Boar brothers getting ratty

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Boarworld

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Hi,

I have a pair of boar brothers. I‘ve had them since they were 12 weeks old, they are now 18 months.

They live indoors in a 8x2 c&c cage with a ramp for extra space. They have one each of everything. They also have a large secure run in the garden for warm days when they go out on the grass in the shade.

I don’t know what’s got into them the last couple of days but the rumble strutting, squeaking, mounting, from them has been off the charts. They’ve got quite agitated this evening with one just not leaving the other one alone at all so I’ve put a (C&C) divider in the middle of their cage. They spent ten minutes shouting at each other through the bars and have now given up the ghost and each snuggled down to sleep.

They went through a short lived stage when I had to do this once before when they were teenagers, but they’re 18m old now and I have no idea what going on. I’ve changed nothing, they’re used to going between their indoor cage and the run and have been doing this for weeks since the weather changed.

They’re very well handled, super tame friendly and snuggly. Neither is unwell, as far as I can tell I’ve given the a good once over and everything seems fine.

It’s like they’ve just decided to be very naughty and I have no idea why. Any thoughts?

Thanks :-)
 
Welcome to the forum

Hormone spikes happen in adults as well as teenagers.
We tend to see a spike in hormones in spring which can affect some boar pairs.

My advice is to leave them apart for a couple of days to give time for a hormone spike to calm down.
In a couple of days time reintroduce them in neutral territory (don’t just remove the divider) and give them a few hours in neutral space to settle back and decide if they do still want to stay together. In well bonded boars, this kind of thing is a short lived blip and more often they will go back together and all will be well - do expect dominance though as they will need to reestablish when you reunite.

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Bonds In Trouble
 
Thank you. I’ve had a good read of the guides and just couldn’t pinpoint what was going on.

I didn’t know if I’d been too hasty in putting the divider up. They didn’t actually fight, but I felt like they were on the verge.

They’re now chatting to each other through the bars, like I’m very mean for splitting them up! They look like they’re in piggy jail.
 
You’ve done the right thing.
Generally speaking you want to leave boars together to sort things out and not separate them BUT hormone ramped up boars can need time to settle down for the sake of their long term bond. It’s not something you can do often or repeatedly but if things are getting tense then a cool down time is fine to do.

Please do come back to us if you have any questions about reintroduction and the positive signs to look for upon reintroduction.
Occasionally, this kind of separation can make them decide they don’t want to go back together (ie the issues run deeper than a temporary hormone spike) but if they are well character matched and want to be together then usually they go back together just fine.
 
Thanks. I will leave the divider up overnight, as if they were to fight I wouldn’t hear them and then will try to sort them out neutrally in the morning. If they’re tricky tomorrow at least I am around to supervise them/step in if needed.

I did hear that giving them a bath can help when they’re like this as it can wash away the hormone stink a bit so I may try that too. I don’t bath them regularly as they’re quite clean boys and they’re groomed/cleaned out loads so they don’t tend to get stinky, but might be worth a go.
 
Please don’t bathe them. A ‘buddy bath’ is a very outdated method but unfortunately still does the rounds on the internet. The stress it causes can actually do considerably more harm to a bond than good and we do not recommend it.
Giving them 2-3 days separated is a much better thing to do to calm them down.

This is explained in the bonds in trouble guide I linked in earlier
 
Oh, I didn’t mean bathe them together. I never do that. I meant just giving them a wash in some warm water like I do anyway every few months (they’re long and wild haired!), individually.
 
I personally still wouldn’t do it and definitely not any time close to you wanting to reintroduce them.
Keeping them apart for a few days then neutral territory reintroduction should be all that is needed. They don’t sound to be on the brink of total fall out and the testosterone smell will ease from their hair after a couple of days and basically makes a bath unnecessary.

They actually shouldn’t need to be bathed even if they are long haired. My long hair only needed one bath in his six years and that was because he literally sat right in a fresh pee puddle which had nowhere to soak away at the time.
None of the others have ever had a bath (elderly piggies who can no longer keep themselves clean may need a regular bum bath or a wipe with a damp cloth).
I kept his the hair around the back end and legs clipped short year round so it couldn’t get dragged in bedding and soiled. Clip all over the body in summer to help keep cool.
 
Ah, interesting! They don’t really enjoy their occasional baths anyway so that’s good to know thank you. One is much longer haired than the other. I have no idea on breed in all honesty, I adopted them from a friend who had an accidental pregnancy (I’d rather not buy animals and having a family member who is a vet I tend to avoid places like pets at home!) so they’re probably a random mix!

