Boars

[Julie M]

Ive just read the article in guinea pig magazine about boars and i am in agreement. Boars really seem to struggle to find a home. Its so sad as they are all great personalities and i can't believe someone returned their boys because they wanted girls. (a trio of boars is quite a rare thing)

In Ayrs guinea pig rescue its sadly the same story, lots of people want girls. As soon as girls are available they will be almost instantly rehomed. Whereas if you're a Boar it can take sometimes up to a year or more to find a forever family. (depending sadly on how old you are or how pretty you are. ). It makes me so so sad. If you are going to be adopting Please consider Boars, ive had lots of boar pairs they just need an owner who understands their behaviour and doesn't overreact to some rumblestrutting. Ive only had one pair of boys i had to separate but they were a gumtree find in a small cage and couldn't cope with the move to a bigger cage. Here is a picture of my 3 Boars, Humpty & Chip. And Snoopy.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I am a huge boar pair fan myself!
Love my boys!

 

[Julie M]

I am a huge boar pair fan myself!
Love my boys!

Me too. Its so so sad how misunderstood they are. A little rumblestrutting never hurt anyone.

 

[Lorcan]

When I've moved and in a position to adopt again, I'm certain it'll be a boar pair. And if I have to wait a bit longer to adopt because of it then I will. I mean I've only ever had boars, but that's not it - I'm not sure I could have a pair of pigs without that background rumble that you can feel through the floors when you're trying to watch TV

I love the rumbles, I really do.

 

[Piggies&buns]

The overwhelming need to rumble at everything including inanimate objects is definitely the best bit - even tunnels and hideys need to know who’s boss!

 

[Lorcan]

The overwhelming need to rumble at everything including inanimate objects is definitely the best bit - even tunnels and hideys need to know who’s boss!

And lets not forget that rude guinea pig in the shiny thing that's rumbling back at you!

 

[Siikibam]

I absolutely love my two pairs but have to say I’ve got more of a soft spot for my boys. They were my starter in piggy world despite someone trying to dissuade me from going for boars. Yesterday top boar stood next to underpig and was busy rumbling. Underpig completely ignored him and didn’t react. No moving away or trotting off, just sat there and let him work it out

 

[Bill & Ted]

I absolutely love boar pairs, they are such characters. My Bill and Ted were the most entertaining pair of piggies I’ve ever had beyond a doubt, always rumbling and strutting their stuff, all without any malice, both a big bundle of fun x

 

[Lorcan]

I absolutely love boar pairs, they are such characters. My Bill and Ted were the most entertaining pair of piggies I’ve ever had beyond a doubt, always rumbling and strutting their stuff, all without any malice, both a big bundle of fun x

I remember Comet and Blitzen deciding to have a funny half hour in front of strangers for the first time. Excited squeals, chase zoomies back and forth, rumbling, happy wheeking...and they're looking at me, horrified, "Are they supposed to be doing that? Are they fighting with each other?" and I'm facepalming at the boys like "no...this is what I have to contend with at 3am every night."

 

[weepweeps]

I’ve always had boars. They are amazing. Percy likes to rumble through his plastic tunnel. It makes it sound much louder. I think he likes the sound of his own voice. . Also he likes to pee on Pepper at the moment.

 

[Julie M]

I remember Comet and Blitzen deciding to have a funny half hour in front of strangers for the first time. Excited squeals, chase zoomies back and forth, rumbling, happy wheeking...and they're looking at me, horrified, "Are they supposed to be doing that? Are they fighting with each other?" and I'm facepalming at the boys like "no...this is what I have to contend with at 3am every night."

Yip. A lot of people misinterpret their normal behaviour for "fighting".

 

[Bill & Ted]

I really don’t think you can beat a well bonded pair of boars for general entertainment, they are definitely the most interesting

 

[Lorcan]

Yip. A lot of people misinterpret their normal behaviour for "fighting".

