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Cage mate grief

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hazeyg

hazeyg

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hello,

Sadly I lost my beloved Alving two days ago. My other piggie seems a little down and although they were sperated the used to lie beside the cage divide with each other all the time.

How long should I wait before gettting him a new cage mate?

Hazel x
 
if your other piggy is pining for a missing friend i would get him a friend as soon as you can. most rescues on here to boar dating so you could take him to choose his own friend
 
Piggies don't grieve any less than humans, but they can't afford to grieve as long if they want to survive.

The best way to find a compatible friend is boar dating at a reputable rescue; that way, character compatibility and mutual liking is taken into account. It would be good if you could set up a round of dates for as soon as you can. Which area are you in?
 
Boar dating is a great idea. It worked well for my old age boar when he lost his brother. A new cagemate has given him a new lease of life.
 
I'm in Scotland but willing to travel. I only know of one centre in Scotland called thistle cavies. There is the sspca which has a few but not sure how much they would know about boar dating.
If you know of any piggies or rescue places in Scoltand Id be very grateful of any info.

Hazel x
 
Thistle Cavies is the one I have heard recommended a lot by other rescue people for your area!

Please be aware that rescue people are often very busy, so you may have to try and ring them more than once. Best of luck!

Piggy dating has always been a great success for my own bereaved piggies.
 
Definitely get in touch with some rescues now, as Wiebke says, they can be busy and if you have a pining piggie you need to get him a friend a.s.a.p. Wallace lost a lot of weight when Mr M passed away, thankfully we were able to get him a boardate fairly quickly and he improved immediately. So sorry about Alving, we were also heartbroken over Mr M but I have to say having a little baby boar bring some much-needed cheer into the home did help us as well as Wallace. x
 
Ive set up a dating session tomorrow with a few possible boars and only 30 miles from where I stay. I'm actually really excited, I relly like him to have a friend that he can run around with :).

Lets hope we meet a lovely nice placid piggy :).

Thanks everyone :) x
 
That's great news, hope he finds a little friend he likes. :)
 
Help......date gone wrong!!

Help....... A fight broke out. All seemed ok on the date on saturday. They spent 3horus togetehr with just the normal dominance stuff, bum waging humping etc. So I brought little Harry home and put them both in the big cage without the divide as advised, so Theo didnt associate the cage as his.
Theo was the dominant one constantly pestering new mate, which after a 3 hour date the rescue were certain they were ok to go home together.
As soon as in the massive undivided cage, which was thoroughly cleaned out and descented before Harry and Theo were put in( I was advised to take the divide down) . However the behaviour was different and Theo was constantly hounding new cage mate harry, not givbing him a minutes peace. I think Harry just got fed up and eventually went for him and drew blood. Theo did run off after, it did take two full days before Harry lost his rag.
Is there any way to rescue this situation?? Or should I ring the rescue and try for another boar? My mum wants me to return Harry before I get to attached as the idea was to find a new mate for Theo, not to end up with two divided piggies.
I know it sounds really selfish but I miss Alvin so much, the last thing I wanted was to deal with another fighting pair of boars. I just wanted the best for wee lonely Theo and now he is seperated again with a sore bitten lip. I feel awful, really awful, I really like Harry but maybe it is best to return him and get mates that they can both properly live with.
Advice please please please?
 
Have you tried giving them a bath together or putting a teeny tiny ( really tiny ) bit of Vicks on both of their noses and rumps? Helen advised me to do this with Wallace and Rocket when I put them together and they were fine. The only time they weren't fine was when Rocket had been to the vets and Wallace started ignoring him ( I should imagine it was the vet scent that he hated ) and wouldn't let Rocket cuddle up to him ( I know that's not as serious as fighting but Rocket was just a baby and had had an abcess drained so needed a cuddle) so I did the Vicks thing again and they were fine. I'd at least try that before giving up. x
 
Bath them and try Vicks? is there any specific procedure I shld follow. Like put them in a neutral run and increase the amount of time the spend together? The thing is I'm so scared of injuries cos new Harry is so much bigger than Theo and even though Theo was dominant Harry seemed to only put up with so much bullying, he never got a minutes peace.
I may get DAP, try the bath and vicks and neutral territory thing again. Perhaps its my fault I took out the pigloos because I was scared Harry wasnt getting any food and Theo was keeping him inside, perhaps he was just seeking solitude as he settled in? What do you think?
Theo has an injury on his face am I best to let their anger subside first. There in the same cage but seperated by a divide and they cant see each other at the mo, as I put a towl oevr the bars as The3o was chomping at them all night....I'm so sleepy :(.
Did your boars have any physical fighting? draw any blood? It hardly drew any blood whatsoever and Theo ran away, do you think this has been enough, or do you think they will have to still settle their difference? Perhpas Theo being a bully will never give up :(.

What a huge pickle?

ANy advice further of how to get them to bond would be greatly appreciated.

Hazel x
 
Mine were fine together. I introduced them as Helen had advised me: got home, put them in the run for some afternoon grasstime ( obviously this was in the summer) and then did the Vicks just before putting them in a completely clean cage. As I said, the only trouble I had was when Wallace started ignoring Rocket after the vets trip but the Vicks did the trick with that.
Hopefully someone who's managed a trickier pairing will be along soon to advise, if not then just keep bumping this thread. x
 
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