Thinking on it, I did give the super long haired lad a big haircut last week because it was so hot and his hair had become somewhat of a carpet surrounding him. He normally looks bigger size wise because of his wild hair (they weigh very similar) but he is the more submissive and shy pig. So I wonder if me making him look smaller by giving him a haircut had made his brother try to show off a bit, and assert his dominance.

I do love their personalities. I’ve not had pigs before and I didn’t realise how lovely they are. I definitely have one who is much cheekier than the other!

Thank you for the tips!
 
All sorts of things can set a dominant boar off in his need to assert dominance. It’s why we recommend things like:

- always handle and deal with the dominant first. Handling the submissive first disrespects their hierarchy and can cause the dominant to assert additional dominance.
- only clean half the cage at a time. If you clean the whole cage in one go you will totally remove all scent which can set off dominance and territorial behaviours.
In some cases even moving from the cage to a run can cause additional dominance.

And then you’ve got the other end of the scale where boys are so laid back, you can handle the submissive first, clean the whole cage etc and it doesn’t bother them!

Piggies are wonderful and I certainly have a soft spot for boars. They tend to mellow and become much more friendly as they age!

I’m now down to two boys (the eldest pair passed away within 9 months of each other last year at 6 and almost 7 years old). My current two are 2.5 years old and sadly their bond broke spectacularly when they were 18 weeks old. They lived as neighbors after that. One of them lived with my bereaved older boy until he passed away but now they are back side by side.
 
Boarworld said:
Well, it would appear that peace is restored. They’ve settled down, had a nice afternoon out in the run in the shade and are now snuggled up asleep together.
Click to expand...
That's great! And sweet. Awww. Snuggled up together.

I had two boys who had a fight in their run in the garden, tho not due to dominance. I think one was bitten/stung by a particular type of ant which causes a very sudden painful bite/sting - I had experienced it myself - and then they attacked each other on the nose :box: Ouuuch! Don't bite me! - I didn't bite you, you bit me! - You started it! - No, I didn't, you did! :box: :box:

I didn't know so much then, so removed one and let him run around my bedroom (it was guinea-proof and their 'quarters' were in there). By the evening, all was forgiven, probably also forgotten. I don't remember if they snuggled up together, but they had a nice run together before they went back into their cage conglomeration. Your post reminded me of that.
 
I'm so pleased for you and glad to have found this post this morning. Last night Willow would not leave Marcus alone I said it's Spring Fever but I've never seen him so hormonal so good to hear a happy ending 💐
 
Boys! Very glad they’ve gone back together and you did absolutely the right thing 😍 I’ve always had boars and I love them. My two were a bit of a nightmare through their teens, so many dominance days, but they calmed down a lot and my now four-year-old is the most chilled out piggie I’ve ever known
 
The mystery of the bad-tempered pig last week has been solved, I think. He’s poorly :( Got up this morning to him sitting solemnly in the corner and there was blood in the cage. Immediately thought they had a fight and felt dreadful that I’d misjudged their being ok together. He was extremely reluctant to be picked up, shying away from me (unusual, he’s very tame and loves cuddles) and I gave him a thorough check over. I could find zero bites or scratches, but he kicked at me when I touched around his tummy.
When I looked at the cage properly, it was apparent that the blood was in the spots where he’d done a wee.
So he was at the vets at 9:30am, who says it is most likely a UTI. We’ve got painkillers and antibiotics for a week, and I was told if he doesn’t improve/stop passing blood in 48 hours to get him back down there for a scan in case he has a bladder stone.
Poor piggy! He must’ve been feeling poorly for a while for it to get so bad. They’re dreadful for hiding illness!
Luckily, he hasn’t lost weight, is eating, drinking, weeing and pooing as normal so as long as we can get the UTI cleared (assuming it’s not a bladder stone) then he should be right as rain in a few days.
I am also now £300 poorer, due to it being a bank holiday, so emergency vets… yikes!
 
Aw I’m sorry to hear he’s unwell. Sounds like you caught it fast, hoping the meds will do their job and he’ll bounce back ❤️ they pick their timing! Typical it’s a bank holiday. Healing wheeks from my boys to yours
 
Thank you. Poor little love is feeling very sorry for himself, and my daughters (his ‘owners’ though obviously the actual care I am responsible for) were so sad and worried about their little ‘King Pig’ as he is known, this morning.
 
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