When to stop looking for a new companion

[Elephonty]

My boar sadly had to be PTS at the end of march and left my other boar, woody as a lone pig. We have tried him with 5 other rescue boars of all ages, starting at 8 weeks going til 4 years! He has tolerated 2 for just under a week and then became aggresive (bit one on the mouth and nearly bit the other).

He seems to be fine in himself and happy to have all the food and attention on himself, he jumps up to the side of his cage wheeking every morning and it is in my room so when I am not at work I'm always with him (when I am at work my parents regularly check on him!).

Unfortunately because of his respiratory issues the exotic vet was very wary of even putting him under for some x-rays so the neutering op would be out of the question and finding a spayed sow is obviously very difficult as that only happens for medical reasons.

Do you think it's ok to stop for now and accept that maybe he has decided to become a lone boar? Tia

 

[Piggies&buns]

There is not going to be a right or wrong answer here - it’s all going to come down to how you feel about it. You’ve clearly tried very hard to find him a friend and there is not a lot you can do if he is going to reject them all! He may simply be fine on his own.

I think I would accept that a boar bonding probably isn’t going to work out but keep in touch with the rescue. Id also ask them to let you know if they do happen to get a spayed sow in. Won’t be easy and may never happen but you never know! He sounds as if he is happy though which is obviously good!

Would getting another bonded pair (or asking the rescue if they happen to have another single piggy) and keeping them as neighbours for him be an option? Of course that is a big decision in itself, you may not have the space etc, but it was just a thought

 

[Black piggies]

I agree, it seems a good idea to stay in touch with rescues about a possible spayed girl.
During lockdown, my highly strung girl was bereaved and rescue bonding couldn't happen, so the rescue gave me a single pig to see how it went. Bonding failed, but living alongside each other, they interacted a lot. That poor pig died quite soon of cancer, so my girl had another lone gap, and a couple of days ago we brought home 2 living alongside piggies and it's really pepped her up again having company, she's desperate to touch their noses, she's trying to tell them she's boss. Perhaps that could work for your boy.

 

[Siikibam]

I’m sorry your boy appears to be so stubborn! Small things but such big personalities eh. I agree with the above about having a neighbour he can talk to through a divide. It’s the next best thing to sharing space with another pig.

 

[Elephonty]

I have looked into getting a friend to go alongside him yes, the only problem is his cage at the moment is big (3x4) but obviously splitting it up into two 2x3s makes it the minimum space and I obviously don't want to stress out either pig by giving them a smaller space then they may get elsewhere!

 

[Wiebke]

My boar sadly had to be PTS at the end of march and left my other boar, woody as a lone pig. We have tried him with 5 other rescue boars of all ages, starting at 8 weeks going til 4 years! He has tolerated 2 for just under a week and then became aggresive (bit one on the mouth and nearly bit the other).

He seems to be fine in himself and happy to have all the food and attention on himself, he jumps up to the side of his cage wheeking every morning and it is in my room so when I am not at work I'm always with him (when I am at work my parents regularly check on him!).

Unfortunately because of his respiratory issues the exotic vet was very wary of even putting him under for some x-rays so the neutering op would be out of the question and finding a spayed sow is obviously very difficult as that only happens for medical reasons.

Do you think it's ok to stop for now and accept that maybe he has decided to become a lone boar? Tia

Hi!

If neutering is not an option, then would you considering a single or a bonded couple of live-alongside neighbours (can be either gender)? Perhaps a rescue would allow you to foster an older pair of boars or a stuck in rescue boar for them?

Sadly, spayed sows are very rare in the UK; most are privately owned ones that have been treated for medical reasons.
A sow would have to be at least 6 months of age before a vet would consider a spay if you want to have one done privately; I would recommend looking for a preferably sub-adult and rather submissive sow in this case, as you will have all biological instincts going for you at that age, which means a very high acceptance rate.