Behavior Newly introduced pigs, first day together question

[kourt1313]

So if you haven't read my other thread, to get you up to speed, I adopted a one year old boar for my 10 week old Shelby this evening. We had a one hour meet and greet at the rescue where other than the occasional rumble and circle chasing they pretty much let each other be. The woman was confident in the match so we brought big ol' Matisse home (can't say little, cuz he definitely is not little! lol). Things are going wonderfully here also. Still the occasional "get away from me" but for the most part they're letting each other have their space. Oddly it is looking like Shelby may end up being the dominant one (and the rescue woman agreed) as he did try to mount Matisse at the shelter (too funny, because Shelby looks like a mouse next to this guy) and he does that little step back and forth move with his rear end (what's that called again?). Anyway, they are happily asleep at separate ends of the cage right now, but tomorrow I go back to work. I don't think I have anything to worry about, no major aggression has been shown so far at all, but I know I will worry all day at work. I'm just imagining the worst case scenario happening and probably for no reason but that's unfortunately just my make up. Mom will come home before me and check on them, but still... Do I leave them be and let them do their thing and pray nothing gets out of hand? I would think if they were going to hate each other, that would have been evident at some point over the last 6 hours or so.

 

[Hhbean]

We of course need to se pictures of your guys! Once you put them together you should leave them together. Only separate if blood is drawn or one of them is losing weight(because the other is blocking him from eating). Good luck!

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Yes, you can leave them be.

 

[kourt1313]

Ok. I watched them a bit before work this morning. They don't argue over food so that is good. They happily share veggies, take turns at the hay, and have two pellet bowls they go back and forth between. However Shelby is starting to make that yawn maneuver at Matisse and he chatters his teeth at him. Matisse rumbles, will attempt to argue, but every time it happened this morning he just gave up and went to the other side of the cage. Nothing like a 10 week old dominating a one year old, totally thought this would go the other way. Needless to say the end of my shift can't come soon enough. How long can I expect this to go on before they finally decided who's who and get along? I should add this behavior only occurs in regards to one tunnel and they have 2. I removed all the pigloos.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

I could be days, it could be months.

 

[kourt1313]

LOL, ok. Just basically as long as blood's not drawn then. Got it.

 

[SurfingPigs]

As said, totally normal, and nobody knows how long it will last. My pigs have generally taken only a week or two to get most of it out of their system, but everyone is different. I just wanted to add that the behavior you describe is a good sign, all dominance things considered. The fact that Matisse seems to prefer backing down when challenged will help keep things cooler.

 

[kourt1313]

@SurfingPigs Thank you!! The rescue woman said Matisse is a pretty mellow guy. I had no idea Shelby was such an aggressive little bleep! This sweet little guy that stretches out for rubs and popcorns like a spaz has a whole other side to him! lol

 

[Zuidy]

Also, because nobody has answered your question on the piggie's rear movement, I believe it is called rumblestrutting.

 

[kourt1313]

LOL thank you @Zuidy

 

[kourt1313]

After about a week/week and a half of being separated per the vet's orders I have re-introduced Shelby and Matisse today (there was never a real need to separate as far as I'm concerned). It was pretty smooth, same behaviors as before really. However I was watching them in the cage a bit ago and they got into a little scuffle in one of the hideys and Shelby pulled out some of Matisse's hair. Things went back to normal after that, checking on them ever since now and then and they're both chillin'. Is an aggression issue I need to keep an eye on? This never happened before to my knowledge, who knows if it will happen again, didn't seem to cause Matisse any pain and there was no blood. Shelby just kinda sat there with hair in his mouth like "What the heck is this?" Thanks!

 

[SurfingPigs]

What kind of hidey were they in? When I had pigloos, or any other hidey with only 1 way in/out, my pigs would constantly get into scuffles inside the hideys. Since replacing all hideys with either draped fleece or step stools I haven't had any more serious issues. When pigs get into tight spaces like that, it usually leads to issues if one or the other isn't too interested in sharing their little spot.

Bottom line, I would keep an eye on them and give them some more "open" hideys if you haven't already. However, pigs being pigs, I wouldn't sweat this tussle too much.

 

[kourt1313]

They have these "puzzle" hideys that you put together and can make them huge or have multiple openings or what have you. I've tried it so they have two openings and that worked pretty well. Right now it's one large opening (so it's kind of the same idea as if you made a grid roof in a corner of the cage and covered it).

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Even though it's a large opening, pigs can still get trapped. Go back to two openings.

You can use tubes and also make houses with multiple doors out of cardboard boxes.

Or, you can just drape a towel or fleece over a corner or two.

 

[kourt1313]

I'm thinking I may have to drape the fleece. The hideys are still causing too much of an issue.

Matisse has begun shrieking at Shelby when he gets close, this just started today. Shelby gets the hint and backs off. Is this pretty normal?

 

[CavyMama]

I'm sorry, maybe I missed this detail but is Shelby a male pig? "Shelby" is traditionally a female name so I had to ask.

 

[kourt1313]

Shelby is a boy. I named him after Carroll Shelby, the Mustang designer. I work for Ford (and he purrs like a Shelby lol). Matisse is named after the artist (the rescue gave him that name) I'm assuming because the black marks on his face look like paint brush strokes.


Don't feel bad, everyone thinks he's a girl cuz of the name. Only one vet tech so far has been like, "Oh, Shelby, makes me think of the car!"

 

[kourt1313]

I'm bumping this thread because I really do kinda need an answer as to if Matisse's shreiking at Shelby when he comes close is okay. He did it half the night, kept me awake, till he finally got the picture that Shelby wanted a specific hidey. I took the hideys out this morning and they will remain out till I come up with something different and the shrieking still occured when Shelby got close but it wasn't as bad. Please help! I need some sleep tonight! lol

 

[CavyMama]

What kind of hideys do you have? Your best bet is hideys with multiple openings so in case there is a disagreement about who gets which one, there is room for one pig to go out and one to enter. My pigs really like the stepstool hidey. Its got 4 legs so it also is open on all sides. Keeps squabbles down to a minimum.

 

[kourt1313]

Yeah the hideys have multiple openings but they still aren't having it, which is why I'm considering hidey removal altogether. And he still did it even when I took the hideys out. It's over everything. It's over the hay racks, over the food bowls, it's getting ridiculous and loud. If this is something they are working through then I'll let them work through it, but how long do I let it go before I finally just say enough? And yes, I have mulitples of everything, but Shelby seems to think he owns it all, it doesn't matter which bowl/hay rack/hidey Matisse is using and Matisse is getting irritated, hence the shreiking.