Boys- I don't know what to do

[Rachy1412]

I have four boars living together. Three of them are 8months old and the other one is 3years old. They have been together since the three young boys were 4weeks old. They fell in love at first sight. They sat with eachother, ate together and slept huddled together.

Now, about a month ago they caught mites and I had also moved them indoors to a cage above the girls. They got very irritated(sp?) and started to have arguments. I found cuts on three of them, I seperated them for a night and then put them back together the next day. They seemed to be VERY happy to be back together, but they also seemed relaxed being seperated. Now that they are back together they are arguing again. I am sure that they do not have mites any more but I am going to treat them again anyway.

Three of the boys are fine, they love eachother. Two of them NEVER go anywhere without eachother. It's really funny seeing them trailing after eachother. But theres the one boy who seems to be a loner. He is never with the others and when he goes near them the smallest one chases him, chattering his teeth and biting the other ones bum. The one that is being chased no longer runs back into his cage for dinner, he stays outside. When I do put him back in his cage for dinner he just sits on top of the box and waits for the others to finish. There is no blood shed but I am still worried that he is upset. He doesn't seem to like living with them any more. I am worried that bringing them indoors made them fight! They never knew the girls exsisted untill I moved them indoors, now they don't stop arguing even though the girls are indoors and they are outdoors! I know that their cage is not the biggest in the world and it is on the small side but they still argue dueing floor time. Floor time is huge so they have plenty of space to stay away from eachother. The loner seems to want to be with the others but the bully is not letting him!

I could seperate them into twos but it is not fair on the poor one that gets seperated from the rest. I thought about getting him another friend but I already have 10 pigs and it costs alot. I then thought about getting him neutered to put in with the girls. I can save up for this but I am worried that he will not make it through surgery. I cannot find any small/exotic vets. If I got him neutered to put him in with the girls I know that he will LOVEEEEEEEE it! But I would never forgive myself if he died.

I really don't know what to do, should I leave him be or what? Plz Help! XX

 

[Denise]

They may have dominance issues being so close to the females. The home I adopted my foster female to has a lot of boars and she was in her cage next to them and they were mounting, fighting and chasing each other almost as soon as she arrived. They didn't seem to mind the other female that was already there (she is her new cage mate). Can you move them to another part of the house? Just a thought.

 

[Rachy1412]

Well the boys lived outside and the girls lived indoors. I made a cage for the boys indoors and moved them in. That is when the fighting started. I then moved the boys BACK outdoors and they are still fighting!

 

[Teria]

I often read that boars are fine with each other until they smell females for the first time, and after that they won't stop fighting anymore. So I'm afraid you'll have to take the risk of neutering your loner pig and put him into the females' cage. Okay, so he will lose at first but he'll win in the long run. *G*

 

[Rachy1412]

He will win alright!! I think it will be piggie heaven for him. Six girls all to himself! I am just really scared of it going wrong, you always hear the bad stories but not the good ones!

 

[Ly&Pigs]

I only have one boar and he is in quarantine but he will be neutered and put with the girls once I have the money saved up. Just find the best possible vet you can to do his neutering if you have no exotics specialist near you. And just for clarification, pigs don't catch mites. The mites lay dormant in pigs until stress causes them to come out of dormancy.

 

[dagwellismypigy]

Have you tried a buddy bath? Try washing the girls first and cleaning their cage (to change the females smell) then wash the boys and clean their cage really well. It may help before you try such a drastic measure.

 

[Rachy1412]

And just for clarification, pigs don't catch mites. The mites lay dormant in pigs until stress causes them to come out of dormancy.

Sorry I mean't that they had lice. Do they catch lice or do they lay dormant like mites do?

Have you tried a buddy bath?

I never thought of that! I will give them all a bath tomorrow, they need one anyway.

I am going to ring my current vet this week. They've spayed my rabbit, sexed checked my piggies and treated them for mites. The spaying went fine. They sexed 5 out of 6 right. When I took one to get treated for mites they said that they could do a skin scrapping but it would cause more problems than it would solve. So they gave me Xenex ultra spot on which I found that it had prytherins(sp?) in it and it had a bad re-action on one of my piggies! I will first find out what they say about neutering a piggie then decide.

I think they have mites.. one of them anyway, he has flaky skin and small bald patches. I also found cuts on his bum from where the other piggie has bitten him.. poor piggie!

 

[Ly&Pigs]

They catch lice.

 

[Rachy1412]

I know I am opening up an old thread but it is about the same thing. So, I got Spencer neutered and put him in with the girls. He has been living with them for 3-4months now and everythings fine with him.

