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Behavior Boar relationship experiences?

Paperpapillon

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Okay so I have 1 male 6-8 month old boar right now. I know it's not ideal to have just one pig. I've come across a long haired (Peruvian or Shetland??) male that is a bit smaller, probably 4-5 months from my guess. I intended to get him a partner at some point, but from what I've read about boar & boar relationships I have to admit I don't know if I want that.

I would HATE to have constant competition between them. I don't want to feel sorry for one getting pushed around. I don't want all the rumblestrutting and all that male stuff all the time. Am I going to regret trying to introduce a male friend to him? I'm stressing about this because I don't have much time to make a decision on him but think it's a good opportunity to get him a nice friend. I know it's a possibility, but is it a probability?

Any opinions or stories about your own experience with boar/boar cagemates is appreciated!!
 

Cathey191

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From what I have read on may blogs and youtube videos, males together once they have figured out who the boss is will get alone without too many problems. The only two reasons they would fight often is if they can see/smell a female piggy or if they have very different personalities.
 

bpatters

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If I had a boar I wanted to find a buddy for, I'd take him to a reputable rescue and let him pick one out himself. It's not a guarantee that they'll get along, but it certainly improves the odds.

But, if you put two boars together, you WILL have rumblestrutting and chasing and mounting and boar stank. If you didn't want all of that, why did you get a boar to begin with? If you look around, you might be able to find a spayed female, but they're pretty scarce.
 

Paperpapillon

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If I had a boar I wanted to find a buddy for, I'd take him to a reputable rescue and let him pick one out himself. It's not a guarantee that they'll get along, but it certainly improves the odds.

I wouldn't risk exposing him to an environment like that no matter how reputable the place may be. Multiple pigs in the same room/cages/area with unknown histories. I just wouldn't trust he would be safe from picking things up including parasites and infections. Just not worth that risk IMO. I'd rather do it the right way and quarantine first and introduce slowly.
 

bpatters

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If you pick a reputable rescue, and there are plenty on the east coast, he'd be just fine. Most people in GP rescue have lots of experience in matching pigs by personality, and they could be a lot of help to you.

But if you're going to pick the pig, then you need to be prepared for the fact that it may not work out, and you'll have two solo pigs.
 

Paperpapillon

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If you didn't want all of that, why did you get a boar to begin with? If you look around, you might be able to find a spayed female, but they're pretty scarce.

It wasn't a planned thing, it didn't matter the sex because he was/is the most friendly, sweet and not-skittish GP I've ever seen. Just had to have him. At the time I didn't know boar/boar relationships were so complicated. All you read in research is BUY IN PAIRS buy in pairs!!! And not a whole lot about how they really get along until you really research more into it (or just throw them together like most people do and then panic).
 

Paperpapillon

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But if you're going to pick the pig, then you need to be prepared for the fact that it may not work out, and you'll have two solo pigs.

But my question is, even if they get along and make a good pair, are there still going to be issues no matter what? Still some competition - I guess there always is with more than 1 animal. It's not about me picking the pig so much as I'm not taking mine to a rescue. If I personally don't know the person and the pets histories I'm not doing it. But it's a nice idea.
 

bpatters

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Yes, there will be. They'll challenge each other for dominance. As I said earlier, they'll rumblestrut and chase and chatter and mark their territory. That just goes with the boar territory. The only way to avoid it is to only have sows, and even then you'll have some of it. Just without the odor.
 

pigtales

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As someone who has only owned sows, I just have to ask - what is "boar stank"? Because it sounds hideous. 😛

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Soecara

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Boar stank is just a male guinea pigs scent mark. Guinea pigs produce an oily secretion from the grease gland to scent mark their territory. Female guinea pigs will scent mark too, just usually not as often as boars and it doesn't have such a strong odor to it. Boar scent marks are usually called boar stank for a good reason, it has a particularly strong odor. If two boars are scent marking, which is par for the course when they have a display of dominance, it can stink up the whole room, but provided you have good ventilation to the room it usually doesn't linger.

