Baby boars with a lot of dominance behaviour

[Sophie76]

Hi!

I brought my two now 7 weeks old boars home 10 days ago. They are brothers.
They were very scared of me at first but are now coming out when they here my voic so its getting better!
I am a bit worried though of them being so young but have som much dominance bahaviour going on.
I cant figure WHO is the more dominant one. One (Gullen) is constant rumbling when the other approach, and he sometimes tries to mount his brother. But the other (Kingen) chases his brother around alot and seems to get his way most of the times. He seems to bully his brother a bit. And he often forces the chin up on his brother.
Sometimes in the middle of all this rumbling they seem to get over exited and start popcorning and chasing eachother all over the place. Dont know if that is good or bad.

Today i got really worried because when Kingen was chasing his brother Gullen in to his flecce pocket hidey.. when Gullen then put his little nose out again Kingen was sittning there and it looked like he bit his brother real fast on the noose! I cant see any blod though so not sure.

This is already when they are 7 weeks so i wonder how this will work when they hit the teenage months :-(

When they are not at this they seem to get along ok living side by side but they never cuddle. The cage is 160 * 60 cm and they have 2 of everything, no hideys with one exit only..

Br

 

[Bill & Ted]

This sounds like the start of normal teenage boar behaviour but keep a close eye on them. My two used to chase and hump quite a bit when little. Also the pretend bite which is usually aimed at the fur not the skin. Look out for serious stand offs with teeth chattering and lunging. If no blood has been drawn then don’t separate, they need to sort out who is boss and until they do then this will carry on. Keep an eye on their weights as this can be an indication that one is denying the other food sometimes. You can scatter food around the cage to stop this. Good luck, they can be quite trying at times but they will come through it intact x

 

[DM030819]

@Sophie76 It's just a case of wait and see unfortunately. They sound like they're quite happy together at the moment so try not to worry.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

I brought my two now 7 weeks old boars home 10 days ago. They are brothers.
They were very scared of me at first but are now coming out when they here my voic so its getting better!
I am a bit worried though of them being so young but have som much dominance bahaviour going on.
I cant figure WHO is the more dominant one. One (Gullen) is constant rumbling when the other approach, and he sometimes tries to mount his brother. But the other (Kingen) chases his brother around alot and seems to get his way most of the times. He seems to bully his brother a bit. And he often forces the chin up on his brother.
Sometimes in the middle of all this rumbling they seem to get over exited and start popcorning and chasing eachother all over the place. Dont know if that is good or bad.

Today i got really worried because when Kingen was chasing his brother Gullen in to his flecce pocket hidey.. when Gullen then put his little nose out again Kingen was sittning there and it looked like he bit his brother real fast on the noose! I cant see any blod though so not sure.

This is already when they are 7 weeks so i wonder how this will work when they hit the teenage months :-(

When they are not at this they seem to get along ok living side by side but they never cuddle. The cage is 160 * 60 cm and they have 2 of everything, no hideys with one exit only..

Br

Hi!

Guinea pigs always need to establish a new group with a hierarchy in any new territory. The dominance phase lasts for around two weeks; it can be longer or shorter. If your boys are fairly evenly balanced, then it takes longer.
Please remove any hideys with just one exit to prevent any piggy from being caught and 'locked in' by the more dominant boar. This can then lead for the cornered piggy having to attack the bully in order to get out. It is a classic flashpoint for bloody fights in teenage boars (which yours are not yet!). Kingen is clearly the top boy, by the way and just reinforcing the point, as is perfectly normal for this stage.

What you are describing is just still mild to medium dominance behaviour with some emphatic nipping (with is a carefully judged gesture of power and NOT biting as it doesn't leave any marks on the skin). You see it in both genders during the dominance phase.

Please take the time to read these two links carefully. They will tell you all about understanding social interactive behaviours and dynamics and what you can do to minimise any problems when your boys hit the teenage months among lots of other useful information about boars.
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

 

[Sophie76]

Thank you all for the replies! Feels better :-) Afterwords i can see that it couldnt have been a real bite since Gullen didnt make a sound.. just pulled back his little head.
I know they both are eating beacuse sometimes i see them so peacefully eating close to eachother.
And they do look like they have fun when they sometimes popcorn togheter.. even tho that often seems to have them so fired up that they after rumble at eachother.

I have read all threads i can find here i think so i try to be prepared for what comes....

Have changed hides so that they all have 2 exits and rearranged so that there is no narrow passages in the cage.. That seemed to lead to a bit of irritation before when they passaded eachother close all the time in the middle of the cage..

BR

 

[Darcey15]

This sounds like the start of normal teenage boar behaviour but keep a close eye on them. My two used to chase and hump quite a bit when little. Also the pretend bite which is usually aimed at the fur not the skin. Look out for serious stand offs with teeth chattering and lunging. If no blood has been drawn then don’t separate, they need to sort out who is boss and until they do then this will carry on. Keep an eye on their weights as this can be an indication that one is denying the other food sometimes. You can scatter food around the cage to stop this. Good luck, they can be quite trying at times but they will come through it intact x

I agree it sounds normal. I had my 2 boars from birth (brothers) until they passed recently at around 5 years. There were always territorial battles especially when being moved from cage to outdoor run or back. They will always want the best spot, the first nibble of food etc and one will normally win but in my case it varied. Neither was more dominant, its just how it was & in 5 years we only had one scratched nose but nothing serious. Brothers/boys will scuffle & as long as nobody is getting hurt then its normal.

 

[furpiggy]

I have 2 now 6 week old boars with my now 15 month old boar. I literally got them last week when my other 14 month boar sadly passed away for company for our willow who was on his own. They settled in extremely well and still to this day getting on like a house on fire. Charlie likes to sleep next to willow while milo likes to have his own space at bed times. I am yet to see them moan at each other. All 3 of them. my baby boars have not rumble strut yet. They just squeak like mad every time i open the fridge door or they hear anything that crinkles lol. There squeak is so loud too and they are well fed yet constant hungry little haha.

The rubble strut is absolute normal my willow did it a lot to my Simba. Willow is a absolute gentle soul yet he was the one always rumble strutting wagging his bum side to side but never once started a fight. He still rumble struts yet he gives away his bed, his food, his everything for the babies, he is a big softy, fingers crossed it stays that way and fingers crossed for you and your little ones too.

 

[Sophie76]

Just a status update :-) They seem go have calmed down quite a bit now. Less tension between them inte cage now. :-)
Still very nervous though with me! But i take it slow.. with just a little handling so far.. They both come and take food from me trough the bars :-)