Advice needed in finding a suitable boar companion

pigglewiggles

pigglewiggles

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I have a 10 month old boar who had a falling out with his companions. I am looking for a boar to keep him company. I would like to ask peoples opinions on whether I should get a baby piggy or a piggy who is around the same age?
My Guinea pigs live in a 4 x 6 shed, I have pip and Shaggy as a bonded pair and Scooby is on an elevated part within the shed currently on his own because of the falling out. This happened right at the beginning of lockdown so I wasn't able to find a companion straight away. I know someone that will have baby's available soon but I'm a little worried that there would be a falling out once the baby hits the hormonal months. What does everyone think, same age or baby companion? xx
 
I would strongly suggest you contact rescues near you and let them know you're looking for a companion for your boy. Character match is more important than age. You could get him a younger friend who he gets on famously with until he reaches his teenage months. Or you could get him a same age mate who they just don't get along with.
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I'd also suggest you put your town/county rather than your postcode.
 
:agr: And unfortunately with him being a teenager himself it is one of the more difficult times to try to bond with another boar. I would definitely take him dating at a rescue centre so you can know if they are compatible before committing to and bringing another piggy home. It may take several attempts to find a friend. If the centre doesn’t offer dating, you may be able to have an arrangement whereby you can do the bonding at home yourself and return the piggy if it didn’t work out

If you were to take on a baby on spec, you would have to have a plan to separate them if things went wrong once the baby hit his teens - hopefully it wouldn’t but there is no way of knowing for sure.

We’d normally suggest a teen boar be neutered and bond with a sow as it can be so much easier but Unfortunately you don’t have that option because your bonded pair of boys cannot be anywhere near a sow otherwise it could ruin their relationship as well.
 
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I have contacted two rescues today and they didn't have any single piggy's :( I have just left a message with Anim-Mates from your list of rescues so i will wait and see what they say if not i will keep looking for rescues until I find one with piggy's available. Thanks xx
 
Don’t discount rescues that are further afield as well. Good luck and I hope you find him a friend soon.

Is there any way you could arrange their cages so he can still interact with the pair? They really do need it, even when they can’t live together.
 
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This is my set up in the shed, cant do much without taking space away from Pip & Shaggy. I do put them in pens in the garden during the day as the shed can get a bit warm. There pens are next to each other so he gets to interact a little bit. I am going to try each rescue in order of distance, i don't mind if I have to go quite a distance anything to get my Scooby a friend.
 
The only thing I can think is if you could get a 120cm x 60cm commercial cage for Scooby to live in and put it in with the other two for a temporary measure, would something like that sit in there without causing too much of a blockage (can’t see from the photo where all the legs of the raised part are) perhaps between the legs where the pink and purple hideys are. What you don’t want to do is mess about with Pip and shaggy’s territory too much with them being teens (if I remember rightly) you dont want to upset them and cause problems for them.
Otherwise, leave then in their pens in the garden for as long as possible - sort of dawn to dusk kind of thing if you’re there to supervise - so he doesn’t spend too long without being able to see them

One other thing, that looks to be too many pellets for two piggies - although it may just be a small bowl and deceptive on the picture - they need just one tablespoon of pellets per day per pig (which is only about 6 grams/about 15 individual pellets each (depending on brand)) and not left to have constant access to them. Pellets are the junk food of the piggy world and the less they eat of them, the more hay they will eat and the healthier they will be. Too many pellets and unfiltered drinking water contributes a lot of calcium to the diet which can lead to bladder stones.
 
Pip is 2yrs 5months old and Shaggy is 2yrs old. Shaggy is Scooby's dad. Originally I had two pairs, Shaggy and Scooby together and Pip was with his brother Bob (who has now been castrated and lives with my mum's girls) They all lived outside in hutches when I lived with my mum, but in the winter i got worried about them being too cold and bob had started to chase Pip around the hutch, so I put them all inside in a big c&c cage with a divider down the middle. This is were I think I went wrong as after a few weeks Bob bit Pips ear and was getting very domineering towards Pip and Scooby was getting more boisterous towards Shaggy. I separated Pip and Bob then I moved into my own house so decided to put Pip, Shaggy and Scooby together in the shed (2nd Mistake 🤦‍♀️) they were all fine together until Scooby hit his hormones then all hell broke loose, Shaggy and Scooby kept having little spats and Pip was constantly hiding, then Shaggy and scooby had a big fight which ended up in a vet visit. I separated Scooby and had my other half building his own area at 7.30pm that night.

I keep them in the pens in the garden from around 9am-7.30pm each day unless it is raining then they have to stay in the shed. So he is next to them for quite a while. Wouldn't want to change Pip and Shaggy's area around to much as they are really good together and don't want to upset that.

I have phoned 4 more rescues today but no one answered so I have sent emails instead. Found another one on google so sent them an email too but haven't had any reply's yet.
 
pigglewiggles said:
I have contacted two rescues today and they didn't have any single piggy's :( I have just left a message with Anim-Mates from your list of rescues so i will wait and see what they say if not i will keep looking for rescues until I find one with piggy's available. Thanks xx
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There is a lady in Braintree giving her boar away as his friend has died - obviously I don’t know if he’d be a good companion. I suggested a rescue to her but she was told she’d need to pay £50 for him to be neutered first and she can’t afford it. Really sad
 
Just found out she has ‘sold ‘ her Guinea pig. Hopefully to a good home.
 
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