Can my 2 males get along?

[Tiffany]

I have two male piggies who fight when they are together. They got along well until Fritz reached sexual maturity, and have lived in separate cages for about a year now. I have read that having a bigger cage may encourage some pigs to get along when they previously fought. Now that I have built a larger cage, how can I test to see if they would be safe together? I worry about them getting lonely, and I can't have any more pigs.

[Ly&Pigs]

Introduce them on neutral ground, such as during floortime. See if they get along, it they get along well then clean the large cage thoroughly including cleaning all the hidey houses, food dishes, water bottles, etc., before putting them in the cage together to remove all scents. See www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm for more info on introductions.

[TurboPiggy]

Just curious, how were they fighting? Was there blood shed? It's totally natural for boars (I say this because thats what I have) to "go rounds" every once in a while to determine who has the biggest kahoona's and gets to be in charge. My 2 boys just had 2 days of pratically non-stop teeth chattering at one another (which they've NEVER done before) along with chasing and nipping. I left them together to work it out, they got over it and all is well again.

[Tiffany]

Before, there was blood shed. Of course, at the time they did have a cage that was WAY TOO SMALL even for one of them. I have been introducing them during floor time over the weekend as directed in the "dating game" on this website, and they are teeth-chattering, chasing, nipping, and displaying other dominance behaviors. Nothing too bad, and they take a break from it after a few minutes. My next question is: How do I know when it is safe to leave them together unsupervised? (Like in the cage?)

[Dutchgrl]

I recently acquired 2 males and tried doing the introduction routine from this site after witnessing aggressive behavior the first night. They had over an hour of floor time on the 2nd day with my kids [11 & 8] supervising while I cleaned their 2x4 C&C cage all all its contents with vinegar and water. I put in new bedding and since everything seemed to be going great on the floor my 11 year old picked up Cappy and I picked up Rover so they would be put into their piggy palace at the same time. Almost immediately they were chasing, nipping, teeth chattering. Usually it's been Cappy beating up on Rover but this time they each seemed equally aggressive toward the other. We came very close to a full out flying furball fight. At that point I seperated the GPs and put Cappy back in the container that he was given to us in [a 32"x18" rubbermaid storage box]. My husband seems to think we need to just find Cappy a new family and try to find a more mellow GP to be Rover's buddy. I had told my kids that we'd give it a week to see if they could come to terms with each other. But with the aggressive behavior escalating, I'm not sure if it's in Rover's best interest to keep exposing him to Cappy. Any suggestions?

[mom to cujo]

I have 4 males - a 2 year old living with a 15 month old and 2- 3 month olds that live with each other. The 2 older males were introduced in February and have nipped once or twice at each other, but have adjusted to living together just fine. The younger boys have been together since a few weeks old and love each other. This weekend I am adopting a 3 week old male and haven't yet decided who he will room with, but the older pigs have played well with the younger pigs during floor time as well. I guess it depends on the pig's temperment. Thank goodness I haven't had a problem with any of my boys.

[TurboPiggy]

I know it's pretty hard to watch them be "mean" to one another. It takes time for them to work it out. If given time, I think most do work it out and live together nicely. When I introduced my two boars, it took a good week for them to stop picking at eachother. Sometimes the picking was worse than others, but it was pretty constant. Even now they have their days where they like to remind the other who is (or thinks he is) the boss.
My suggestion is to make sure you have ample room for your guys. Two boars need a little more room to live together than two sows or sow and boar. Make sure you have two of everything, food dish, water bottle, hidey house etc. Give it time, as in days. As long as they aren't causing one another real harm, like bleeding, then let them work it out. They must do this to decide who is in charge. I believe that every time you seperate them, you are starting from step one when you re-introduce them again and therefore it takes that much longer for them to play their "who's the boss?" game.
Good luck.

[Tiffany]

So, if it were you, would you wait until the weekend when you would be there over that few days just in case there was a full-out war? I am excited to get them together, but safety really is my first concern.

[mom to cujo]

Absolutely - I would re-introduce them on neutral territory and sit close by with a towel to seperate if needed. When you put them together in a cage make sure it it completely cleaned and deoderized so there is no smell left from any thing and then let the fun begin. I'd keep a bit of an eye, but if no blood is drawn I would give them time to just work it out between themselves.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[A4PigHome]

Tiffany, I has the same problem with two of my boys. There was lots of biting and a little blood shed. So Scooby has been living by himself for 6 months now, and only saw the others through a wired grid during floor time.

Now that it is nice out, and that puberty is pretty much over (thank goodness!!!), I started putting Scooby and Shaggy in a large caged area to see how they would do together. Of course there was lots of mounting and some chattering, but overall it has gone so well. They even lay next to each other.

I made sure I was always around while they were together, and also put in lots of romaine and hay to make it as pleasing of an enviroment as possible.

[Ariana]

[font=Arial Black]Hi,[/font]

[font=Arial Black]I'm considering on getting two fourweek old boars.Is this a good idea?[/font]
[font=Arial Black]I need some advice on this situation.[/font]

[littlebear]

My 2 males get along just fine I got another one for my other male and after I kept them apart for 1 month I put them together and they got along fine.

[Ariana]

[font=Arial Black]How big is your cage?[/font]

[littlebear]

My cage is a 2x5 with a 1x2 second level! And they interact.

[Ariana]

Is it a C&C?

[Ariana]

[font=Arial Black]I need to know all you can tell me about this situation.[/font]

[Funnygpigs]

Try bathing them together and placing them together to dry. I have heard that this works to bring two fighting males together. :0)

[Ly&Pigs]