However, I am still having problems with my other boys and it just got worse. Now that Spencer is not living with them any more the bully(Flame) has turned on my other boy Brownie. I don't know why their arguing; they argue every where, even in the garden. Their ok eating together but when they come face to face out in the garden they chatter their teeth and lift up their heads. Yesterday Brownie had enough and bit Flame on the nose. I cleaned it up with some hibscrub(sp?). This morning I went out to feed them and Flame is a mess. He has a bite across his nose, a chunck of hair is missing from his face, he has bite marks around his mouth and his face.

I don't know what to do! I don't want to seperate them all, I don't want one living on his own. I can't put him in with the girls as he is not neutered and I don't want to pair him up with Spencer as he is happy with the girls. I've treated them all for mites numerous times (with revolution) and I've buddy bathed them all. I know that sometimes pigs will just not get along but what am I surposed to do with them now. Do I get another male pig for Brownie? Do I let him live on his own?

Any ideas?

 

[Rachy1412]

I'll just add that no one has lost any weight so their not bullying eachother over the food. I am also concerned because Brownie is a large guinea pig at 3lb 5oz and Flame is only 2lb 11oz, so I know that Brownie could do some serious damage to flame.

 

[Myspoiltpiggies]

Sounds like your young males are going through 'puberty'. I have one going through it now and he keeps arguing with his cage mate.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

What are their ages Rachy?

 

[Rachy1412]

Oh sorry, Brownie and Flame are 1yr and 2months and Elvis is 2yrs and 6months.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Too old for puberty. This is a tricky situation. Let me think on it for a bit and see what I can come up with that might help.

 

[Lisser]

When is puberty again? I don't think I paid much attention to this subject before since I thought I only had girls. Gosh I'm still so embarrassed and upset with myself. I hate to be wrong.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

As in humans, piggie puberty varies a little from pig to pig. They can start through puberty anywhere from about 4-6 months I believe.

Rachy, I have a few questions for you dear. You have 3 boars, one is neutered and lives with sows. And the other two were living fairly harmoniously together until recently but now they have started fighting. My questions are:

How close are the cages to each other?
What size is the boars cage?
Do they have 2 of everything?
Did either of them get along with the boar that currently lives with the sows?

 

[Rachy1412]

As in humans, piggie puberty varies a little from pig to pig. They can start through puberty anywhere from about 4-6 months I believe.

Rachy, I have a few questions for you dear. You have 3 boars, one is neutered and lives with sows. And the other two were living fairly harmoniously together until recently but now they have started fighting. My questions are:

How close are the cages to each other?
What size is the boars cage?
Do they have 2 of everything?
Did either of them get along with the boar that currently lives with the sows?

I have 4 boars. They are:

• Flame- Who is bullying Brownie
• Elvis- Gets on with everyone and everything!
• Brownie- is getting bullied by Flame.
• Spencer- had previously been builled by Flame but is now living with the girls.

The one that lives with the sows had previously been terrorized and attacked by Flame. The other two got on fine with him. However, now that I took him away Flame has been terrorizing my other piggie Brownie. My other pig is called Elvis and he gets on with everyone, especially Flame. I think when they went through puberty they got on better than they do now!

My boys live outside in my shed so they are no where near the girls. I had previously tried housing them indoors but the smell of the girls drove them to argue. It has been months since I housed them indoors so I thought that they would have forgotten about the girls by now!! I am not sure how big their cage is. I will measure it tomorrow. It does have three levels and at night Elvis sleeps on the top, Flame on the middle and Brownie on the bottom. I have 2 feed bowls, 2 water bottles, 1 bed, 1 box and 1 igloo, I also put hay on each level.

I know its all confusing as I have so many piggies and I appreciate the help! I have been thinking of some options but I am not keen on any of them. I could get Brownie neutered and let him live with three of my girls. I currently have 6girls so Spencer could live with one half of them and Brownie the other half; but I don't want to stress out my 5-6yr female. It only seems to be Flame that is causing the problems; what I don't get is why he gets on so well with Elvis but seems to hate everyone else. Flame and Elvis follow eachother everywhere, I've seen them sleeping next to eachother and playing together. If I didn't already have 10pigs I would seperate Brownie and get him a neutered female! :melodrama

 

[Ly&Pigs]

That is a good option, getting Brownie neutered and housing him with one or more of the sows. I wish you luck with this situation.

 

[Rachy1412]

I've decided to get Brownie neutered for my birthday and then I will put him in with Smartie, Rolo and Presley. Although my birthday is 2months away I cannot afford to get him done beforehand. :weepy:

As I will be bringing him indoors and seperating the girls I need to make some new cages! I have very limited space. I thought about having a 4x3 on the bottom for four pigs and a 2x4 with a 2x2 on the end for my other four pigs. It will have to go ontop of the 4x3, do you think it will be too dark? When I last had an upstairs the pigs spent most of their time underneath it in the dark. Also what else apart from grids could I use to support it?

Here is a plan. The black is the top cage which is a 2x4 with a 2x2 and the red is a part of the bottom cage which will be a 3x4.