Here is a thread from over a guinea lynx about it https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=56317
 

Paperpapillon

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Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the different experiences! Looks like I have some big thinking to do. Smell isn't hat big of a deal to me, I'm a clean freak and will take care of it. It's basically just the pigs' happiness in this case! But it would involve a whole lot of things, bigger cage etc too.
 

Paperpapillon

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Fighting boars :( Should I give up?

Sigh......it's been a long few days. My guy Vinni was a lone pig, but I found him an adorable Coronet "brother." Had them separated about a week and built a nice big 2x4 C&C cage and was so excited. Read tons and tons of websites about intro's and watched countless Youtube vids about it. Put them together in a big expen for dogs, set it up just like I was told. The intro period was about 4 hours. Vinni was definitely the top pig, mounting and chattering and all that big boy stuff. The new guy is a bit smaller. I figured Vinni would be dominant - he's big and brave. The new pig seemed submissive - he's scared and flighty and in the group he came from he was the last allowed to eat. So they finally settled down, laid near each other, ate together, etc. Still rumblestrutting and chattering some but long breaks in between. They were introduced to the nice new cage, everything was ok. Still not 100% peace but it was tolerable. It lessened through the night, and all was quiet. They were fine. Today all was okay again. Eating, etc.

I got home after being out about 2 hours and went to check on them. Filled their food bowls and they happily were eating. I was shocked to see them eating out of the same bowl. Then the new one lifted his nose up and Vinni left the food area. I was surprised. After that, all hell broke loose. Then we were doing some work on the cage lid, so lots of stress and noise, which maybe inspired these fights?? The new one is now NOT backing down. He seems annoyed from being humped to death but not sure if that's the case. He started the chattering a few times and was smelling Vinni's behind now. No humping from anyone, just noise and Vinni doing a yawn (which he's done quite a few times and they just walk away afterwards). I decided to do a bath, made it long and drawn out and kept them in the towel together and blow dried them together. All was well, cuddling and huddling together. No noise or anything. Put back in cage and here we go again. Well after a while it escalated and we had a full on ball of fury. Separated and see Vinni's ear is split and the new one has a little blood spot on his cheek. UGH. Cleaned them up and separated the cage into 2 parts. They can still see/smell each other but can't hurt each other. UGH.....I'm so disappointed. I knew this could happen, but they were doing SO well. We've lost all the progress they made. Everything I've read says it's okay until blood is drawn. This was the first time. They just won't settle now. Even being separated there is a lot of noise and rumblestrutting by Vinni only.

The only change I can think of is when we started messing with the cage lid (fixing it some) we took the hide houses OUT. Maybe since the new one had nowhere to hide, he felt stressed and started all this? It seems WITH the houses they were doing much better. Help! What do I do? Leave them separated like this for a few days? So upset :( PLEASE no negative comments......I've done everything *right* from what I've read. I know it just sometimes doesn't work out. Any ideas or encouragement is much appreciated.

IMG_6821.jpg


IMG_6814.jpg

(above 2 are the cage situation right now, separated. please excuse the mess, I'm so stressed I just snapped the pics to show and ask what to do)


IMG_6744.jpg

(these are from the intro day in the expen)

IMG_6773.jpg

(from intro day in expen)
 

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bpatters

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Re: Fighting boars :( Should I give up?

You've got a thread on boar relationships. I'm merging this one with it. Please don't start multiple threads on the same topic.
 

Paperpapillon

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Ok, sorry. That one was when I was *considering* it....at the time I did not have another one.
 

Paperpapillon

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Re: Fighting boars :( Should I give up?

Is anyone going to see this new subject though, I don't want opinions on what to expect with boar relationships anymore. Now I''m having a problem and want help. I think my new subject/title would get attention since the other topic was already seen got replies......
 

lissie

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I didn't read through the whole thread, but they both need a place to hide. If you are concerned about houses blocking their running space, you can drape fleece in the corners of the cage to make tents. Fleece forest works well too (fleece cut into strips)
 

PiggyGrandma15

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I also did not read the whole thread admittedly. From what i see in the most recent pics though, you are trying to habe 2 boars in a 2x4 cage. That is fine for 2 sows, but boars need more space and a pair of boars in a 2x4 is asking for trouble from what I've read on this forum. Is there any way you coukd go to a 3x4? Or even a 2x5?

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