Male aggression towards new male

[sofiemuffins]

Hi everyone.

Lastnight after having my new male quarantined for almost a month now, I decided to introduce him to my other 2 males. Oscar and Henry, who are brothers get along great-although Henry is very much the alpha male! I introduced Walter to them in a nautural setting, there was a lot of teeth chattering, attempted mountings, and they were all trying to bite eachother! Is this normal for the first introduction? I had to break it up within a half an hour because Walter is hairless, and I thought they were going to hurt him. Should I not attempt this again? I know that I've read that it takes awhile, but I was wondering if it was hopeless? =( I'd like them to all get along...and eventually all live together...

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

[LiciaMommycott]

Rumbling and mounting are normal and nothing to worry about. I've heard that violent teeth chattering is a signal for an impending attack. You're not clear on how serious the biting is. If it's just nips to show who's boss, it's probably not much to worry about and will sort itself out. However, if it's vicious fighting and someone is getting hurt, you should probably separate them.

How is their living arrangement? Can the new pig be kept very close to the others, maybe just separated by a grid? That way they could get more used to each other before you combine them. Then maybe you could give them periods of floor time together so they have time to adjust. I'd suggest giving them time together in a neutral territory.

Have you read the page on introductions? You might want to have the pigs together somewhere and take that time to completely clean the cage you plan on keeping them in and maybe even redesign it. Remove anything that has the old smell maybe getting new cage accessories (hidey holes, etc.). This way all the pigs can be put in a new environment and no one is invading another's territory. Make sure you have separate bowls, water bottles, hidey holes for everyone so they don't have to compete for cage resources.

I've also seen suggestions to wash all the pigs so that they all smell alike.

 

[sofiemuffins]

Hi. Thanx for your reply. I'll try again tonight, I'm not sure if they were going to hurt eachother, the 2 brothers get in their little arguments. I'm going to try again tonight, I just worry about Walter because he's hairless! I feel like it would be easier for them to hurt him because he has no fur. And Henry rumble struts often when Oscar is near him, so hopefully they can warm up to Walter. I'll keep you guys posted on their progress!


Thanx again for the advice! I'm gonna give them all a bath tonight.