Bullying behaviour!

[Chloeaustin158]

Hello I’m new to this website! I have a big issue at the moment with my 3 boars. At the start they were all together in the same cage from babies. 2 of the boars (buzz and woody) were bought for my little brother and the last boar (bullseye) was bought for a family friend.

Our two bonded beautifully and bullseye lived with a bunny rabbit with his owners. Within around 2 months the family friend of ours said bullseye wasn’t eating and was being bullied by the rabbit and wouldn’t leave his little house so he came to live with us.

Another 2 months passed and everything was fine to begin with until they all started puberty and buzz started to show dominance and became the boss if you will. Woody stands up to him but knows his place and is not harassed and able to eat and do as he pleases. However buzz bully’s bullseye to the point where he hardly leaves the hidey house and only eats the scraps of what’s left of the veggies and hay and food as buzz chases him off. I’ve heard teeth chattering and have been told that’s a sign buzz is angry. Poor bullseye is skinner then the other two and the other day I noticed blood on his nose and decided to separate bullseye from the other two as I think he was attacked by buzz.

The main issue I’m having with separating them is they pine for each other even though they fight. For now I have placed them side by side in separate runs so they can see each other but not able to make physical contact. Buzz and woody stay together and bullseye has his own run and cage. What I’m worried about is bullseye being lonely. Should I get him a friend or could I place woody with him every now and then as they get on? It’s only buzz that can’t be with bullseye. Or would he be best of in his own space but still keep the barrier so they can chat to one another?

Any advice you would be great!
Many thanks!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

i am afraid, as you are finding, three boars together usually fails at some point as they find it very difficult to form a long term functioning hierarchy. Boars do much better in pairs.

He will be fine by himself in a separate but side by side cage. They can interact through the bars only. Please do not put him with the others at all. This is not how piggies function. Every meeting is a full on bonding session to them and given their bond doesn’t work, then doing so would cause stress, fights and have the ability to break all bonds meaning you run the risk of all of them having to live separately.

Now he is single, then he can either live as a neighbour with buzz and woody for life, or have his own new boar friend. This is best done via dating at a rescue centre to ensure his new friend is character compatible with him and therefore the bonding is successful. However, due to the hormones, bonding teenage boars can be tricky and some rescue centres wouldn’t attempt it.

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

 

[Free Ranger]

Boar trios tend not to work at all so what you have seen is completely normal and it looks like you have done the right thing in separating them. Now Bullseye has a chance to feel secure, eat and drink without being bothered, and have company through the bars. It might take a little while to settle and for everyone to know that they have their own area and they are safe. Side-by-side is good. Stacking cages are not as the pigs can't see or interact with each other.

Pigs and Buns shouldn't be kept together anyway - they seem similar to us but their 'language' is different so they are not real company for each other. Sometimes it looks like it's working out, sometimes not, and animals can get used to some unusual situations, but pigs would much rather be with other pigs even as neighbours! This gives you a bit of time to try and find the right companion for Bullseye if you want to go that way.

If Buzz and Woody have a functioning bond I wouldn't risk disrupting it. Woody the under-pig might just have stayed out of the initial arguments because he knew Bullseye would have to deal with dominant Buzz first, but you may well find that on his own Woody can be just as aggressive to Bullseye - or even the other way around! When I put my pigs out on the grass the runs are moved to different places each time (because they eat it all!) so there is always a bit of boundary-patrolling before everyone settles down. My passive girl Louise looks disinterested as dominant Zara squares up to confident Flora at the bars and I thought the same thing as you - under different circumstances would these two get on? But if I take Zara back to the house first I often come out to Flora and Louise at the bars chattering teeth... quietly, mind you, but definitely chattering. Big George stays out of it!

 

[Chloeaustin158]

Welcome to the forum

i am afraid, as you are finding, three boars together usually fails at some point as they find it very difficult to form a long term functioning hierarchy. Boars do much better in pairs.

He will be fine by himself in a separate but side by side cage. They can interact through the bars only. Please do not put him with the others at all. This is not how piggies function. Every meeting is a full on bonding session to them and given their bond doesn’t work, then doing so would cause stress, fights and have the ability to break all bonds meaning you run the risk of all of them having to live separately.

