Normal Behavior?

[ColorfulPearl]

Hi! I am new to the fourm, so I am not sure if this is the right place to be posting this, but I need some help. I got a boar about a month ago, Luigi, and decided to get another one recently, Mario. I am wondering about normal dominant behavior. After the quarantine and introduction periods, I put both piggies into Luigi's cage. Luigi was always very laid back in the introductions and wanted to be friends, but Mario had other ideas. Mario is very dominant and does his rumblestrutting thing a LOT, basically whenever Luigi does something that he doesn't like, but he seems to not like anything Luigi does. He does a lot of teeth chattering also. It makes me very nervous to be away from them in case Luigi decides to fight back, which has happened once (no blood, but close to a fight.) They are both between 6 and 7 months, so it could be all adolescence and go away right?

Another concern is that Luigi doesn't seem to leave the house all that much. Though he never left his house that much before Mario was a live-in partner either. He does eat, so Mario isn't preventing him from eating, but I haven't seen him drink since Mario was put in the cage. He is eating a lot of veggies though, so I heard that that could be a reason he doesn't drink too much. Anyways, I guess my question is, is Mario bullying him or is it normal behavior?

Now, just a couple days after they have been living together, they seem to be chasing each other around the cage, but it doesn't have the same air of terror that it does when they are fighting. It almost seems like Luigi is playing, but like I said before, he doesn't come out of his cage all that often, so it is unusual. Mario will rumble at him and Luigi will still run around, which makes me think that he is playing, and not scared. If you could let me know your thoughts on this, that would be wonderful.

I know that this is a lot so I appreciate anyone who has stuck with me through the whole thing and is willing to respond. Thanks!

[Squint96]

That is pretty much what my guinea pigs do; Bacon still chases Squint around, but things seem to have settled down in the past week. (there is another link about this kind of thing if you wanted more info right now, its in the general section called dominance, when can they be caged together, started by me, just so you know) I know it is hard to watch, and I completely freaked out when it though Squint was being bullied, but most of the time they work things out themselves. Good luck, and I would suspect that they will be better in a week or so, but some things will take longer
P.S. I got my new pig Bacon, now Benjamin, two weeks ago tomorrow

[bpatters]

If you can watch them, I'd leave them together for a while longer and see if they can work it out. Just bear in mind that their hormones are driving them, not their brains!

One thing to consider -- how large is your cage? Larger is better, and I wouldn't put anything in there that doesn't have at least two entrances/exits to it. That means no pigloos. Try putting at least two water bottles in, one at the each end of the cage, so Mario can't guard both at the same time. Same deal with pellets, hay and veggies -- spread 'em out so there's no need for Luigi to have to go near Mario to get something to eat.

Be sure to weigh them both weekly, particularly Luigi, to make sure he isn't losing weight and is getting enough to eat. Maybe a little extra lap time with a snack or two would make him feel better about things.

Good luck!

[ColorfulPearl]

Thanks so much for your replies. Last night we had a step in the right direction. They were both eating from the same dish and no one cared, and it seems to have stayed that way. I have no idea what happened. I do have two of everything on each side of the cage so that way Mario can't guard both, and two houses, both with two exits.

Tonight, they are running around the cage really fast, sometimes it seems that Mario is chasing Luigi and sometimes it is the other way around. They are both squeaking, but it is a big difference for Luigi because all he did (even before Mario) was stay in his house all day. That is something like playing right? (I hope!!)

Thanks so much, both your comments were so helpful.