Fell in love with a boy.......what will the girls think.....

artcasper said:
Aww so sad....
I am going to keep looking and see what turns up at the same rescue I got the girls from... does it matter what age the boar is? The girls are between 2 - 2 1/2...
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Perhaps a more mature boar might be better, or perhaps a young submissive one... Jezzy and Clover were that age when they met 6 month old Theo and they were not overly impressed by his boarly antics!
Luckily Theo is very submissive and eager to please everyone, also he has 3 ladies his own age too so he's quite happy to have Clover as his boss and Jezzy as his auntie and keep his romantic urges for the younger girls!
 
PigglePuggle said:
Perhaps a more mature boar might be better, or perhaps a young submissive one... Jezzy and Clover were that age when they met 6 month old Theo and they were not overly impressed by his boarly antics!
Luckily Theo is very submissive and eager to please everyone, also he has 3 ladies his own age too so he's quite happy to have Clover as his boss and Jezzy as his auntie and keep his romantic urges for the younger girls!
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I remember when we got Winny, she was with Pippin who was 4 and she often looked at me as if to say " who is this youngster annoying me " 😂😂😂😂
 
I hope your girls meet a boar soon. He will be a very lucky piggie. So sorry to hear the little fella didn't make it after his op but he will be happily meeting ladies over the rainbow bridge. Best wishes xx
 
artcasper said:
Aww so sad....
I am going to keep looking and see what turns up at the same rescue I got the girls from... does it matter what age the boar is? The girls are between 2 - 2 1/2...
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Please adopt from one of our recommended rescues if possible - and ideally by rescue dating. You want somebody who is really experienced in it for the job. Don't rush into it because you have this feeling you need a husboar asap now as a way of coping with your loss.

Mutual liking and character compatibility come a VERY long way before age. But any boar has to be accepted by the sows. Yours are coming towards the end of ideal pup bearing age (although they can get pregnant until the end of a very long life); but it generally means that they won't be quite as accepting of boars anymore than they were as sub-adults and young adults.
This problem is going to increase as they get older. Bondings can fail straight away but they can also turn sour over the hierarchy. I know that teenage boars have a bad press, but ask our long term members and rescue fosterers about bonding mature sows...
Most of my failed bondings have been those with older sows.
 
I'm sorry the boar did not make it,it is lovely to have a husboar,all my herds have husboars.the rescue you are using is one of the best in the country !your ladies will be happy,a husboar will be very lucky going to a five star home.
 
Jamston said:
Sorry to hear the little fellow never made it.
We adopted a neutered rescue boar and after a couple of days bonding he settled down with his 3 wifelets! They make a lovely herd and the dynamics have been interesting and amusing!

Rocket is on the left of his 3 girls!View attachment 147075
Rocket looks very settled...
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eileen said:
I'm sorry the boar did not make it,it is lovely to have a husboar,all my herds have husboars.the rescue you are using is one of the best in the country !your ladies will be happy,a husboar will be very lucky going to a five star home.
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I would never just buy one - would always go to this rescue! Getting excited now at the prospect of offering a little boy a good home... x
 
Wiebke said:
Please adopt from one of our recommended rescues if possible - and ideally by rescue dating. You want somebody who is really experienced in it for the job. Don't rush into it because you have this feeling you need a husboar asap now as a way of coping with your loss.

Mutual liking and character compatibility come a VERY long way before age. But any boar has to be accepted by the sows. Yours are coming towards the end of ideal pup bearing age (although they can get pregnant until the end of a very long life); but it generally means that they won't be quite as accepting of boars anymore than they were as sub-adults and young adults.
This problem is going to increase as they get older. Bondings can fail straight away but they can also turn sour over the hierarchy. I know that teenage boars have a bad press, but ask our long term members and rescue fosterers about bonding mature sows...
Most of my failed bondings have been those with older sows.
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I would not consider anywhere BUT a rescue and will be, as I said, enquiring about it with the same rescue I got the girls from. No rushing at all - I don't rush into things lightly.
 
