, my friend said he knew of a male pig up for adoption in the area. I accepted and we brought home Comet. I researched how to introduce them, and we tried for several weeks. Comet seemed to become more and more stressed out by having Moon around, and poor Moon ended up bleeding more than once from Comet's severe aggression. Even when I separated them, Comet would fly at the bars and try to attack. I had to move him to another room, but then Moon began to cry at night. It broke my heart.

Finally, I called my friend again and asked him to keep an ear out for another young male. I found one with him, and we named him Pluto. He and Moon were instantly friends and are completely bonded now. We tried with another guinea pig to get a cage mate for Comet, but the results were the same.

I love Comet to pieces, and he is a funny little devil. He comes right up to the cage bars when I or my husband come in, does funny little laps, sits on his igloo to watch us lol. He loves floor time, and likes the crawl under and over my legs. He is, however, still aggressive and dominant to any other pig or me when i tried to hold and pet him. He will toss his head and huff/snort at me.

Can he live alone and be happy? He seems so much less stressed now that he thinks he is the only pig in the house. Should I have him fixed? Would a spayed female be better? What would you all do?

 

[Lisajazz]

Hi Jenny

I am sure you will get lots of advice on here about what to do - all anyone can tell you is what they would do.

If I were you I would find a vet that knows what they are doing and have him neutered and try and pair with a girl. Spayed females are very hard to come across - if however you found one that you could try with him would be great! i wouldn't commit to another pig until you have tried to introduce them - just so you don't end up with more pairs of pigs or solo pigs.

Otherwise you could contact a local rescue that is used to bonding up males and either surrender him (but I'm sure you don't want to do this) or ask them to bond him up with a male friend before returning to you - this is offered at some rescue centres.

Best of luck!

 

[dylansmummy]

like Lisajazz says we can only say what we would do i had a little piggie like this and kept him on his own and he was perfectly happy and he did mellow with ages the biting towards me even stopped but not to strangers he could hear my other piggies but i kept him in my room and he was extra special in some ways as i used to cuddle him in bed and let him free roam round much more as it was just me and him as he got a little older and mellowed i put him in a cage above my other boars and eventually side by side with another single boar but he still lorded it over them even though he was very old and sick but i loved him for his fiestyness so much.

 

[twiams]

My boy Marmite, is a bit of a nut case around other pigs, he just won’t settle with other boys and becomes stressed he doesn’t try hurt anyone he just makes a horrible shriek sound and panics even if i touch him while theres other pigs he just freaks out.

However he used to live separately away from my other pigs, and he slowly became a little miserable, but i’ve since moved him next to my other boys, they can’t touch each other, as his cage is half under and half beside the cage, but they can still talk to each other and they each have floor time where they run along the side of the cage together, for some reason he is comfortable with other pigs when theres a metal wall between them ! haha.
He’s happy and i’m happy that he’s happy.
Many people say that pigs should have company, but in a way Marmite does have company. They occasionally have breakfast together i put some of their favourite grass in a big bowl and spread them out around it and let them munch and chat until they get a bit grumpy with each other (usually when the bowl starts getting empty!) But i wouldn’t allow him to live by himself if he wasn’t happy. I think you just need to make that judgement on your pig, as each pig is different, if you think they’re happier alone but with neighbours then allow it to work like that

Heres a picture of my cage, as you can see theres one cage, with a little basement 2x2 cage half underneath and half to the side, i didn’t want them to share the same bars as i didn’t want to risk and bites just through the bars.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome! I am very sorry about your problems!

Could you please tell us where you are? some of your options depend on it. You can add your country/state or (UK) general area to your details, so we can give you local advice atraight away if we have some. you can do so in private messages (top bar)/my settings/edit profile/location.

There are basically three options:

- you can try to bond Comet with another boar - but only at a good rescue that offers full (residential) boar dating; there a some here in Britain, but they may be a bit away from you. The bonding will be done over the course of several days under the careful and expert supervision of a rescue lady. Comet will only come home with a friend if their has been success, and the bond is stable. A bond that has been achieved that way, is about as stable as a sow bond, as it completely relies on character compatibility (the key to any successful piggy bond). Even if you have to go quite a distance and there is a waiting list, this option is still safer and cheaper than a neutering operation. Don't "speedy date" with a baby boar.
Here is the bonding diary of a rescue lady who does full boar dating, which you may find very interesting: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?59233-Boar-Dating-Service-Wales
You also may find our boar guide and the further links in it helpful: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?21-Behaviour

- you can have Comet neutered and living with sows. This option depends on you having access to a vet with a good track record in piggy neutering in order to minimise the risks inherent. Sadly, post op complications are still far too common and can become quite a nightmare; at the very worst a piggy can die. We can provide a list with piggy savvy vets and recommendations for good neutering vets for Britain, even if they may be a little way away.
Comet will then face another full 6 weeks wait until he is 100% safe to go with a sow or two (I have a baby from a supposedly safe over 5 weeks post op boar (not one of mine), so it can really happen as late as that!).
In favour of that option is the fact that cross gender bonds are the most stable of them all and can often be very loving. I have currently two neutered boars here who were too aggressive to go with any other boar (one as a summer holiday guest), but they are perfectly fine with girls.
You will have to either keep any sows away from your boar couple, or house th boars above the sow cage - line of sight and pheromones can provoke fights.
I am a big fan of cross gender pairs and groups, but you need to weigh up the risks and really do you research. I nearly lost one of my boars, which I had neutered through a new local rescue and the vet clinic they were using while caring for his terminally ill predecessor at home.

- the last option - if none of the above is possible - is to keep Comet alongside your two other boars with interaction through the bars. The disadvantage is that he won't have a companion himself.

 

[JennyC]

Thank you everyone for the wonderful information and advice I live in the states, SC specifically, but I am trying to find a local piggie rescue to see what options are available. And thank you for the warning about having Comet fixed, I had no idea it was so dangerous for the little guys. I will make sure I find an experienced vet if i decided to take that route. I will let you guys know what I find, and let me know if you think of anything else.

Thanks again!

 

[JennyC]

So, a quick update. We have decided to try and either find a home with an already altered female looking for a male, a spayed female looking for adoption, or for a rescue that will work with me to spay one of their females and adopt her. After looking at all of the information, I am putting neutering Comet and the very bottom of the list. If anyone Knows of an altered female in my area (South Carolina, US) please let me know. I have left messages and emails for the rescue her, but no responses yet.

 

[JennyC]

After trying every avenue in the area, I came to the comclusion that there are no active guinea pig rescues in my area After speaking with the vet we tried to bond Comet to a very passive boar by doing a bonding bath, but the results were still not good (detailed in other post). But the most amazing thing has happened! We now have the two boars cages near eachother and comet is not freaking out! And my husband who rarely is home gave him hay last night, and comet LOVES him! He followed him around from in the cage and even let him touch his nose. Well go figure lol. Maybe comet needs time to warm up to our new guest