Rumbling has turned into fighting, which turned into bloodshed!

[BlueButterfly]

My boys have been rumbling and lunging at each other all day, but just a few minutes ago it escalated into a full blown fight. I threw a towel over them to distract them, then scooped up Sundae just to separate them. After looking him over, he has a BIG gash, right behind his left ear. I'll upload a picture soon. He's in one of the guinea pig carriers currently, happily munching on some hay. I'm going to put him in the quarantine cage in my room as soon as I can get it set up. He seems to be a little off, and is no doubt in pain. I'm going to try to get him to a vet as soon as I can. In the meantime, what can I do to make him more comfortable? What should I put on his ear? Should I clean out his ear? What should I clean it out with? How can I help with pain?
Thanks in advance!

[BlueButterfly]

Sorry for the double post, but here's a picture of the wound. It's hard to tell, but you can see it. Sorry for the cruddy quality, it's just a cell phone picture.

[CavyMama]

How big is your cage for the boys? In the meantime, wet a cloth with warm water to at least clean off the cut.

[BlueButterfly]

It's a 2X4 C&C. I know it's smaller then recommended for boars, I was planning on making it bigger later. Snickers is 5 months old, and Sundae is 9 months old, so I think puberty definitely is playing a part.

[bpatters]

I would clean the wound with diluted Hibiclens solution -- just put it on a q-tip and wipe it down. But keep a VERY close eye on it -- bite wounds can abscess very easily, and those are serious and expensive to treat.

You need to go ahead and enlarge the cage now, by whatever means you can come up with. It's small for two sows, much less two boars in adolescence. The longer you leave them in a small space, the more likely they are to fight. Space is the biggest factor, other than pig personality, in whether or not pigs will get along together.

[BlueButterfly]

I would clean the wound with diluted Hibiclens solution -- just put it on a q-tip and wipe it down. But keep a VERY close eye on it -- bite wounds can abscess very easily, and those are serious and expensive to treat.

You need to go ahead and enlarge the cage now, by whatever means you can come up with. It's small for two sows, much less two boars in adolescence. The longer you leave them in a small space, the more likely they are to fight. Space is the biggest factor, other than pig personality, in whether or not pigs will get along together.

Okay, I'll pick some up later.
I can't enlarge it now, but they'll be separated for now and it'll be enlarged before I put them back together.

[bpatters]

Remember you'll have to do full introductions when you put them back together.

[BlueButterfly]

Oh absolutely. My nurse aunt came over to check him out, and said that he'll need stitches. After taking a better look at it, I agree. Either way, my exotic vet takes walk ins on Saturday, so he's going to tomorrow.

[BlueButterfly]

Update- The good news is that the wound is healing fine, and he didn't need stitches. The vet gave me antibiotics and anti-inflammatory which I'll have to syringe feed him. He said that it's flavored, so once Sundae gets a taste of it, he'll be more eager to eat it. Sundae is doing okay now, he seems to be very tired though. I think it might be the medicine making him drowsy. He seems to be in less pain then this morning, so that's good. The vet also said that neutering only costs 130 dollars. So if it turns out Snickers isn't any better after puberty and a cage extension, I might neuter Sundae and put him in with the girls.