artcasper said:
I would not consider anywhere BUT a rescue and will be, as I said, enquiring about it with the same rescue I got the girls from. No rushing at all - I don't rush into things lightly.
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All the best! I hope that 'Mr Right' will come along in due time. There is going to be a surge in rescue intakes once all the cute pet shop babies bought to keep the homebound children entertained reach teenage and are no longer or cute, interesting or are actively fighting... So we should see quite a rise in boars looking for a new home in late summer/autumn - latest once schools reopen. :(

It all depends on the personality combination and the experience of the rescue bonder, who can usually tell pretty quickly whether an introduction is not going anywhere meaningful and has several candidates they can try with your girls. :tu:
 
I do love the neutered boar and wives combo. Ever since Peter came along I have always had one male and 3 females :)
 
I love my own husboars very much and wouldn't be without them - after all, I have a record 9 of them right now and love them all to bits! Having a husboar lets you have the best of both worlds, boars and sows, and generally makes for very stable bonds.

It is just not always as easy as many people think to get over the initial bonding hurdle.
 
artcasper said:
Did they like him straight away? What age was he and your girls? X
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It was odd, I only had my first two girls a couple of months. Bea was at least 2 years old and kept hurting bumble because bumble wanted to cuddle up and Bea didn't do snuggles :)) So I got Peter more for Bumble. He wasn't neutered so I got him done and had them in cages next to each other for 7 weeks (paranoia took me a week over). I planned the whole bonding but in reality 10 mins in and they were all settled together. Worst thing was Bea loved him and they snuggled up together leaving poor Bumble out and thats how I ended up going to 4 piggies :))

Donald took to Daisy and Willow fairly quickly too and to be honest any pig introduced afterwards he was ok with bar one from Nevilles Nest who had to go back but I think it was because her and Lily had a problem. Boris bonded easily too. I've found boar/sow bonding easier than sow/sow
 
Lady Kelly said:
It was odd, I only had my first two girls a couple of months. Bea was at least 2 years old and kept hurting bumble because bumble wanted to cuddle up and Bea didn't do snuggles :)) So I got Peter more for Bumble. He wasn't neutered so I got him done and had them in cages next to each other for 7 weeks (paranoia took me a week over). I planned the whole bonding but in reality 10 mins in and they were all settled together. Worst thing was Bea loved him and they snuggled up together leaving poor Bumble out and thats how I ended up going to 4 piggies :))

Donald took to Daisy and Willow fairly quickly too and to be honest any pig introduced afterwards he was ok with bar one from Nevilles Nest who had to go back but I think it was because her and Lily had a problem. Boris bonded easily too. I've found boar/sow bonding easier than sow/sow
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Aww that's good hear... my 3 girls took a while to bond as it was lone Winny and a pair who were already bonded....and I still think 1 gets left out at times....hence the thought about getting a little fella!
 
Lol the dangerous addiction of adding an extra piggy so one doesnt feel left out! After having our original pair Piggle and Puggle for 5 weeks, we noticed that Piggle had very strong seasons and was a bit of a really and Puggle didnt like it... so I was looking in the free ads trying to find a bigger cage so they could get away from each other... when I spotted an ad "lone male guinea pig 14 weeks old free to good home child lost interest"... that was little Theo! Just what we need I thought for some hormonal teenage girlies, a love interest, and poor little fella, all alone and unwanted...
So we brought him home, had him neutered, he was living next door to the girls... when it quickly became clear that Puggle was truly, madly, deeply, obsessively besotted with Theo... what if Piggle feels left out? I thought... then I heard that someone living quite nearby was wanting to rehome 2 ladies... I'll just take a look I thought...
So in a very short space of time we went from 2 to 5! But then Jezzy seemed a bit left out sometimes... oops 6! :)
 
