Where People & Piggies Thrive

Newbie or Guinea Guru? Popcorn in!

Register for free to enjoy the full benefits.
Find out more about the NEW, drastically improved site and forum!

Register

Fighting Fighting Boars

Abifaile

Member
Cavy Gazer
Joined
Jul 14, 2019
Posts
3
Joined
Jul 14, 2019
Messages
3
Hi, wondering if anyone had any advice for stopping our boys fighting. We rescued them about 4 months ago and were told they were around 9 months old and we’re litter mates. Once they were comfortable and settled we noticed a lot of chattering and rumble strutting but figured this was because of their age and asserting dominance in the new space. Things calmed down for a few months but recently things have fires up a notch as our previously submission pig has had a growth spurt and is now starting to act more dominant. We’re now at the point where blood has been drawn on 2 occasions in the last month with the now smaller pig having bite marks on his back and side. Any advice would be much appreciated as we’re not sure whether we should separate them or leave them to it and hope it calms down? Key things you might want to know:

- we have a 2x4 c&c cage with a 1x2 loft
- all houses and hideous have at least 2 entry points
- we use fleece; spot clean twice daily and deep clean every 4-5 days
- we always put food in 2 piles/bowls and try to make sure we give each pig equal attention



thanks in advance!

Abi
 

Abifaile

Member
Cavy Gazer
Joined
Jul 14, 2019
Posts
3
Joined
Jul 14, 2019
Messages
3
Picture of one of the wounds. We're keeping an eye on them and they seem to be healing OK.
thumbnail_image1.jpg
 

bpatters

Moderator
Staff member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Posts
29,251
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
29,251
The cage isn't large enough for two boars, and a 1x2 loft is really too small for any two pigs, especially boars. That's in addition to the ramp being a prime location for squabbling.

I'd take the loft off and expand the cage. If you do that, you can add fleece forests, or just draped pieces of fleece, at strategic points to break up the sight lines. "Out of sight, out of mind" often works with pigs -- maybe it will for yours.

And I'd like to congratulate you on a very well-written post -- clear title, all the info we needed to know and nothing we didn't, clear explanation. Can we sign you up to give lessons? lol
 

Abifaile

Member
Cavy Gazer
Joined
Jul 14, 2019
Posts
3
Joined
Jul 14, 2019
Messages
3
Sorry for taking so long to get back to you! Things escalated on Sunday night with the our smaller pig continuously chasing and trying to mount the bigger one. We ended up having to place some spare c&c grids down the middle of the cage overnight just so that they could settle. Yesterday evening we did a deep clean of their home, cleaned both their grease glands, and generally gave them both some fuss. I suspect that our smaller pig may have also been irritated and snappy because of a wound on their back which is healing so we have been keeping an eye on this and applying Skin-Eze which seems to be helping. They seem much happier today and less frustrated by each other's presence (sharing hideys and not squabbling over food) which is good but I don't think we're out of the woods yet as a dominant character is yet to emerge.

Thank you for your help! We've got one fleece forest but will look into making some more, we've also removed some of the items from their floor so that they have more clear space to burn some energy/get away from each other without feeling backed into an obnoxious rainbow bridge/hammock/tunnel lol We're going to look into extending the cage, this would require a bit of a move-around of our living room but will hopefully help.

Thanks again!

Abi
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.

Similar threads

P
Replies
8
Views
440
ItsaZoo
ItsaZoo
BeckJean
Replies
4
Views
391
bpatters
bpatters
Extraterrestrial
Replies
7
Views
541
Guinea Pig Papa
Guinea Pig Papa
Top