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Bloodshed....but not fighting, more annoyance...is it still the end of a pairing?

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Teejay

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Hi all, first of all, apologies for the million posts I'm going to be making today......my head is spinning with all the questions!

Right....my boys had a bit of a falling out last night........see my other thread "how far do you let it go......one boar harassing another" for the gory details!

There were two patches of blood in the cage after I'd split them up, I checked them both and could find no obvious wounds or blood on their fur, but I suspect that Pudding was the casualty; he wasn't being aggressive towards Squeak, just extremely randy, and I think Squeak just had enough of it and retaliated with a nip!

I am actually wondering if Squeak may have bitten Pudding's penis.....he most definitely had it 'out' while he was playing Romeo, I could clearly see it, and that might explain why I couldn't find any wounds.....hmmm.....better keep an eye on that......:red

So, we kept them apart for the night, but both of them seemed very subdued and not themselves this morning.......almost a bit depressed....:(....there as no wheeking for breakfast, they just didn't seem interested.

As the bloodshed wasn't strictly speaking caused by fighting (it was more a "get off my head and stop trying to insert that thing into my ear" sort of annoyed nip), is there any chance that Pud & Squeak could go back together and continue to work on their developing friendship?

Our immediate problem is what to do this evening.....obviously, we've kept them apart while we're out at work.........
  • we can try to put them back together again in the cage, and keep a very very close eye on them to see how they're getting on
or
  • we can house them side by side (but separated) in a large metal run we have

I really do want to keep both of my boys - i love them to bits. I know I could split them up, have them both neutered and get them each a girlfriend, but I don't really have the space for more pigs.

I'll put up an other thread about the 'living side by side in a run' option, just to see if it's viable.

Thanks for listening! Tracey
 
You can try them back together & see what happens & if they start again there's no reason why you can't have them in your run with a divide down the middle.

Have you checked Pudding's penis to make sure it wasn't bitten?
 
Have you looked at his penis for an obvious signs of a wound?
Id probably try again but thats my own personal preference but I'd treat it as if I was introducing two boars who had never met before.

If it happened again and there was blood involved then I would def consider adding a divider as I'd hate a trip to the vets.
 
Hi Niki, to be honest, the thought that Pudding's penis may have been bitten has only just occured to me. I checked the general area last night (he's penis had been retracted by then) and there was no sign of blood anywhere.

I'm at work now, I'll have to check later :{
 
Hi Hanwombat.......how would you treat them as if they'd never met before? What is the normal 'introduction' drill?

Tracey
 
hiya we have a similar issue occasionally with rocky the randy rockstar robin and piglet so thanks for the pre- warnings so far piglet just shoves him out the way and they then settle a bit
 
Hi Hanwombat.......how would you treat them as if they'd never met before? What is the normal 'introduction' drill?

Tracey

Meeting in a neutral environment - say a different room on the floor and I'd do this for a couple of days and if their doesn't appear to be any aggression then try them in the cage again (but clean the cage out so one isnt entering anothers territory) obviously rumbling, mild teeth chattering, humping, chasing etc is normal. Its loud teeth chattering, yawning etc you need to watch out for.
 
Hi gizmo01....LOL at "rocky the randy rockstar robin"! Pudding has always been the more highly sexed of the two....if there was any mounting to be done, Pudding would be doing it! But, like Piglet, my Squeak would just tell Pud off a bit and wriggle out of his clutches, and they'd go back to doing what they were doing, like nothing happened.

Last night, though, Pud just wouldn't let it drop.....he was chasing poor Squeak constantly, wouldn't let him have a minute's peace. It wasn't pretty......

Tracey
 
Hi Hanwombat.......how would you treat them as if they'd never met before? What is the normal 'introduction' drill?

Tracey

Neutral ground with nothing in there where one could corner another with plenty of hay & veggies as distractions.

You could bath both together (known as a buddy bath) to see if this helps, before introducing but again there are no guarantees it will.

I did this with my boys & they were fine, cuddling up to one another throughout the whole "ordeal" but almost as soon as they were back in their newly cleaned hutch off they started again. They were separated & now live with sows.
 
Last night, though, Pud just wouldn't let it drop.....he was chasing poor Squeak constantly, wouldn't let him have a minute's peace. It wasn't pretty......

Tracey

This, for me, is as bad as fighting. For Squeak to be persecuted isn't allowing him to exhibit normal behaviour & is a form of bullying.
Imagine yourself living with someone who constantly harasses you, at some point you would retaliate.

Some may say they should be left to sort it out & i have done this myself but ended up with 2 boars both sporting wounds & when i had a sow bullying a younger sow it was no better after 7 weeks.

You have to go with what you feel is best for both your boys as you are the one who knows them best & can see what effects the behaviour of one has on the other. :)
 
Yeah id agree. When Lentil was with Jake and Hector he was constantly trying to hump them and chase them and I used to hear them both making sad noises as they were getting so fed up. Lentil never attacked them but after a few weeks I took him away from them as he wouldn't stop upsetting them.

Now that Hector has died, Lentil is back with Jake and *touch wood* all seems to be all fine.
 
Hi Niki and Hanwombat, thanks for the tips on reintroducing; I'll bear it all in mind later.....:{

I agree that Pud was bullying Squeak :( he really wouldn't leave him alone for a second. We watched and waited it out for as long as we thought was fair, then we intervened.

I'll definitely try them together this evening, watching them like a hawk, and if it goes too far again, they'll be separated. Poor Squeaky......:(
 
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