When (if) To Separate My Boars?

[aspiring_dino]

For context, I took two boars from a woman in my state that had 4 boars living in a small cage and said she couldn't take care of all 4 anymore. We were told the two boars we were taking were about 8 months and a just over a year. They aren't related but the woman said they were buddies. The day we brought them home they cuddled all the way home but have not really cuddled since. Our cage for them is a 2x5 C&C cage, they have 2 of everything, multiple hay spots, and all of their hides have two exits. They have plenty of toys and we do fleece bedding and always try to leave some marked bedding in the cage when changing.

Since we brought them home the older one (Casper) has consistently been trying to mount the younger one (Finn). We figured they needed to reestablish their hierarchy and roles in their new house and structure but this behavior hasn't stopped or settled down at all. We've had them now for about 3 months and probably within the last month Finn has started to try to mount Casper. Probably within the last month as well Finn has started to leave pig glue around the cage. When they try to mount each other there's always chasing, some light teeth chattering and a lot of squeaks. There's only been 1 somewhat serious injury, either Finn turned and nipped Casper above his nose or Finn was trying to mount Casper's face and scratched right above his nose.

Within the last couple days there has been a lot more chasing of each other around the cage, significant teeth chattering, and a lot of teeth showing and staring stand offs. We haven't noticed any injuries on either of them but their fighting has become more frequent and louder. We haven't separated them and take them out to give veg and treats everyday. At what point do we separate and reintroduce on neutral ground? How long do you separate them if needed? If there's no real actual physical contact between them during these fights are they actually fighting or just playing? How long do we let this go on before we consider separating them permanently? Is there a chance she lied and these two aren't a good pair or is it just because they are young boars still developing?

 

[Piggies&buns]

First it’s important to note that it is entirely normal for them to never share a hidey, never snuggle together. Most pigs don’t. That in itself is not a sign of a problematic relationship.
Chasing, mounting, boar glue etc are also all normal but it is the extent to which one no longer backs down, the face offs become more acrimonious, chattering more aggressive, which needs to be looked at. If things are tense and not at all good between them, then you don’t need to wait until they actually fight to call an end to their relationship but knowing the signs is important.

Youve got teenage boars so hormones are all over the place but also boars can get to the end of their teens and suddenly fall out. It happens less often than a fall out during the earlier stages of the teens but it is still the same, ie they decide that they simply do not like each other.

If you are concerned there is an issue brewing, then separating them, giving a few days apart to calm down and then trying a neutral territory reintroduction to let them make up their minds about the relationship is the way to go. If after temporary separation and reintroduction, things escalate then it is a clear sign they do not want to be together and their separation will need to be made permament.

Bonds In Trouble
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

 

[aspiring_dino]

First it’s important to note that it is entirely normal for them to never share a hidey, never snuggle together. Most pigs don’t. That in itself is not a sign of a problematic relationship.
Chasing, mounting, boar glue etc are also all normal but it is the extent to which one no longer backs down, the face offs become more acrimonious, chattering more aggressive, which needs to be looked at. If things are tense and not at all good between them, then you don’t need to wait until they actually fight to call an end to their relationship but knowing the signs is important.

Youve got teenage boars so hormones are all over the place but also boars can get to the end of their teens and suddenly fall out. It happens less often than a fall out during the earlier stages of the teens but it is still the same, ie they decide that they simply do not like each other.

If you are concerned there is an issue brewing, then separating them, giving a few days apart to calm down and then trying a neutral territory reintroduction to let them make up their minds about the relationship is the way to go. If after temporary separation and reintroduction, things escalate then it is a clear sign they do not want to be together and their separation will need to be made permament.

Bonds In Trouble
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

Thank you for this! I've been worried about separating them too soon as everyone has told me "don't separate until you HAVE to". Also, I should mention sometimes we separate them somewhat when giving veg and treats at night. We usually have them on the same pads out of their cage but usually my roommate is holding and snuggling one while I snuggle the other. We started this mainly so they would feel comfortable with both of us handling them to care for them but its kinda stuck because its been easier in our space for us to hold one instead of try to watch both. Sometimes during this time they squeak and squeak until they are both put down and are together, they share their vegs with no food aggression (an issue that was prominent in the cage when they first came home to us). Should we not separate them during this time or is it okay to separate them for an hour a day for some one-on-one time?

I've been reading a lot about boars as teens, do you think there is a possibility the younger boar is younger than we were told? When we got them he was noticeably smaller than the one we were told was older (only older by 3-4 months we were told) but we figured since the older one was more food aggressive maybe he just ate more in their old cage. The first thing I did was check the younger one's undercarriage as I've been given pigs wrongly sexed before. He didn't look like a pig that was a couple months away from being 1, and given all that I've been reading about when pigs mature, it sometimes feels like he's a couple months behind in sexual maturity in general. Is it possible that its gotten worse the past few days because we were incorrectly told his age and now he's starting to come into maturity? Or could it be worse now because they're more comfortable with us and in their cage now? Or will it just be periods of it being okay then getting worse until they are out of the teenage stage?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you for this! I've been worried about separating them too soon as everyone has told me "don't separate until you HAVE to". Also, I should mention sometimes we separate them somewhat when giving veg and treats at night. We usually have them on the same pads out of their cage but usually my roommate is holding and snuggling one while I snuggle the other. We started this mainly so they would feel comfortable with both of us handling them to care for them but its kinda stuck because its been easier in our space for us to hold one instead of try to watch both. Sometimes during this time they squeak and squeak until they are both put down and are together, they share their vegs with no food aggression (an issue that was prominent in the cage when they first came home to us). Should we not separate them during this time or is it okay to separate them for an hour a day for some one-on-one time?

I've been reading a lot about boars as teens, do you think there is a possibility the younger boar is younger than we were told? When we got them he was noticeably smaller than the one we were told was older (only older by 3-4 months we were told) but we figured since the older one was more food aggressive maybe he just ate more in their old cage. The first thing I did was check the younger one's undercarriage as I've been given pigs wrongly sexed before. He didn't look like a pig that was a couple months away from being 1, and given all that I've been reading about when pigs mature, it sometimes feels like he's a couple months behind in sexual maturity in general. Is it possible that its gotten worse the past few days because we were incorrectly told his age and now he's starting to come into maturity? Or could it be worse now because they're more comfortable with us and in their cage now? Or will it just be periods of it being okay then getting worse until they are out of the teenage stage?

I personally always keep my boars together, I don’t separate them for anything, not even moving them from their hutch to their run - they go into the same carrier at the same time.

Regards the age and size, generally a pigs physical size either body or testicle is not an really indicator of their age - some are bigger and some are smaller - but only you have had hands on the piggy and you may have seen things that we obviously cannot
They absolutely do get comfortable and start to tell you what they do or don’t like.
If you’ve got on who is food aggressive, but has been kept in too small of a cage with four boars, then he may simply have had to learn how to get enough to eat Four boars doesn’t work and definitely not in a small space.
They start to come into hormones at 4 months of age, there is a big spike at 6 months of age and another at around 9 months of age, but even adults can get the odd hormone spike.
If they are not compatible and don’t want to be together, then things will not improve once they are out of their teens. Things will continue to get worse until there is likely a full on fight.