SerpentineSylph
Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2008
- Posts
- 118
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2008
- Messages
- 118
Prologue
Last night I finally was able to introduce my baby Teddy, Boo to my 3 year old Crestie boy, Doc. Boo is a very small, young boar who had been around other pigs his whole life, Doc... I don't even know his past. The shelter had no clue. So, I was PETRIFIED of introducing them. So many people have horror stories of blood shed, hours of chasing, and so on. I just didn't know how my lonely three year old would deal with a new boar. My fiance had Boo on a towel, and I had Doc on another towel. We sat down on the floor, legs spread to make a 'pen' and straightened the towels out. I then grabbed this fleece blanket that was folded in a few sections, readying it to pry the gaping fur and blood filled jaws of Doc off of poor little Boo.
The Meeting
Boo sat there, stiff as he could be. Didn't move a muscle. Doc browsed for a while, nibbled on my pants, and I encouraged him towards Boo - and finally he found him. Doc made no noise, nibbled the fur on Boo's face and then nibbled on his ear and Boo wheeked, which made me gently move Doc away. I was so scared, Boo just sat there in a very passive way and my fiance checked his ear - only slobber, quite the relief. So, Doc just browsed, couldn't care less about Boo. Walked next to him, sat next to him (purely on accident), but nothing else. No sounds, no rumblestrutting, no anything. Boo peed, I thought 'here comes the test' as Doc sniffed it... He did nothing. They stayed together for about two hours, no problem. I put hay in there and they munched it together, though Boo still kept very still.
The Setup
I planned on washing everything in the cage (I only have one set of towels for it), re-doing the cage, and then putting everything in - but both my fiance and I were very tired and it was pushing 1AM. So I opted to just put those two big towels in and my other fleece, and just make do for tonight with my 2x4 (I had a loft, but I took it off as I was going to re-do the cage last night, expand to a 2x5 L-shape and have a 2x2 loft). I set everything up, put a brick under the water bottle so Boo could reach it. Food bowl, two hideys, excluding the make-shift hay rack which would make three, two jingly balls, a little mirror and a toilet paper roll. How would they react in cage?
The Real Deal
I put Boo in first, made sure he could get to the water. He drank and perked right up, exploring everything the cage had to offer. He had spent his life with his brother (the dominate one) before in what basically equates to a 2x1 with pine (not kiln-dried, it made me cough), which has caused him to cough a little when I first got him, though that's slowly diminishing. I'm sure his lungs are much happier on fleece. Anyway, here comes my big boy, Doc. In he goes, he checks out everything, watches Boo running around, but keeps doing his thing. Boo is more bold now. He gets right up in Doc's face, right by his mouth Oh, god. Oh, god. Oh, god. What's going to happen? ... To my surprise, Doc popcorns! He darts off though, and Boo keeps browsing. We watched them until a bit after 2AM. And it was great, no ANYTHING! I couldn't believe it! They both popcorned, had fun - though Doc is a bit frightened of Boo! Boo did wheek one time in what sounded like pain, but it was because ol' fatty boy had stepped on him and was partially standing on him... :crazy:
Epilogue
They're doing beautifully. No cuddling despite Boo's best efforts, Doc still runs away. But no bad noise or nips at all! In fact, there was some purring and happy noises! Doc's still learning about other pigs, it seems. I was worried when Boo was drinking water, Doc came up and sniffed his butt and then when to Boo's face (I realized I had forgotten to clean the nozzle of the bottle!), Boo turned and they were nose to nose and then Doc went on his merry way! Doc was eating pellets out of the bowl, Boo came over and put his paws up and then climbed in and started eating. Doc then stopped eating for a few moments (my heart raced again) and he then just squeezed his nose in next to Boo and finished his meal!
I'm tickled, to say the least!
Last night I finally was able to introduce my baby Teddy, Boo to my 3 year old Crestie boy, Doc. Boo is a very small, young boar who had been around other pigs his whole life, Doc... I don't even know his past. The shelter had no clue. So, I was PETRIFIED of introducing them. So many people have horror stories of blood shed, hours of chasing, and so on. I just didn't know how my lonely three year old would deal with a new boar. My fiance had Boo on a towel, and I had Doc on another towel. We sat down on the floor, legs spread to make a 'pen' and straightened the towels out. I then grabbed this fleece blanket that was folded in a few sections, readying it to pry the gaping fur and blood filled jaws of Doc off of poor little Boo.
The Meeting
Boo sat there, stiff as he could be. Didn't move a muscle. Doc browsed for a while, nibbled on my pants, and I encouraged him towards Boo - and finally he found him. Doc made no noise, nibbled the fur on Boo's face and then nibbled on his ear and Boo wheeked, which made me gently move Doc away. I was so scared, Boo just sat there in a very passive way and my fiance checked his ear - only slobber, quite the relief. So, Doc just browsed, couldn't care less about Boo. Walked next to him, sat next to him (purely on accident), but nothing else. No sounds, no rumblestrutting, no anything. Boo peed, I thought 'here comes the test' as Doc sniffed it... He did nothing. They stayed together for about two hours, no problem. I put hay in there and they munched it together, though Boo still kept very still.
The Setup
I planned on washing everything in the cage (I only have one set of towels for it), re-doing the cage, and then putting everything in - but both my fiance and I were very tired and it was pushing 1AM. So I opted to just put those two big towels in and my other fleece, and just make do for tonight with my 2x4 (I had a loft, but I took it off as I was going to re-do the cage last night, expand to a 2x5 L-shape and have a 2x2 loft). I set everything up, put a brick under the water bottle so Boo could reach it. Food bowl, two hideys, excluding the make-shift hay rack which would make three, two jingly balls, a little mirror and a toilet paper roll. How would they react in cage?
The Real Deal
I put Boo in first, made sure he could get to the water. He drank and perked right up, exploring everything the cage had to offer. He had spent his life with his brother (the dominate one) before in what basically equates to a 2x1 with pine (not kiln-dried, it made me cough), which has caused him to cough a little when I first got him, though that's slowly diminishing. I'm sure his lungs are much happier on fleece. Anyway, here comes my big boy, Doc. In he goes, he checks out everything, watches Boo running around, but keeps doing his thing. Boo is more bold now. He gets right up in Doc's face, right by his mouth Oh, god. Oh, god. Oh, god. What's going to happen? ... To my surprise, Doc popcorns! He darts off though, and Boo keeps browsing. We watched them until a bit after 2AM. And it was great, no ANYTHING! I couldn't believe it! They both popcorned, had fun - though Doc is a bit frightened of Boo! Boo did wheek one time in what sounded like pain, but it was because ol' fatty boy had stepped on him and was partially standing on him... :crazy:
Epilogue
They're doing beautifully. No cuddling despite Boo's best efforts, Doc still runs away. But no bad noise or nips at all! In fact, there was some purring and happy noises! Doc's still learning about other pigs, it seems. I was worried when Boo was drinking water, Doc came up and sniffed his butt and then when to Boo's face (I realized I had forgotten to clean the nozzle of the bottle!), Boo turned and they were nose to nose and then Doc went on his merry way! Doc was eating pellets out of the bowl, Boo came over and put his paws up and then climbed in and started eating. Doc then stopped eating for a few moments (my heart raced again) and he then just squeezed his nose in next to Boo and finished his meal!
I'm tickled, to say the least!
Last edited:
