Duncan has changed so much.

[Whit23ney]

Duncan used to live with Pepper. (both boars) If you read through some of these threads you'll see why they had to be seperated...naughty Duncan.

Anywho, Duncan has never much liked being held. You always had to chase him around his cage and he was very wiggley the whole time.
He's been alone on his level for a couple months now and he's acting like a totally different pig! He used to do laps and popcorn but now I hardly ever see him do that. Instead of running away when I open his cage doors he runs to me. Before I even open the doors he comes up and starts biting the grids frantically. I come over and he lets me give him kisses on his nose through the cage. He loves kisses. He lets me hold him and pet him forever and seems to love it.
On the one hand, I worry about him cause I think he only likes me so much now cause he's lonely not having a cage mate. I think that's why he doesn't run around and play as much too. I would put them back together if I could but it's so bad for Pepper. I think poor Pepper is still traumitized by living with him. I can't afford to get another pig for a cage mate for Duncan (we already have six) and judging by Duncan's behavior with Pepper I'm thinking he'd just try to kill the new guy. I've tried to give Duncan and Pepper floor time together but either they each stay in their hideys the whole time or if I take them out, they go over like they've never even seen each other before...sniff out to see if the other is a female....as soon and they "discover" (as if for the first time) that it's a male....Duncan chases Pepper around the cage trying to kill him again. It's a futile effort.
You guys think Duncan is still okay and happy right? You think his cage activity and loving nature mean he's depressed?
Concerned for Duncan....
Whitney

P.S. Pepper seems much happier by himself. He does laps and popcorns all the time (which he NEVER did before) and he's gaining weight and just seems so much healthier.

[muffin]

I'm no expert so wait til someone more experiencedoffers advice on this, but could you neuter Duncan and then put him in with the sows? He does sound a bit lonely for piggy company. You could maybe neuter Pepper too and dividethe sows between them. They would most likely be happier with piggy company, and maybe Duncan is just aggressive towards males. I think male piggies tend to eb quite happy in female company. You maybe had problems because although males don't always fight, they may if there is the smell of females. Two males should not be in the same herd/cage when females are present, sincethey compete, but maybe dividing the females between them would be a good compromise. It does mean getting them both neutered though, and that can be risky. See what others think, I don't know a huge amount about this sort of stuff I'm afraid.

Trying to reintroduce them multiple times is very stressful. If they still don't get along after a couple of tries, it's usually recommended not to persist in trying. You have to either let them 'get on with it' or seperate them permanently. This website has a lot of good tips: http://cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm especially towards the bottom of the page.