Failed Bonding Attempt....Advice please

[missy]

Hi all,

I know I'm not the first to experience this (and sadly won't be the last) but I've found this experience really disheartening and would really appreciate your thoughts please...

My boar Yossi had a very close bond with his boar friend and they lived together happily until Feb, when Yossi's cagemate died. Yossi was then on his own for 3 months until I recently decided to go ahead and find a rescue boar to be his new companion.

The initial introductions at the rescue went extremely well and the rescue owner was more than satisfied that it was a great match, so the new little fella came home with us (last week). For the first couple of days things seemed ok but then they started to scrap. At first it seemed like it was just the usual dominance behaviour and that they were just still trying to establish who was top pig. I monitored them as closely as possible but one night they must've had a massive fight because one morning I found that Yossi had a nasty puncture wound on his face and the new fella had a ripped ear. They've been separated ever since.

I'm absolutely gutted that they've fallen out after such a promising start. I tried everything I'd heard about in order to try and minimise the risk of it not working but still failure

So now I have 2 boars living separately, on their own. Not a great situation and certainly not what I'd hoped for! I really don't know what to do for the best. I've tried contacting the rescue for advice but so far no reply. I was aware that there's always a risk of fall outs but really thought that this pairing would work, due to the brilliant bonding session at their first meeting (apparently it had gone exceptionally well). I assume that, if it comes to it, the rescue would be willing to take back the little fella in order to find him a new home. I'd be really upset to have to do this but my OH isn't keen on having more than one group, mainly due to space limitations.

From your experience, after a bloody fight is it not really possible for a successful reintroduction? I've heard that it may be possible to try again after keeping their cages side by side for a few weeks but it sounds doubtful that they'd get on.

I'm trying to convince the OH that we can make space to accommodate the new piggy as I'd feel truly terrible sending him back. I wonder if it'd be cruel to keep him here on his own, if housed as a neighbour to Yossi? I'm really hoping that my OH will agree to us having 2 cages so we can keep him. Even if they're both on their own I figure that being neighbours is better than nothing but I'd aim to eventually have 2 boar/sow pairings, if this would work.

Can the boars ever be friends or has their relationship broken down forever?

Any advice welcome.
Thanks x

 

[boozyfruits]

sorry no advice, just sympathy and empathy.
we've had 3 failed bondings so far, so know how you're feeling.
Fortunately we've been able to keep ours side by side, and presently have 4 single boars.
the culprit each time was hormones. mallethead

general advice is if blood was shed, then you haven't a chance, but we've almost got one pairing back together, but it has failed again do to vision probs. the other 2 combinations seem to have very long memories and still castanet like mad at the sight of each other.

do try and get in touch with the rescue.
i'm sure someone will be along with better advice soon
B

 

[Wiebke]

Sadly, after a bloody fight, you won't be able to put them back together. I am sorry for your experience; it is not unique - ask Joanne! From watching boar bonding threads for over a year now, it is quite often later that the real problems are cropping up. I would never call a boar bonding successful until they have been together without any fights for at least a month.

I hope that you can hear from the rescue again soon! Sadly, many are so busy that answering promptly is often a problem. It hink that it depends largely on what they are saying.

An alternative would be to hand the youngster back and think about having Yoshi neutered by an experienced vet. How old is Yoshi? Sadly, spayed sows are like gold dust in this country, as that operation is a lot more invasive and risky than having a boar neutered.

Of course, you can keep the boys next to each other. However, in that case, I would rather look for an older rescue boar with his own bonding problems that may otherwise not find a happy home - that is , if you can bear to hand the littl'un back!

 

[missy]

An alternative would be to hand the youngster back and think about having Yoshi neutered by an experienced vet. How old is Yoshi? Sadly, spayed sows are like gold dust in this country, as that operation is a lot more invasive and risky than having a boar neutered.

Of course, you can keep the boys next to each other. However, in that case, I would rather look for an older rescue boar with his own bonding problems that may otherwise not find a happy home - that is , if you can bear to hand the littl'un back!

Yossi's just turned 3 so I definitely wouldn't get him neutered. I know there's a long wait for spayed rescue sows, which is why I ended up taking the chance with a boar instead, after much deliberation. I thought Yossi had already waited long enough (whilst I figured out whether or not I could continue keeping guineas, as I was so deeply affected by losing Totti and wasn't sure if I could cope with having more after such grief.)

I know what you mean about keeping the little one on his own when he deserves a chance to live a fulfilled life with proper piggy companionship. If I were to keep him I'd think about having him neutered so he can live with a sow although I've always been very afraid of putting a piggy through this op (I know many do, without complication, but there's always that risk)

 

[Wiebke]

It might be best to sleep over your options while you are waiting for the rescue to come back to you. Sadly, there are no easy fixes, so you have to weigh up the risks and problems and go for the solution that you think will be the best for you and your piggies.