choosing a friend

[mum]

I"ve read alot on here about piggies going to rescue centres to choose their own friends.Does this work with boars as well?And how do you know that they like each other?I"ve tried bonding males using barmy4boars tips,but thought it would be easier if they picked out their own friend.After my grotty week I have a couple of lone males that I would like to find a friend for or introduce them to each other.

 

[karenrgpr]

I can only speak for how we do it here. Sometimes people bring out their boar and we try them with one of mine on 'neutral' territory. The boar that is not mine though is probably more stressed because he is away from home and familiar surroundings whereas my boar will be more grounded because he is familiar with some of the things/smells around him. They either get on or they fight/rumble. I don't go any further than that, don't force the issue with baths etc- but others have had success with this I believe.

Even a successful pairing may experience some turbulence on arriving home where the new pig will be on strange ground (even if its neutral), this can manifest itself as aggression (though really its fear) and insecurity. You need to give them time to settle and get used to the new situation- its new for all of you Perhaps try your boars together first

 

[Sian]

Hi Mum, I was so sorry to hear about the awful week you have had.

Yes it is possible to bond boars. I have a new adult boar Gilbert who has been here for three weeks now with our 4yr old boar Murran & all is well. O0

We took Murran along to the rescue & they were introduced there on neutral ground. They were put in the run together with some veggies to take their minds off the situation! They saw each other, sniffed, then carried on eating! They were in the run for about 45mins & all was well. We took them home in the same carry case, but had a spare on us just incase of problems. They just cuddled up together it was lovely.

I had sterilized out Murrans cage (base & bars) along with the dishes etc. with baby sterilizing solution. I places different toys & house in the cage & in different places so Murran definitely wouldn't recognise it as being "his" property. All is fine with these two boys, they are both laid back & it seems neither of them wants to be top pig, they are just glad to have each other as company.

Basically the lady at the rescue knew the signs to look out for if it looked like there would be trouble! We tried Murran with a smaller adult boar there at the rescue aswell but the smaller boy was going to cause trouble so she removed him as soon as the warning signs arose!

There was still no guarantee that the boys would get on once they were home, but if that were the case we had the option then of taking Gilbert back to the rescue. Luckily all has been fine.

You could try you two lone males together. It will need to be neutral territory & if they get along you will need to put them in a sterilized cage if they are going in one that one or the other of them already lives in.

What happened with the males you tried bonding using the tips from barmy4boars?

Hope this helps & good luck with what ever you decide O0

 

[mum]

The ones I bonded using the barmy4boars tips were fine for about 4 months and then there was a power shift and Tex decided he wanted to be top pig and Parsley wasn"t having it.I seperated them because Tex had cuts on his nose.I have been slowly introducing Tex to Fred and yesterday they went in the run together and were fine but they sleep apart at the moment.I"d like to bond Ginger,he was Rainbows mate,but he was top pig and really wanted him to choose for himself if that makes sense

 

[Sian]

Oh yes Mum i remember reading your Post about Tex & parsley now you mention it. Poor Tex, hope he & Fred work out that will be good. O0

Sounds like it will be a good idea for you to take Ginger to the rescue so he can choose a pal for himself. With him being top pig it may not be as easy as I had it with my Murran.

Hope it all goes well. O0 Keep us posted