chewy110214
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi all! I've asked a lot of questions on here before and always gotten really good advice! I have a question about bonding two boars I thought this forum could help out with...
Three years ago we got a young friend for our ~1 year old boar Chewy. The friend (Lemmiwinks) was only 3-4 months old. They seemed to do okay upon introduction, but after three days together in the same cage, Lemmiwinks attacked and bit Chewy pretty badly (took a chunk off of his nose, drew blood). So we separated them. Over the years, we've realized Lemmiwinks is a biter...he will draw blood on your skin if he's unhappy, so we've kept him separate and alone, unfortunately--but I didn't want to risk injury to another pig.
Chewy did eventually get bonded with an older, calmer boar...they lived together great. But Chewy's friend has recently passed, and I'm afraid of him being lonely, especially since he lived so happily with a friend. We are trying to avoid adopting a new friend because we have a (human) baby on the way, but I know pigs should not live alone. Lemmiwinks has definitely calmed down with the biting (he's now over 3 years old), but I think a part of it is that we've learned his triggers and how to avoid bites. I also worry about him being a lone pig. He and Chewy have cages about a foot apart from each other. They used to chew bars at each other, but not anymore...they'll occasionally just watch the other pig. Is it worth trying a re-introduction? I've read that once two boars are introduced and don't get along, they never will...but they're both significantly older and calmer.
Are re-introductions a strict no-no, or do you think given the circumstance there's a possibility of them getting along?
Three years ago we got a young friend for our ~1 year old boar Chewy. The friend (Lemmiwinks) was only 3-4 months old. They seemed to do okay upon introduction, but after three days together in the same cage, Lemmiwinks attacked and bit Chewy pretty badly (took a chunk off of his nose, drew blood). So we separated them. Over the years, we've realized Lemmiwinks is a biter...he will draw blood on your skin if he's unhappy, so we've kept him separate and alone, unfortunately--but I didn't want to risk injury to another pig.
Chewy did eventually get bonded with an older, calmer boar...they lived together great. But Chewy's friend has recently passed, and I'm afraid of him being lonely, especially since he lived so happily with a friend. We are trying to avoid adopting a new friend because we have a (human) baby on the way, but I know pigs should not live alone. Lemmiwinks has definitely calmed down with the biting (he's now over 3 years old), but I think a part of it is that we've learned his triggers and how to avoid bites. I also worry about him being a lone pig. He and Chewy have cages about a foot apart from each other. They used to chew bars at each other, but not anymore...they'll occasionally just watch the other pig. Is it worth trying a re-introduction? I've read that once two boars are introduced and don't get along, they never will...but they're both significantly older and calmer.
Are re-introductions a strict no-no, or do you think given the circumstance there's a possibility of them getting along?
