1 year old rescued boars.

[larnanoomia]

Hi

We've had our two boars now since Saturday 28th June so under two weeks.
They are in a 6 x 3 playpen with two hides, two fleece forests. 3 water bottles, I scatter feed, two hay trays.
The smaller of the two pigs is definitely the most dominant but every now and again the other pig might do a bum wiggle to stand up for himself.
I've moved my office downstairs so I'm in the room with them now and they've had a couple of episodes of the dominant piggy chasing the other one and the other one is teeth chattering (with fear / uncomfortableness i presume)
There have been no physical fights but the chasing and teeth chattering is worrying. I dont want one to be getting bullied. They came to me as a pair so I dont know it this is new behaviour or if they've always acted this way.

I have a new c&c cage coming today which i can separate into 2x 4x2 enclosures if need be but I'd hoped they can live together but if not they'll have to be neighbours.

I know this behaviour can be normal but will it totally stop or is it normal to start up again from time to time.

Thanks

 

[larnanoomia]

Forgot to mention they are approx 1 year old

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

These are normal dominance behaviours. It isn’t bullying and while it remains within the realms of normal dominance it isn’t of concern.
When piggies, even if they have always been together, move to a new home or if there is any change in territory, it will cause them to reestablish their bond. It will cause an increase in dominance for around two weeks. In a well bonded compatible pair, this won’t amount to anything other than dominance.
In a pair where there are underlying issues then changing environment can cause the issues to come to a head.

The need to reestablish can happen whenever scent is removed so we also advise that you do not clean the whole cage in one go. If you remove all bedding then you wipe all scent and it can cause additional dominance.
Only clean half the cage at a time


It’s important you let them figure it out for themselves.
If a fight was to occur then they would need to be separated

Bullying is a sustained set of behaviours which often result in the bullied pig losing weight, becoming depressed, never being allowed to rest or finally getting fed up of it and snapping back resulting in a fight.

Reacting to group or territorial changes: Dominance and group establishment/re-establishment
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

 

[larnanoomia]

Welcome to the forum

These are normal dominance behaviours. It isn’t bullying and while it remains within the realms of normal dominance it isn’t of concern.
When piggies, even if they have always been together, move to a new home or if there is any change in territory, it will cause them to reestablish their bond. It will cause an increase in dominance for around two weeks. In a well bonded compatible pair, this won’t amount to anything other than dominance.
In a pair where there are underlying issues then changing environment can cause the issues to come to a head.

The need to reestablish can happen whenever scent is removed so we also advise that you do not clean the whole cage in one go. If you remove all bedding then you wipe all scent and it can cause additional dominance.
Only clean half the cage at a time


It’s important you let them figure it out for themselves.
If a fight was to occur then they would need to be separated

Bullying is a sustained set of behaviours which often result in the bullied pig losing weight, becoming depressed, never being allowed to rest or finally getting fed up of it and snapping back resulting in a fight.

Reacting to group or territorial changes: Dominance and group establishment/re-establishment
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

That's great thanks for the info! Just wanted to make sure I wasn't adding more stress by forcing them to live together. I'll keep an eye on them thank you

 

[CTWC]

Hi and welcome this month gjt have been mentioned but I guess at around 1 year hormone spikes could be a factor but it would hopefully settle soon