Biting...

[emmaldrk]

I have two boys - one is 10 months and the other is 5 years old. They were bonded successfully from when the youngest was 11 weeks old.

Today I’ve noticed nips to each of my boys faces! I can’t believe it. They have the very odd squabble that is very quick to calm down. They’ve been acting normally for 99% of the time. They’re very close. Eat together, potter about around their set up and even been snuggling up to each other. However, on closer observation, my older boar has been agitated and instigating the confrontations.

I haven’t seen them fight but have divided their cage for the time being until I can get to the bottom of what is going on. They’re both lying next to each other despite the divide so it completely breaks my heart... but would rather prevent anything bad happening.

Does anyone have any suggestions!? My husband thinks it may be worth considering neutering the youngest one now so (in the future) he will be with girls.... help!

 

[weepweeps]

Maybe the older one is feeling poorly? They hide illnesses so well. I would maybe get him seen by a vet just to make sure there isn’t anything brewing in the older piggy. Any change in behaviour could be health related. I’m sure someone with more experience will come along soon.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Your young boar is a teenager 4-14 months. At this stage they have huge testosterone spikes which can upset their cagemate and make the young boar vie for “top dog” position and be generally troublesome. the spikes usually last for a day and then they settle down again. I would give them time out for 24 hours, then reintroduce them in a neutered space and see how they get on.

 

[Wiebke]

I have two boys - one is 10 months and the other is 5 years old. They were bonded successfully from when the youngest was 11 weeks old.

Today I’ve noticed nips to each of my boys faces! I can’t believe it. They have the very odd squabble that is very quick to calm down. They’ve been acting normally for 99% of the time. They’re very close. Eat together, potter about around their set up and even been snuggling up to each other. However, on closer observation, my older boar has been agitated and instigating the confrontations.

I haven’t seen them fight but have divided their cage for the time being until I can get to the bottom of what is going on. They’re both lying next to each other despite the divide so it completely breaks my heart... but would rather prevent anything bad happening.

Does anyone have any suggestions!? My husband thinks it may be worth considering neutering the youngest one now so (in the future) he will be with girls.... help!

Hi!

It can be that your younger boy having gained most of his size and coming up towards adulthood is feeling a bit too strong for your older boy?

You have to see how it goes with the re-intro on neutral ground. This will tell you how the two feel about it each other; you should know quite quickly whether the happiness of being together is descending into squabbling again.
I had to separate my Dylan and teenage Llelo when newly neutered ex-single Dylan (failing to gel with any of my sows) could no longer cope with a quietly confident sidekick who would refused the abject submission Dylan insisted on the more the less Llelo would give it. Thankfully Llelo was coming to the end of his post-neutering wait. Both boys are now living with a sow each.

It all depends on the dynamics. In the end, it always comes down to whether they can hack it together or not. There is nothing you can do as you cannot change personalities.

More information on temporary separations and formal introductions:
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

 

[emmaldrk]

I’ve considered neutering but my son (with suspected Autism) is very attached to the youngest boar. All surgery comes with risks so I don’t know how I feel about going down that route just yet.

 

[Deleted member 139433]

Great advice you have had above!

Sorry to hear your boys have fallen out - it does happen unfortunately. Neutering the younger boar wont change his personality, it is no guarantee that they would get on as a result of the neutering. We recommend neutering (as said above) for a boar to potentially live with sows. It does all come down to personality, and once a pig hits those teenage months that's when they will decide who they like and who they don't. They do challenge for position. I had two younger boars that were fine with each other and surrounding boars, but there was one boar in particular that they simply hated! They would ignore a couple of the older boars in a neighbouring cage, but do anything they could to get at another older boar in a different neighbouring cage.

I personally wouldn't recommend neutering as an option to try fix a broken boar bond. The personality clash will still be there. I've found boars do settle with age. Two of my most dominant boars (once worst enemies) have now bonded years down the line after losing their cage mates; and they get along better than any of my other pairs. Worst case scenario could your guys live as neighbours for now? They may sometimes re-bond down the line, but be prepared that they also may not.

As for surgery risks, yes there are risks to anaesthesia (particularly in small animals), but many many animals do recover well from the procedure as it isn't all too invasive for them.

Hope you find a solution for your boys