Hi everyone, I would like some advice on bonding my two male pigs.
My pig, Fifi passed on last month and since then I've been trying to find a friend for my remaining pig, Barley.
I managed to find one and they're currently on a 2 week adoption trial at my place after a playdate that was quite mild, with some chasing and buff sniffing from other pig, Tri. I'm completely new to bonding pigs and relied on info from the forum and some research from my own and some advice from the rescue where I adopted Fifi and Barley from.
As I'm writing this, today is the morning of day 3. Admittedly on day 1, they were not immediately put together but first introduced by a fence. I noticed there was a lot of butt sniffing, chasing by Tri and Barley looked so annoyed and he would constantly jump out of annoyance. Tri would also teeth chatter. Out of concern, I decided to seperate them the whole night, and I also cleaned everything with a vinegar water solution, and changed the hideys to one that doesn't have any piggies smell, and fresh bedding. I even wiped down their bowls, water bottles and hay racks with vinegar water.
Fast forward to day 2, I felt that I can't always keep them seperated since I read that it doesn't help with the bonding process. Hence, I removed the partitions. They were doing okay, with the usual chasing, butt sniffing and occasional humping from Tri. Tri would try to keep stealing Barleys hidey, which Barley was generally quite willing to let it go, with the occasional annoyance as usual. I even caught them sleeping together in the hidey so I thought all was good and I could let them sleep together overnight. However, around 4pm, they suddenly started to raise their heads up (which I understand is a sign of dominance) but no one would put their head down first. As a result, they both started teeth chattering and circling each other. They would look at each other face to face and would open their mouths in 'O', which i understand is some sort of warning but they don't mean to bite. I honestly got quite terrified but I tried my best to let it go on since no blood is drawn. However, it kept going on throughout the day and I was so worried that they were going to fight while I wasn't looking at night so I still decided to separate them.
Btw, Barley is free roam at my place and he was the dominant pig with Fifi. Whereas Tri, with his previous friend that passed on, would always try to be dominant but would hide behind the other when he was scared.
This makes the whole issue more complicated as Barley's personality is more independent and from the start of the bonding, he was actually quite aloof to Tri, but they would eat hay together and all that so I thought it was fine. Tri on the other hand, loves to stick to Barley like glue which Barley is super annoyed by since he loves his personal space. I also do notice that when they're bonding, Barley keeps biting the cage bars and want to "escape", maybe to go outside and roam like he usually is able to. The cage I have is 5x2 grids, and at night I split it down the middle for them. During day 2 of bonding, I also created an extension of another 2x4 grids so barley feels like he has more space even though he isn't let out to play like he usually is.
Tri really likes Barley and would even claw at the grids at night because he wants to be with him (which I suppose is because he has been alone for a longer time) However, Barley is annoyed with him and I don't want to risk making Barley more stressed, but I also read so many forums saying that putting them together and seperating them at night does more damage. I'm honestly quite lost and anxious because I don't want my pig to suffer everyday from being so annoyed but I also feel horrible seeing Tri want so badly to be friends with Barley.
I'm so sorry for the long post but this process has been quite stressful for me and I thought giving a detailed accounted would be helpful in helping everyone understand the situation. It doesn't help that I'm honestly quite an anxious owner that is still grieving over Fifi so my mind goes to the worst case scenarios and I can't sleep at night worrying over whether these two will be friends.
My main question is - is all this behaviour normal and should I let it be? I was really concerned after both of them started teeth chattering and circling yesterday. Good news is they usually know how to cool off on their own - Barley runs to another end, but Tri follows (which once again annoys Barley).
Your kind input would be appreciated please!
My pig, Fifi passed on last month and since then I've been trying to find a friend for my remaining pig, Barley.
I managed to find one and they're currently on a 2 week adoption trial at my place after a playdate that was quite mild, with some chasing and buff sniffing from other pig, Tri. I'm completely new to bonding pigs and relied on info from the forum and some research from my own and some advice from the rescue where I adopted Fifi and Barley from.
As I'm writing this, today is the morning of day 3. Admittedly on day 1, they were not immediately put together but first introduced by a fence. I noticed there was a lot of butt sniffing, chasing by Tri and Barley looked so annoyed and he would constantly jump out of annoyance. Tri would also teeth chatter. Out of concern, I decided to seperate them the whole night, and I also cleaned everything with a vinegar water solution, and changed the hideys to one that doesn't have any piggies smell, and fresh bedding. I even wiped down their bowls, water bottles and hay racks with vinegar water.
Fast forward to day 2, I felt that I can't always keep them seperated since I read that it doesn't help with the bonding process. Hence, I removed the partitions. They were doing okay, with the usual chasing, butt sniffing and occasional humping from Tri. Tri would try to keep stealing Barleys hidey, which Barley was generally quite willing to let it go, with the occasional annoyance as usual. I even caught them sleeping together in the hidey so I thought all was good and I could let them sleep together overnight. However, around 4pm, they suddenly started to raise their heads up (which I understand is a sign of dominance) but no one would put their head down first. As a result, they both started teeth chattering and circling each other. They would look at each other face to face and would open their mouths in 'O', which i understand is some sort of warning but they don't mean to bite. I honestly got quite terrified but I tried my best to let it go on since no blood is drawn. However, it kept going on throughout the day and I was so worried that they were going to fight while I wasn't looking at night so I still decided to separate them.
Btw, Barley is free roam at my place and he was the dominant pig with Fifi. Whereas Tri, with his previous friend that passed on, would always try to be dominant but would hide behind the other when he was scared.
This makes the whole issue more complicated as Barley's personality is more independent and from the start of the bonding, he was actually quite aloof to Tri, but they would eat hay together and all that so I thought it was fine. Tri on the other hand, loves to stick to Barley like glue which Barley is super annoyed by since he loves his personal space. I also do notice that when they're bonding, Barley keeps biting the cage bars and want to "escape", maybe to go outside and roam like he usually is able to. The cage I have is 5x2 grids, and at night I split it down the middle for them. During day 2 of bonding, I also created an extension of another 2x4 grids so barley feels like he has more space even though he isn't let out to play like he usually is.
Tri really likes Barley and would even claw at the grids at night because he wants to be with him (which I suppose is because he has been alone for a longer time) However, Barley is annoyed with him and I don't want to risk making Barley more stressed, but I also read so many forums saying that putting them together and seperating them at night does more damage. I'm honestly quite lost and anxious because I don't want my pig to suffer everyday from being so annoyed but I also feel horrible seeing Tri want so badly to be friends with Barley.
I'm so sorry for the long post but this process has been quite stressful for me and I thought giving a detailed accounted would be helpful in helping everyone understand the situation. It doesn't help that I'm honestly quite an anxious owner that is still grieving over Fifi so my mind goes to the worst case scenarios and I can't sleep at night worrying over whether these two will be friends.
My main question is - is all this behaviour normal and should I let it be? I was really concerned after both of them started teeth chattering and circling yesterday. Good news is they usually know how to cool off on their own - Barley runs to another end, but Tri follows (which once again annoys Barley).
Your kind input would be appreciated please!