To me it's daft, those two were so laid back with each other, dominance wise. I think Comet was the dominant one, but neither of them really threw their weight around. And Blitzen stole his dinner every night, so it was clear which one had the brains at least But trying to explain to people that really, they were 6 months old and this is playtime, I think people expect guinea pigs to be placid pets. Then they see a boar pair being a boar pair, it's a bit of a shock to the system.

 

[Mother Hubbard]

I love my boars, they do seem to have a strong personality.

 

[Rivervixen]

Absolutely love my two boys as well, ozzy is an excessive rumbler, and he’s the underpig he just loves to rumble x

 

[Bill & Ted]

I could never quite work out who was the dominant boar with Bill and Ted. Ted would quite happily steal the food out of Bill’s mouth and Bill would let him, if he could give Ted a friendly hump every now and again, all played out with with good grace

 

[Lorcan]

I could never quite work out who was the dominant boar with Bill and Ted. Ted would quite happily steal the food out of Bill’s mouth and Bill would let him, if he could give Ted a friendly hump every now and again, all played out with with good grace

Comet would come to me for dinner, get given a pepper slice, turn around - and Blitzen would grab it and run off to a different hidey, leaving Comet slightly confused as to where his dinner was and could I give him a pepper slice, because he'd lost his? Every single mealtime. You'd think at some point he would've twigged, but nope.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Comet would come to me for dinner, get given a pepper slice, turn around - and Blitzen would grab it and run off to a different hidey, leaving Comet slightly confused as to where his dinner was and could I give him a pepper slice, because he'd lost his? Every single mealtime. You'd think at some point he would've twigged, but nope.

That’s the sheer deftness of boars

 

[Lorcan]

That’s the sheer deftness of boars

"YOINK"

I'm feeling nostalgic for boar rumbles right now, what a life I lead

 

[h_and_piggies]

Between my sister and myself, we’ve pretty much exclusively had boars (except for one sow who went with a neutered boar). They can be a little stinky (musk!) and some of their boar quirks (boar glue!) aren’t the best to deal with, but I don’t regret adopting them for a second as they have such funny personalities. They are super cuddly as well.

 

[eileen]

i love boars ,as they seem more personable ! the only thing i will say is ,ive had alot of dominant boars who have had furball lock on fights.so i prefere a neutered boar with females ! if i get my numbers to 6 guinea pigs ,i would definately look at bonded boar pairs from a rescue,as there personalities are assessed and more likely to be compatiable .

 

[Merab]

I love boars.
I had a pair of boar brothers - unwanted red eyed whites.
They were the loveliest boys imaginable.
My current boar is a neutered husboar and is such a delightful character.

I read the article too and couldn’t believe that people would reject a piggy just because it was male!

 

[Rivervixen]

I love boars.
I had a pair of boar brothers - unwanted red eyed whites.
They were the loveliest boys imaginable.
My current boar is a neutered husboar and is such a delightful character.

I read the article too and couldn’t believe that people would reject a piggy just because it was male!

I read on a thread here people don’t want the brown piggies either. It’s their loss! I have the most affectionate, precious brown piggie x

 

[Lorcan]

People want interesting looking guinea pigs, @Rivervixen. They want the ones that stand out, with the long coats and the striking colours and everything else and don't really have an idea about what work is involved looking after the "divas".

 

[Julie M]

I love boars.
I had a pair of boar brothers - unwanted red eyed whites.
They were the loveliest boys imaginable.
My current boar is a neutered husboar and is such a delightful character.

I read the article too and couldn’t believe that people would reject a piggy just because it was male!

Sadly they do. We've lots of boys in and not many offers of homes. A couple of the last pairs of piggies from the big flat rescue will be with us a whole year in September.  while girls fly out the doors, but to be fair its mainly people who are adding to their herd or with a bereaved piggie who take the girls.

