Vet says I should seperate my boys :(

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Wheeky

Wheeky

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They have 8 months old and have lived together forever, though have never really got on, but Ollie's latest wound was the decider. He has a nasty scab and is 200g underweight so I need to seperate them now.

They are currently living in a 3 by 4 C&C lined with fleece. I am going to try just sticking a few grids down the middle, making two 2 by 3 sections. I'm not sure if this will work though (the fleece will run underneath the grids).

Will they be OK on their own, or should I look into getting a friend for at least one of them?

Thanks.
 
They should be fine loads of members have separted boars so they can see each other! I bet both piggies are alot happier on there own the piggie that is 200g underweight which one is that?

That is ideal just sticking some grids down the middle maybe expand it if possible to give the piggies a wee bit more room?!
 
Sorry to hear that. Have you read the sticky thread about Boar behaviour in the behaviour section? Only some of it is 'normal', although if they've drawn blood then I suspect your vet is right.

Ideally they both need a friend, but they're at a difficult age (teenager) which is probably why they have fallen out. You *may* be better to wait until they are a little older (1 year) then introduce a baby boar to each - this is the best chances of a good match.

Or see if you nearest rescue will help you - some will let you take your boars to choose their own friends, this works very well for us.

2 x 3 will not be big enough for a pair though, each pair would need a minimum of 4' x 2' and preferably more.. the bigger the space, the more likely boars are to get on.

Sophie
x
 
Ollie (the ginger one) is the underweight piggie.
I'm not sure if I have more room to expand, since the cage takes up about half my room already, but I'd like to give them more room if I can.

Would it do any harm if I did introduce another piggy?
 
They would probably fallout, I think Sophie is right in terms of waiting. Maybe try and find some extra room for the 2 boys!

The boys need time to recover... and they need to regain weight! In the meantime I'm sure they will be ok separated and able to squeak to one another!
 
You may find that you might need a more solid separation.

Basically, you have two options - either find baby boars as companions for each, or have them neutered and pair them with a girl each.

The baby boar option runs the obvious risk of a possible break-up when the babies come into the hormonal phase; but this time round only one of the boars will be in the hormonal phase at any given moment, which can help with the success rate.

The neutering carries the inevitable risk of an operation with it. However, cross gender pairings are very stable and are not depending on certain ages, as dominance isn't the major factor. Your boars are at a good age for neutering and the six week wait after the op can be used to acquaint them with their prospective girl.

Several members on here have taken that route with good success. You will do best by finding an experienced vet to cut down on problems during and after the op (i.e. by asking your local rescue where they have any piggies of their's neutered or whether they can recommend a vet).

Sadly, there is no "safe" option, so you will have to decide which way is the one you prefer. Either way, you have good chances of making both boys happy again!
 
Wheeky said:
Ollie (the ginger one) is the underweight piggie.
I'm not sure if I have more room to expand, since the cage takes up about half my room already, but I'd like to give them more room if I can.

Would it do any harm if I did introduce another piggy?
Click to expand...

By the way, the pig that needs a home that you posted about is 12 weeks and ideally you would want a baby boar, as young as poss.... it wouldn't be fair on him or yours to have them fall out and then possibly have to rehome him again...

I agree with Joanne, let them settle for a bit, they're teenagers and their hormones are all over the place!

Sophie
x
 
Sorry, I forgot to add that you have plenty of time to mull things over while your boys recover physically and emotionally!
 
Just wondered if it's an option to have 2 separate tiers of C & C cage- one on top of the other? So one boy would live downstairs and the other would live upstairs; it wouldn't take up any more floor space. Has anyone else done this? Or is it too dark for the downstairs pig?
 
flips said:
Just wondered if it's an option to have 2 separate tiers of C & C cage- one on top of the other? So one boy would live downstairs and the other would live upstairs; it wouldn't take up any more floor space. Has anyone else done this? Or is it too dark for the downstairs pig?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say it'd be too dark for the pig on the bottom but it would mean they couldn't interact with one another if they chose to do so & being separated this way could lead to one/both becoming depressed due to having no piggy company :)
 
Wheeky said:
They have 8 months old and have lived together forever, though have never really got on, but Ollie's latest wound was the decider. He has a nasty scab and is 200g underweight so I need to seperate them now.

They are currently living in a 3 by 4 C&C lined with fleece. I am going to try just sticking a few grids down the middle, making two 2 by 3 sections. I'm not sure if this will work though (the fleece will run underneath the grids).

Will they be OK on their own, or should I look into getting a friend for at least one of them?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Living side by side they should be fine; with a grid divide it still allows them to see/hear one another without being able to inflict wounds.

I would be extremely careful adding baby boys to one/both of them as i did exactly the same thing last year when a pair of my boys fell out (fighting) when the younger one hit 5 months, i got them both baby boars & all was fine until the babies hit the ages of 4 & 6 months & then these pairings had to be separated again due to fighting, leaving me with a total of 6 single boars (i already had 2).

The first boys i separated (due to bullying) was in 2006 after they'd lived together for 13 months; these boys lived happily side by side, divided by mesh until one passed away recently.

Good luck with your boys whatever you decide. :)
 
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