Can they still be bullied through bars?

[boureki]

We are hoping to find a pal for our Dylan. The problem is he was apparently badly bullied and suffered a stroke from stress. Ideally we would love a female friend for him but are reluctant to subject him to anaesthetic for neutering because of the extra risk for him. Also as he is housed next to two other bonded boars, we are worried the smell of a female may start the bonded boys fighting with each other.

So we were thinking of a large cage with a divider with another single boar. The thing that concerns us is (and I know this sounds like a silly question!) Does anyone know if they can still be bullied/upset/intimidated in a cage which is separated? I would hate for him to get bad vibes from his new neighbour!

We were going to try and mix him with our other two bonded boys at playtime only, but they spend so much time obsessing about how to get in to each others pens, the other two boys have resorted to squirting at each other and bickering in the pens when Dylan is next to them we are now reluctant to try mixing them as we don’t want any trouble, and the other two bonded boys to fall out.

Any boar experts have any ideas? Open to all suggestions!
Thanks

 

[sammyroo]

I wonder whether he might be better with an older (4-plus) boar. I'm far from being an expert but in my limited experience, older boars do seem to be much calmer than the younger ones.

 

[clowny]

Ditto.

We orig had 4 boars all living together. Skip (the then baby) wanted to be the boss as he got older. Clowny (eldest) didn't like it and ended up at the vets after a fight.

We removed Skip and despite trying him again with the 3 and then with the other 2, fights always ensued.

Skip lived alone, Clowny lived alone (he was at least 4 and i would not risk neutering) and the other two Toffee and Ginger lived together. We did try Clowny with the other two, but Ginger got very jealous of another piggie by Toffee.

Clowny then died, leaving me with three again.

I got Jeff off the forum and after a few days tried introducing him to Toffee and Ginger - whilst Ginger was fine, again, Toffee was very jealous and I would not take any risks so decided against this.

As Skip was now older, I tried Jeff with Skip. Skip is about 2 years and Jeff 2 months.

I tried them together on the bathroom floor - neutral ground - they seemed to get comfort from each other and kept going imto one of the corners together. Jeff even nuzzled Skip at one point and Skip let him.

Considering how much of a bully Skip has been in the past, this was fantastic. They now seem really pleased to see each other. We keep swapping their hutches so they smell like each other.

Its time consuming, but oh so rewarding.

Not quite sure why it seems to be working (although they haven't been in a hutch together yet). It is temperament? Has Skip been on his own so long, he is grateful for company? Has he now become calmer now he is older? I really don't know.

What about contacting a local resuce (or if theres someone on here close by with boars to rehome) with a view to taking Dylan to them to see if he gets on with any of their boars - its worth a shot.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[boureki]

Thanks for your replies. We actually have a little rescue boy in mind (we will only ever adopt 'rehomes' or recues). He is only 10 months old though, however, I wondered about an older boy and would be very happy to have one. It was good to hear about your experiences Clowny. We won't be getting him for another couple of weeks, and will come wit his own cage, which we hoped we would be able to place next to Dylan's so they could get used to each other. Then in the future we would like to either make a C&C cage with a simple divider, or divide up a 1.4m cage so they can touch etc without being able to cause damage!

At this point I was wondering if they can still bully each other verbally if you like through the seperator/cage bars, and if so, would be be detrimental to their happiness? We wouldn't want a load of squabbling unhappy piggies!

 

[clowny]

When Skip first saw Jeff, Skip was in his hutch and immediately started biting the bars of his hutch. We took this as agression, hence trying him with the other two first. We then thought 'in for a penny in for a pound' and tried Skip. There was no agression at all. I wonder whether he was trying to get to Jeff rather then being horrid.

I think its a good idea putting their cages side by side, they will then know the other is there. You could try swapping their cages as you build towards introducing them so they don't smell so different. Someone also suggested bathing them to remove their smell before introducing.

I haven't been aware of any bulling between my piggies when they have been in their runs outside (which I always place in a group so they could see each other).

Good luck.

 

[piglover]

Yep, it is a good idea to put them side by side at first, then let them out on their own one at time then they can talk to each other through the bars, then gradually let them out together. I literally rub my new boys all over with the hay from the orginal ones cage, just grab a handful of hay and rub the new boy all over so all the original boy can smell is himself. I also believe that with boys its down to personality rather than age - although young and old helps - if they like each other in the first half hour - you're ok, usually if they don't like each other they will start teeth chattering and rumbling straight away, old boys usually just wander off if the younger one gets on its nerves! But patience is the key with boys.

 

[Barmy4boars]

There are piggys who are so cross with their ex cage mate after a fight they do get upset or aggressive when housed next to them, though I understand that this is rare. If you are worried it makes good sense to keep them apart, and if you can find a new companion... hopefully with more sucess then that sounds ideal.

Generally speaking with side by side pigs the bars should protect them from bites, scratches etc... and in my experiance my seperated boys loved a good old rumble at each other verbally through the bars knowing they were 100% safe. They were much more interested in each other shortly after their fight than they were when they got used to living side by side. And neither was very happy if put in a different cage away from each other. Spraying etc sounds that bit more serious.

Hope that you find a happy solution.