 

[piggieminder]

I love my boars, especially when they get older, they become so mellow. I've only ever had one pair of sows, I didn't take to them like I have the boars. The mother daughter pair I had were always bickering and getting at each other in a sneaky way. You know where you are with boars. I've had a couple of "difficult" characters but I love the challenge of working out the problem and finding a solution. A pair of well bonded boars are a real delight, Spike and Peanut's bond was amazing, they really looked after each other, to the point of taking food to one another if one was ill.

 

[Siikibam]

I love my boars, especially when they get older, they become so mellow. I've only ever had one pair of sows, I didn't take to them like I have the boars. The mother daughter pair I had were always bickering and getting at each other in a sneaky way. You know where you are with boars. I've had a couple of "difficult" characters but I love the challenge of working out the problem and finding a solution. A pair of well bonded boars are a real delight, Spike and Peanut's bond was amazing, they really looked after each other, to the point of taking food to one another if one was ill.

That sounds like the bond of dreams. My boys aren’t into public displays but I think Toffee would really miss Fudge. And vice versa.

 

[fogandvalentino]

I'm new to the forum, and I have a question for other boar owners. I have two boars who were bonded when we adopted them about a year ago (last March). We went away on vacation last week and a friend of ours watched the piggies (this is someone I trust who has watched them before). However, to do this they have to switch cages--we have a big one that doesn't travel, and a smaller one (still pretty big, but can be moved).

Since they got home tonight they have been fighting and teeth chattering, so I separated them. They haven't done this before (occasionally the more dominant one does some mounting, but then they both get along).

Should I slowly re-introduce them? Has anyone had this issue? Right now one is in the big cage and one is in a temporary cage--about two feet away from the other one. They are peacefully munching hay.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I'm new to the forum, and I have a question for other boar owners. I have two boars who were bonded when we adopted them about a year ago (last March). We went away on vacation last week and a friend of ours watched the piggies (this is someone I trust who has watched them before). However, to do this they have to switch cages--we have a big one that doesn't travel, and a smaller one (still pretty big, but can be moved).

Since they got home tonight they have been fighting and teeth chattering, so I separated them. They haven't done this before (occasionally the more dominant one does some mounting, but then they both get along).

Should I slowly re-introduce them? Has anyone had this issue? Right now one is in the big cage and one is in a temporary cage--about two feet away from the other one. They are peacefully munching hay.

The change in location and moving to new cages and then back to their own cage will cause them to re-establish their relationship several times. Its best to use soiled bedding so it still smells of them any time they need to travel as it can help them still recognise the space as their own - and then the same when they come back home - dont use fresh bedding.

You say 'fighting'. This is where you have to be careful. A fight is full on, blood drawing, rolling around and does require immediate and sadly permanent separation as it means the end of their relationship.

Teeth chattering, chasing, mounting is not fighting, its normal dominance and does not warrant separation. Its simply that they would be in a period of reestablishing and just have to be left to get on with it!

You will need to reintroduce them on neutral territory (it cant be slowly - its an all in one thing) and see how things go. If they want to be together then they will sort themselves out and be fine (you will see dominance). You can then clean down the cage they live in (fresh bedding needs to be used at this point) and move them back to it and leave them together. If things escalate and they do fight, then it will be clear something has gone wrong and they will unfortunately not be able to remain living together.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

 

[Bill & Ted]

I love my boars, especially when they get older, they become so mellow. I've only ever had one pair of sows, I didn't take to them like I have the boars. The mother daughter pair I had were always bickering and getting at each other in a sneaky way. You know where you are with boars. I've had a couple of "difficult" characters but I love the challenge of working out the problem and finding a solution. A pair of well bonded boars are a real delight, Spike and Peanut's bond was amazing, they really looked after each other, to the point of taking food to one another if one was ill.

I always remember after Ted’s first GA dental at our local vets, they were in the run and Ted wasn’t well and took himself off to the bunny hut and Bill sat outside guarding him all morning until I brought them in as it was getting so hot. Here is the photo of Ted in the box and Bill sat there patiently outside.They had the most amazing bond