PigglePuggle said:
Lol the dangerous addiction of adding an extra piggy so one doesnt feel left out! After having our original pair Piggle and Puggle for 5 weeks, we noticed that Piggle had very strong seasons and was a bit of a really and Puggle didnt like it... so I was looking in the free ads trying to find a bigger cage so they could get away from each other... when I spotted an ad "lone male guinea pig 14 weeks old free to good home child lost interest"... that was little Theo! Just what we need I thought for some hormonal teenage girlies, a love interest, and poor little fella, all alone and unwanted...
So we brought him home, had him neutered, he was living next door to the girls... when it quickly became clear that Puggle was truly, madly, deeply, obsessively besotted with Theo... what if Piggle feels left out? I thought... then I heard that someone living quite nearby was wanting to rehome 2 ladies... I'll just take a look I thought...
So in a very short space of time we went from 2 to 5! But then Jezzy seemed a bit left out sometimes... oops 6! :)
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I know the problem, too - you either end up with a big group or lots of pairs once ovarian cysts or personal hang-ups come into play...

Trios are just so difficult to get right although they are wonderful when they work. I've just managed to create another one and hope that I can over time build it up into a little long-haired herd to come off my many space eating and labour intensive pairs again - but that is rather a medium to long term dream! Most important is always that the personalities work out.
 
Wiebke said:
I know the problem, too - you either end up with a big group or lots of pairs once ovarian cysts or personal hang-ups come into play...

Trios are just so difficult to get right although they are wonderful when they work. I've just managed to create another one and hope that I can over time build it up into a little long-haired herd to get off my many space eating and labour intensive pairs again - but that is rather a medium to long term dream! Most important is always that the personalities work out.
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Adding 6th piggy Blodwen was actually the dream ingredient that makes the whole group work, she's such a friendly cheeky little herd social engineer, even if she is still a bit nervous of the hoomans! They've been a happy stable herd of 6 since Christmas 2018... a few wobbles as the younger piggies now have more heft and energy than boss lady Clover, but nothing that hasn't resolved naturally in a day or two so far touch wood!
Trying to add Tallulah as the 7th piggy was our major fail, 5 minutes into the bonding it was off to the emergency vets to get the fight wounds seen to, definitely a "plan B and a big vet fund needed" situation! It all looked so promising through the cage bars, then utter carnage...
 
PigglePuggle said:
Adding 6th piggy Blodwen was actually the dream ingredient that makes the whole group work, she's such a friendly cheeky little herd social engineer, even if she is still a bit nervous of the hoomans! They've been a happy stable herd of 6 since Christmas 2018... a few wobbles as the younger piggies now have more heft and energy than boss lady Clover, but nothing that hasn't resolved naturally in a day or two so far touch wood!
Trying to add Tallulah as the 7th piggy was our major fail, 5 minutes into the bonding it was off to the emergency vets to get the fight wounds seen to, definitely a "plan B and a big vet fund needed" situation! It all looked so promising through the cage bars, then utter carnage...
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You just can never tell... That's why dating is so crucial unless you have alternative options. I have three sow pairs that refuse the charms of any husboar or group; and two of them have actually lived with a husboar earlier in life! The third is Breila being totally afraid of any other piggies than her close friend Cerian and defence lunging at any piggy coming close to her.
 
I always was lucky enough to have an additional piggy with no bonding problems, apart from Timmy with Deedee and Meemee, they were my first trio. Timmy (he was around a year old) and Deedee (around 2yrs old) won't back down from being the boss. The bonding took almost 2 months. In the end, Deedee was still the boss, Timmy the middle and Meemee was bottom. Unfortunately, Timmy passed away only after being with us for 4 months (hernia from neutering).

So we had to get another piggy and Bunny was the one. She was only around 8-12 weeks when we got her and was just easy bonding her with the other 2. Meemee took over being her mummy.

