Boar bonding

[Elephonty]

I got a new piggy from a rescue yesterday. Both boys were fine at first and were quite relaxed however this has now changed.
Nutmeg (new white pig) has been chasing, lunging and even trying to bite Woody. Unfortunately this has led woody to be confined to the top of their cage in order to hide away most of the day (Nutmeg has nudged woody when he's gone to eat or drink downstairs but all food and water is available upstairs too).
We tried to give them floor time as the rescue suggested a bigger space may help but this still resulted in lunging and yawning, nutmeg even tried to go in for a bite
Is it time to seperate them and sadly return Nutmeg as the bond isn't what was thought? I am willing to try longer as I know bonding may take a few days but obviously don't want to stress woody out too much and risk harm to either of the pigs.

 

[Siikibam]

The lunging and trying to bite is a bit of a red flag for me. Did you put them together in a neutral place first, or did you put the new piggy into Woody’s cage?

 

[Elephonty]

The lunging and trying to bite is a bit of a red flag for me. Did you put them together in a neutral place first, or did you put the new piggy into Woody’s cage?

They were bonded in a neutral space at the rescue where they were very relaxed with one another and even feel asleep together! When I bought them home I put them into the clean scent free cage and it seemed promising at first but didn't last that long

 

[Deleted member 139433]

Unfortunately you may have a clash of personalities.
How exactly were they initially bonded? And how old are they?
Sometimes living as neighbours for a while helps.

 

[Elephonty]

Unfortunately you may have a clash of personalities.
How exactly were they initially bonded? And how old are they?
Sometimes living as neighbours for a while helps.

They were bonded at the rescue in a big open neutral territory, both are around 18 months old and seemed to get along swimmingly at the rescue!

 

[Deleted member 139433]

Ah such a shame for you, but yes sounds like a personality clash. Can you do a trial separation to see if that works?

 

[Elephonty]

Ah such a shame for you, but yes sounds like a personality clash. Can you do a trial separation to see if that works?

The rescue I got Nutmeg from advised me not to seperate them as this may cause further agression once they've been reintroduced unfortunately, I'm not sure my layout would allow a split as it's a L shape making one side the minimum for one piggy and one side a bit smaller but access to the loft area

 

[Deleted member 139433]

Separation is necessary if they are fighting though. Sometimes they calm after a cooling off period. But if they don’t it means the bond isn’t stable and they won’t live together I’m afraid.
I have several boar pairs and one boar who lives separately and interacts with others through the bars as it’s the best situation for him

 

[Elephonty]

I think seperation is the way to go (woody is already in affect seperating himself from nutmeg up in the loft) but it's very tricky to house them together but seperate because of the layout of the cage . I'm going to message the rescue first thing in the morning to see if they have any tips but I have a feeling we will be returning Nutmeg which is obviously very upsetting for us and for him as he is such a sweet and confident pig (to us at least!), this may even be the reason they are clashing so much Unfortunately

 

[Deleted member 139433]

You have to do what’s right for the boys and I’m sure the rescue will understand that. Sometimes it can take several attempts to bond boars and several different pigs until they choose a friend.
Hope all goes well with the rescue, keep us posted with how you are getting on

 

[Elephonty]

You have to do what’s right for the boys and I’m sure the rescue will understand that. Sometimes it can take several attempts to bond boars and several different pigs until they choose a friend.
Hope all goes well with the rescue, keep us posted with how you are getting on

Thank you! The rescue actually tried woody with another boar first and that didn't work out, I'll be really sad to see Nutmeg go (if needed) as he is such a character already but obviously can't have him bullying Woody 24/7!

 

[Elephonty]

Just a quick update, I bought both boys down this morning into the large run and they fought a little but have calmed for the most part. I'm going to try and keep them downstairs until the evening so they are as relaxed as can be and then place them back upstairs into their c&c cage

 

[Siikibam]

I’m glad things look to be going well. When bonding you shouldn’t really be in the area with them. And no hides either, just a pile of hay and veg if their dinner time is during bonding. What do you mean by fighting? Were they a flying/rolling fur ball or was it normal dominance behaviour?

 

[ThatPurpleB]

Not sure what experienced members of the group think but removing the loft might help. When we've bonded other pets in the past we didnt have areas like that for them to claim as their own territory. It could be that one has decided that the downstairs is theirs and the other has upstairs.