Bonding

[Sarah1515]

Morning. (UK)

I currently have 4 solo, male piggies.

Two of them were a pair, but they are now next door neighbours after a tiff, that led to a nip, that led to an abscess.

The other two are solo as we lost one boy about 3 weeks ago, and the other boy 2 days ago.
They currently live next to each other, but with a couple of grids length gap.

I’d like to have 2 pairs again, but am nervous.
3 of the 4 boys are the dominant one of the pairs. One is super chilled.
One of the more dominant boys is only about 6months old, so he had to be separated from his companion as his hormones kicked in and he wanted to try being boss - his companion wasn’t having it and so they started falling out.

I just dont know the best way to proceed.

I’d love two pairs, so they all have a companion that actually lives with them as opposed to being a neighbour.

Photo of current set up.

Any advice?

Thank you

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry for your losses.

You are not likely to get two pairs given you have too many dominant piggies. Putting two known young adult dominant piggies together will be risky.
The only caveat to that is if any of them are elderly as they can then become about companionship again rather than dominance - you may be successful putting a young dominant with an elderly dominant or with two elderly dominants. It all still comes down to mutual liking so there is no guarantee.
I bonded two boars who were both dominant with their previous partner but one was 2 years old (fought with his previous partner as he was also dominant) and the other was 6 and a half years old (his companion passed away) and he happily relinquished all dominance to the 2 year old.

So really you just have to try the very relaxed boy with any one of the others (obviously not one he previously fell out with) and see what happens.
If he fails with the first, try another and so on. If he gets on well with one then leave them together and don’t try another.
If he doesn’t get any with any then it does mean they will need to stay as neighbours.

The couple of grids length gap between the two bereaved boys needs to be removed. Single piggies need to be directly side by side for constant interaction between the bars - the gap means they are unable to communicate.

Before a bonding attempt, make sure you put the two piggies with wish to try together side by side for at least a few days before you attempt a neutral territory introduction. This allows them to get to know each other and settle before going into the bonding pen. It won’t make them get on but it at least has given them a chance to be aware of the other in closer proximity if they had previously lived further apart.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated Bonding Dynamics and Behaviours

 

[Sarah1515]

Hi - thank you for your reply.

My issue with the two that have a couple of grids gap, is that when they are directly side by side, they rumblestrut massively and chew at the bars to try get to each other.

Because of that, I was worried they would both get too stressed?

X

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hi - thank you for your reply.

My issue with the two that have a couple of grids gap, is that when they are directly side by side, they rumblestrut massively and chew at the bars to try get to each other.

Because of that, I was worried they would both get too stressed?

X

That is a territory marking behaviour - they aren’t trying to be get together.

They still must be able to see each other through the grids even if there is a small gap between the cages (a couple of inches gap is but no more than that) even one grid wide gap is too big for long term interaction (they can’t see far into the distance) - but the way it is set up now isn’t sustainable.

 

[Sarah1515]

Do you think they would settle eventually then as direct neighbours?

I’ll try them directly side by side, as I also have a piece of corex covering the separating grids too

X

 

[Piggies&buns]

They usually do settle in time
My two separated boys were initially unsettled being side by side but settled within a week. They can still rile each other up at times now but it’s done and dusted inside of five minutes. They’ve been apart for years now

 

[Sarah1515]

Thank you - my two have both lost their companions.
One is about 2 and the other is 6 months, so hopefully after they have got used to being neighbours then they will be ok

 

[Piggies&buns]

I assume the 2 year old the relaxed submissive one?
6 months isn’t an ideal age to be bonding (hormone wise) and but all you can ever do is try and see what happens - at 2 years old he isn’t old enough to be craving companionship over dominance but its whether he is submissive enough to submit to a boy much younger than him

 

[Sarah1515]

No the 2 year old was the dominant one of his pairing. His companion wasn’t having 5 when he passed away a couple of weeks ago, and he was such a chilled boy
My 6 month old is a little live wire! xx