Need Advice

[Rhyue]

I have 3 boars who have recently started to not get along. Namely Logan had been bullying Chester who I've now separated into another cage (3x2 C&C) after finding him with a split ear. I'd been trying to let them sort it out but relations were just getting worse and although i'm not sure if a ripped ear falls under the designation of "real bloodshed" as the site recommends as the point to separate but I'm not really willing to let it get worse than that. I also didn't really like how Logan would eat Chester's hair that he'd pull out (he's long haired so thats a lot of hair he might consume when i'm not around to remove from his mouth, I didn't want him getting impacted or something).

I'd been secretly hoping Chester would just put Logan in his place, but he's proven too much of a muffin to do so (Chester is far larger, muscular, athletic and stronger in general than Logan so if he wanted to he could easily turn the tables, but even when presented with a golden opportunity he'd never so much as nip Logan).

So my issue is I don't really have the room for two cages, i've got two going right now, but its very awkward and the rest of the family is not very happy with the arrangement. Additionally, I seem to be developing allergies to the little guys and I'm the one who looks after them so the multiple cages isn't thrilling in that respect either.

Tobe and Chester get along okay not amazing, Tobe chatters a little bit at Chester but doesn't seem to especially hate Chester. I've seen him attack Chester once, but i think he was surprised more than it was an intentional attack, and it wasn't a big thing, just a hairball removed (i've seen him wail on Logan once in a similar situation). So it may be possible to move them back together without Logan.

However, Logan is very bonded to Tobe, who also seems fairly fond of Logan. Logan follows Tobe around like a lost puppy, tries his best to sleep next to him and what not. Tobe grooms Logan quite frequently. As such I'd feel bad about breaking them up, but finding a new home for Logan would likely solve my problems, or at least give me enough room to break up a reasonably large cage for 2. I really don't want to give up Tobe, however I don't want to punish Logan either. Logan is a good, sweet, tolerant boy though for anyone wondering... just a monster with respect to Chester.

Rehoming Chester is out of the question, I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of him even with my allergies. He's also quite bonded to me, not to mention he really needs some quiet time to recover, not being passed around right now. I don't really want to have Chester be alone though either, he's definitely a social piggy (you should see how demanding he's being of me for holding right now o_o). He's unfortunately a pretty dominant boy so it could be hard to find him a brand new buddy and I really don't want to go through a second round of this either, for everyone's sake.

I really don't know what to do right now. I really don't want to give them up, I feel really bad just thinking about it, but things aren't working right now either.

[Hhbean]

I'm sorry your having these problems with getting your boys to live together. How old are they? They could just be going through puberty. Also, how big was the cage when you had all of them together? Boars need a lot of room to get along better. Would love to see pictures of them!

[bpatters]

How old are your pigs? And how big is your cage?

[Rhyue]

They're all about 7 months at least I'd estimate. The main cage was a 4x2 C&C (which i had wanted to expand since it is a bit small).

Unfortunately, it seems less like a space issue and rather a personality issue right now. Logan and Chester used to get along very well actually, but now, even in separate non-attached cages Chester will look over at Logan and make very upset, loud noises, sometimes with teeth chattering. Logan chatters loudly and puffs at Chester if he's near and Chester does the whole sumo stomping thing while rumbling and chattering.

[grace&piggies]

My sister had a similar problem. She had two baby boys, brothers, who shared a cage until somewhere around that age and then the fighting began. There was blood, scratches, hair being pulled out in hunks.. She separated them and couldn't be put back in together. So they ended up living out their lives in bachelor pads with an adjoining wall so they could still chat.
I'm interested to know if anyone has any tips on how to resolve conflict with male piggies who have been sharing a cage without issue. I hope someone does! Good luck, Rhyue!

[Hhbean]

Huey and Roger went through the same thing and are now together and have been for the last few months. They are hitting a year and had to live the whole summer with a divider up. I increased their cage size to 3x7 grids and I think that helped alot! Just this weekend I introduced 2 new guys and am happy to report after a few hours of sorting out dominance issues they are doing great but I did add on a side that is 2x2 so they have lots of room and they have 2 kitchens. Attachment 18016 they also have 2 stepstools in there but I put them in after the picture was taken.

[bpatters]

Well, it's undoubtedly mainly a hormonal issue, at seven months old, and just secondarily a space issue. If it were me, and I could do so, I'd enlarge the cage significantly and try them again. If that didn't work, I'd divide the cage so they could live next to each other. If you can't enlarge the cage, then you need to build another one and separate them.

But take hope, they may outgrow this after a few months and live happily together the rest of their lives.

[grace&piggies]

The cage you have there would be large enough for you to put a divider in to create two separate spaces if you can't reunite the pair. A larger cage space may not be needed.

[lissie]

The cage you have there would be large enough for you to put a divider in to create two separate spaces if you can't reunite the pair. A larger cage space may not be needed.

To separate the pigs, each pig will need a 2x3 space so more spaces is needed if they will all be on the same level.

[grace&piggies]

Oh! I was looking at Hhbean's cage! Sorry