Now he is single, then he can either live as a neighbour with buzz and woody for life, or have his own new boar friend. This is best done via dating at a rescue centre to ensure his new friend is character compatible with him and therefore the bonding is successful. However, due to the hormones, bonding teenage boars can be tricky and some rescue centres wouldn’t attempt it.

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

Thank you for helping! I think we will try him in his own cage and run and see how he gets on before thinking of getting him a friend. He’s been much happier in his own run on the grass next to the other two, they sunbathe together next to the barrier and it’s been great to see bullseye eat and popcorn around.

With the cages how ever it’s a little harder to keep them next to each other as the cages are outside. We have to raise them on a table to keep away any unwanted pests. We can sit them across from each other so they could still chat and see one another but from more of a distance. So what I’m thinking especially during winter times when they won’t be outside on the grass during the day in side by side runs is to bring them inside for floor time but with a barrier once a day or so.

Would this be enough for them to socialise and stop bullseye getting lonely?

 

[Chloeaustin158]

Boar trios tend not to work at all so what you have seen is completely normal and it looks like you have done the right thing in separating them. Now Bullseye has a chance to feel secure, eat and drink without being bothered, and have company through the bars. It might take a little while to settle and for everyone to know that they have their own area and they are safe. Side-by-side is good. Stacking cages are not as the pigs can't see or interact with each other.

Pigs and Buns shouldn't be kept together anyway - they seem similar to us but their 'language' is different so they are not real company for each other. Sometimes it looks like it's working out, sometimes not, and animals can get used to some unusual situations, but pigs would much rather be with other pigs even as neighbours! This gives you a bit of time to try and find the right companion for Bullseye if you want to go that way.

If Buzz and Woody have a functioning bond I wouldn't risk disrupting it. Woody the under-pig might just have stayed out of the initial arguments because he knew Bullseye would have to deal with dominant Buzz first, but you may well find that on his own Woody can be just as aggressive to Bullseye - or even the other way around! When I put my pigs out on the grass the runs are moved to different places each time (because they eat it all!) so there is always a bit of boundary-patrolling before everyone settles down. My passive girl Louise looks disinterested as dominant Zara squares up to confident Flora at the bars and I thought the same thing as you - under different circumstances would these two get on? But if I take Zara back to the house first I often come out to Flora and Louise at the bars chattering teeth... quietly, mind you, but definitely chattering. Big George stays out of it!

That is a good point I will not bother putting woody in with bullseye and keep him with buzz. I don’t want to risk buzz or woody falling out too! I’ll have to make a barrier for floor time too.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you for helping! I think we will try him in his own cage and run and see how he gets on before thinking of getting him a friend. He’s been much happier in his own run on the grass next to the other two, they sunbathe together next to the barrier and it’s been great to see bullseye eat and popcorn around.

With the cages how ever it’s a little harder to keep them next to each other as the cages are outside. We have to raise them on a table to keep away any unwanted pests. We can sit them across from each other so they could still chat and see one another but from more of a distance. So what I’m thinking especially during winter times when they won’t be outside on the grass during the day in side by side runs is to bring them inside for floor time but with a barrier once a day or so.

Would this be enough for them to socialise and stop bullseye getting lonely?

Laying next to the divider isn’t always a friendly gesture although it may look like it. it can be an unfriendly territory marking exercise

Yes it’s much harder with outside cages. They need interaction through a bar all the time to prevent loneliness. Their eyesight is poor and they can only see about a foot in front of them clearly, so if you move them further than that, they won’t be able to see each other. Also, for full interaction they also need smell and sound to be able to use body language. Especially during winter with hutch covers having to be down they likely won’t be able to have any of that.
Unfortunately if they are to live outside year round, then you cannot bring them into the house for floor time in winter. The difference between outside and inside temperatures is too much and can make them ill. Unless you can make the room almost as cold as outside is so they don’t experience any fluctuation, then don’t bring indoors. This is when he may struggle most given it is going to be much harder for him to have that side by side interaction them - the plus side is it gives you some months to sort out a new friend for him if he needs one before winter.
While living as neighbours is perfectly acceptable and the done thing when they cannot be together, you also need to weigh up whether you can give that constant side by side interaction. If he is young, then having a live in friend for the rest of his life may be best