When we lost Deedee, we got Cookie and it was again an easy bonding. She was a baby as well, around 10 weeks or so. Meemee was the mummy again but she had the dental problems by then so she was more of overseeing the new baby and watching her being a cuckoo all the time.p

When Meemee passed away, we adopted Prince. It took around a week for him and Bunny to get on, although they were all together on Prince's 2nd day at home. No big problems though coz Prince was so laid back and Bunny was just not used to loads of rumble strutting from him. One of the funniest thing Prince did was when Bunny was on her last few days with us (she was sick) Prince thought that Bunny was allowing him to be "manly" and tried to hump her! It was bittersweet coz we know Bunny would soon be going to rainbrow bridge and all Prince could think of was a last hurrah with her! 🤦‍♀️😂

Sierra, Rocky and Vegas were all the easiest of the bondings we had to do (each of their own time). I didn't even have to build a neutral space for each of them when they had to join whoever was the older piggies during their adoption day. Put each one of them straight into the cage and everyone was all happy. Sierra became the baby of Cookie but was closer to Prince. Then when we adopted Rocky after Prince passed away, he bacame Sierra's twin. They were like twins from different piggy mums and rescues. And when we adopted Vegas after Cookie passed away, Vegas became the baby and the voice that both Sierra and Rocky needed. Sierra sometimes still put Vegas in her place whenever she gets cranky and can't handle being near hyper Vegas.

What I think made everything easy for us was that we always adopt a piggy that are babies or still 1 year old and below. They knew right away who was the top piggy upon joining them and didn't challenge any of them. Apart from Prince who we thought was an older piggy (around 3 yrs old more or less) contrary to what the RSPCA told us (told us he was 12 months).
 
Wiebke said:
You just can never tell... That's why dating is so crucial unless you have alternative options. I have three sow pairs that refuse the charms of any husboar or group; and two of them have actually live with a husboar earlier in life! The third is Breila being totally afraid of any other piggies than her close friend Cerian and defence lunging at any piggy coming close to her.
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Yes we were very lucky to get to a herd of 6 without any major problems, after Tallulah failed to bond with the others it was definitely time for proper supervised rescue dating! Luckily her first date with handsome Ollie boar was a big success, we took her all the way to Sheffield for Auntie @pig in the city to do the introductions, really the best thing to do is involving an experienced rescue, it also meant Ollie had a full health MOT and all his vet notes transferred straight over to our vet when we brought him home :)
 
I have been lucky with my trio. We added Georgie to our existing sow pair Mavis and Peggy. They were bonded at The Potteries and once Georgie realised the girls were his forever he settled into the role of husboar. No one seems to get left out as Georgie seems to love them equally. Occasionally if he is being a bit too boarly the girls will gang up on him but generally they are happy together.

I also have two sow and boar pairs. I have found that boars are often a bit more laid back than the girls.

So if you can find the right husboar for your girls I would definitely give it a go.
 
artcasper said:
Sadly.. the little fella didn't make it.... it wasn't meant to be 😪 I feel gutted and I only saw a photo of him...
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Sorry to hear about this.
I also have a boy, Finn, but I didn’t put him through surgery. He lives next door to Lara, my friend‘s former pet, interacting with each other daily through the metal bars. It has been over 2 years of living separately but close.
 
PigglePuggle said:
Lol the dangerous addiction of adding an extra piggy so one doesnt feel left out! After having our original pair Piggle and Puggle for 5 weeks, we noticed that Piggle had very strong seasons and was a bit of a really and Puggle didnt like it... so I was looking in the free ads trying to find a bigger cage so they could get away from each other... when I spotted an ad "lone male guinea pig 14 weeks old free to good home child lost interest"... that was little Theo! Just what we need I thought for some hormonal teenage girlies, a love interest, and poor little fella, all alone and unwanted...
So we brought him home, had him neutered, he was living next door to the girls... when it quickly became clear that Puggle was truly, madly, deeply, obsessively besotted with Theo... what if Piggle feels left out? I thought... then I heard that someone living quite nearby was wanting to rehome 2 ladies... I'll just take a look I thought...
So in a very short space of time we went from 2 to 5! But then Jezzy seemed a bit left out sometimes... oops 6! :)
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lol.... this is why i didn't have baby number 3... cos i can't do with number 3 it has to be 4 :whistle: :whistle:
Winny has very strong seasons...... hopefully if all goes to plan she will take to him and vice versa !
 
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