Puberty Two Boys... what to expect

[Muddypaws]

OK, somehow, after many years of raising and rescuing dogs, piggy puberty has taken me by surprise!

We have two young boars, same age, always been cagemates and they always sleep together and play etc. If we take one out, the other, especially the smaller, shyer one, always cries for his buddy. So they like one another.

They are, maybe 3 months (?) old and we are seeing lots of rumblestrutting, mounting (and kicking off!), along with red swollen 'areas' (mounting goes both ways).

So this is adolescent boy stuff, yes? And establishing dominance?

We only have one hay rack, water bottle etc. and at this point both seem to feed/ drink without interference by the other, share treats etc.

Ghidora is much bigger than Godzilla, so I suppose, I should watch them, weigh them and at any sign of dominating the food/ drink, double the resources?

How long does this last (the mounting esp. it is becoming very educational for our 6 year old daughter LOL)?

 

[foggycreekcavy]

It can last months, unfortunately. And yes, keep an eye on weights. It helps to take out any houses with only one entrance.

 

[Buggie_00]

Oh my. Piggy puberty, sounds about as fun as human male puberty. Except with pigs you get rumblestrutting and domanance mounting, with humans you get "leave me alone" and "you're ruining my life" ahhh the joys of parenthood...piggie or otherwise. Let me know if you figure out a "cure" I have an 11 year old boy and 2 more that will be coming up behind him in a few years. As for the piggies, I know mounting is a dominance thing, but other than that I'm useless as we have females.

 

[Hhbean]

When my first 2guys went through it earlier this year I had no clue, so I feel for you! As long as there is no blood being drawn and both are able to eat, they should be together. You didn't say what size cage you have them in but boars need more room in order to live together.

 

[Sammiec4]

How many males should be together in a pen? Just 2?

 

[sillylittle]

You can really house as many males together as will get along, you just need to expand your cage every time you add to the mix. Males need more room than females in order to get along.

Check out Guinea Pig Cages, Your Cavy At Home and there is an adorable little chart that shows you how many piggies should be put in each sized cage, and with males you should do at least the preferred (or bigger).

 

[OMIPIGGIE]

What are the signs of female puberty? My pig is still pretty young, but I never know when shes in heat...

 

[Muddypaws]

Thanks!
I weighed them today (13 and 15 oz.) and we are watching and both have access to everything so far.
The cage is 28 x 56".

 

[jacoby]

Make sure they have a big cage. And room to run. My boys are out in lg ex pen for at least 3 hours a day. They have tunnels and cozies and look forward to floor time. They share a large C and C cage

 

[Muddypaws]

What size x pen? I was just saying to my husband that I wish we had a small one (ie smaller spaces between the bars)~ what brand is yours or the spacing on it?
Thanks!

 

[courticemommy]

Question at that age does male puinea pig puberty hit ? just wondering as we have a 6 month old and we just adopted another that is 1.5 years old. Is this something we will need to keep an eye out for with our two males ?