Bonding New piggies

[Gonebanhannahs]

Good evening, this is my first post so my apologies if I'm not doing this right.

I recently set up a 2x6 c&c cage and have brought home 4 females. I now realize this is the minimum size but they're still under a year old right now and small so I've got a little time to expand.

They're pet store piggies, and 3 were housed together in a tiny fish tank. Those 3 are getting along fine. A bit of dominant behavior from one but the other two are very submissive right now and its very tame.

There was another female piggy and she was all alone in her fish tank. Her ear is chewed up so I assume she's had a scuffle with previous cage mates. The pet store couldn't tell me much, but I brought them all home and put them in the same cage. I know I should have introduced them on the floor during some free roam time, but the cage is brand new and not already in use by any pigs, and their day was super traumatic being transported so I thought I was doing what's best by putting them in their new home to get comfortable. I feel so bad I didn't do all the steps properly but we're here now, I'm aggressively researching and I could use some advice.

The single female piggy is very aggressive and dominant with all 3 other pigs, and is constantly chasing and the other pigs are screaming and spraying urine. I've done hours and hours of research and I gave them 3 days together to sort of establish their hierarchy, but the more dominant of the 3 and the single piggy were chattering and lunging, still, no fights or blood so I left them to work it out.

Earlier this afternoon there was a scuffle and it was a flying ball of fur and noises, so I immediately separated them. Things are so calm and peaceful right now, the 3 are getting along fabulously and the single piggy isn't being aggressive.

I just ordered an extension to add on a 2x3 space to the 2x6. I don't want to return her to the pet store just because it's a little more tricky, especially because I don't want her to go back to the fish tank and possibly be paired with another bad match who could do more damage to her.

Will she be okay and not lonely in a 2x3 connected to the 2x6 where she can see and interact through the bars?

 

[4boipigs]

I don't know anything about female bonding since I've only had boys. However, she will be fine in a connected cage next to the others. If you're able, I would expand her to a 2x4. The little bit of extra room can mean a lot to them.

My current boys all live side by side because they can't get along, even after I had the local rescue try to bond them. It's scary/disappointing at first, but they seem to be just fine like this.

 

[SardonicSmile]

Have you actually turned them all over and inspected their private parts? They get easily missexed, especially in petstores.

I would not leave that girl a loner, she is too young to live out her life alone.
Maybe you can have two cages with two girls each?
Or maybe they will even be a foursome after you enlarge the cage and try a proper introduction. There are still plenty options to try before deciding she is destined to be alone.

 

[Gonebanhannahs]

Have you actually turned them all over and inspected their private parts? They get easily missexed, especially in petstores.

I would not leave that girl a loner, she is too young to live out her life alone.
Maybe you can have two cages with two girls each?
Or maybe they will even be a foursome after you enlarge the cage and try a proper introduction. There are still plenty options to try before deciding she is destined to be alone.

So last night I checked and she is definitely a boy... I've kept him separated from the girls and all 3 piggies are now on a 10 week pregnancy watch. I should never have trusted the pet store and sexed them myself, I was just trying to make the transition as comfortable as possible for them and not handle them too much. But I wish I would have sexed them myself before adding them all together.

They were together for 3 days and there's no way to tell what the future holds for us, but bonding is no longer at the top of my worry list. Praying the girls aren't pregnant but I'm researching and doing what I can now.

 

[SardonicSmile]

I would look into possibly getting the boy neutered. A herd with one boy and a couple of girls has a good succes rate.

You could also consider giving him another friend, possibly one of his sons if the girls turn out pregnant. It sounds like you have the space for two large enough cages.

Both options would have him be alone for quite some time.

Another option would be to rehome him. I understand that this is probably not what you want, but it might be the better option for mister pig.
If all three girls turn out pregnant you will most likely have te rehome some babies as well. I think they average 3to5 babies per litter? (Not sure on those numbers) but you can easily end up with more than double the amount of piggies that you currently have.