A Mate For Tom?

[Theresa0410]

We recently lost one of our boars as an operation to remove a tumour wasn't successful due to its location. The vet thought the tumour was a result of a fight between our two boys although we never saw any visible signs of fighting. It's been a terrible time.

We now have a single young boar, Tom, who is about 6 months old. We want to get him a mate as we can't bear the thought of him being lonely but I don't want to go through the same heartache all over again.

What are the best options to get a mate for Tom? Is boar dating a possibility for such a young piggie who still has so many hormone surges to go through? Or should we look for a female companion (assuming we ensure there isn't any chance of baby piggies!)? And would it be best to consider an older piggie who is more tolerant?

Any advice or experiences shared will be much appreciated! Thank you.

 

[Wiebke]

I am very sorry for your loss! You are welcome to post a tribute in our Rainbow Bridge section anytime that feels right for you.

Unfortunately, the West Midlands are not a good area for boar dating, which is very time consuming. Sadly the only rescue in this country that used to have a sow spaying policy has closed down at the beginning of the year, which means that spayed sows are now about as rare as gold dust. Like boars, sows never lose their ability to reproduce, even though pregnancies become progressively more risky.

However, we have got some good operating vets, as all good rescues in the West Midlands have a boar neutering policy, so using one of those vets would be the safest way of going about it. Your boy is at an ideal age for it, and he would be free to date rescue sows at a number of rescues in this area after a 6 weeks post op wait.
I am aware that the prospect of another operation is under the circumstances the last thing you would like to consider. But the one big advantage is that cross gender pairings are the most stable of them all and - if mutual liking is taken into account - often very loving indeed. Especially as your boy is currently at the most difficult age of finding a successful same sex mate for.