Piggy fights, can anyone help?

[Faunn]

My piggy, Sagwa, would fight other piggy's I had. He is my only one now, but before I had two others and he would pick fights with them. One reason he's fighting might be because he was used as a breeding pig before. I know the first priority for guinea pig happiness is another friend, can anyone help me with this?

 

[Iluvpiggies]

i can't help, but i am also having one of my pigs picking on the others. i am beginning to think he just likes the chaos. if somebody answers back i need the advice also since i really don't want to seperate him from the others.

 

[Piglet]

Did you quarantine the pigs? I've heard that if you give a bath to pigs it helps them calm down a little...

 

[Faunn]

I've given them bathes before, they really only fought in the cages, outside, they were fine, but made that chittering noise and held up their heads when he (Sagwa, my problem pig) bumped into them.

 

[loves2travel]

why do you say that because he was a breeder pig he is less social?

 

[mncavylover]

You never know how hard they were treated during breeding. I'm sorry for your pigs, but if they are really fighting you can try to make a divider in a large cage so that they are seperate but almost together. Good luck!

 

[loves2travel]

hmmmm.....but dont you think, if they were breeded, they WOULD be social because they would have to mate with so many sows or boars to produce babies?

 

[mncavylover]

If they were forced to breed, then no. Maybe they feel they must compete with all boars to get to the sows.

 

[loves2travel]

interesting...never thought of that....piggy pschology, eh?

 

[Treen]

Have you read this page https://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm? Lots of great info on introducing pigs, and tips to help it go smoothly.

A younger boar may be best. Just (as with any introduction) be prepared for the fact they may not get along and make provisions for them to live side by side if that's what turns out to be best for them. That arrangement still provides a great deal of companionship for them.

The other option is to have him neutered and get him a female friend as males and females usually get along very well, but any operation is risky and you might not choose that for your pet. Here's some more information https://www.cavyspirit.com/neutering.htm.

Breeding boars are often housed alone for a great deal of time, and then put in with multiple females until they successfully mate with them all. This kind of interaction (solitude contrasted with periods of extreme excitement by having lots of females around) isn't always best for them in terms of developing social skills. But many people successfully house ex-breeding boars with another male, so it's certainly possible.

 

[loves2travel]

Breeding boars are often housed alone for a great deal of time, and then put in with multiple females until they successfully mate with them all. This kind of interaction (solitude contrasted with periods of extreme excitement by having lots of females around) isn't always best for them in terms of developing social skills. But many people successfully house ex-breeding boars with another male, so it's certainly possible.

oh, i didnt know it worked that way!

 

[mncavylover]

Thanks Treen, for all the info! I hope it works out.

 

[loves2travel]

yep, keep us posted!

 

[My Baby Mu]

How big is your cage?

 

[loves2travel]

hmmmmmm, yes. how big is it?

 

[Faunn]

I haven't measured it yet, but it is a large pet store cage, I'm making a new one soon. Thank you all for the information, I think I'll put a barrier between sides so they can smell each other but not fight when I get another pig. Thank You!

 

[loves2travel]

I haven't measured it yet, but it is a large pet store cage, I'm making a new one soon. Thank you all for the information, I think I'll put a barrier between sides so they can smell each other but not fight when I get another pig. Thank You!

if you're dividing, make sure eacg pig has 2x3 cubes of space, so the whole cage will probably need to be 2x6 or 3x3 or something like that.