Handbags At Dawn :(

[Mudpuppy]

My 2 boars ( Snowball 7 months old -dominant, and Piglet 8 months old) who have grown up together have started having daily chattering/standoffs.

I got them from a mixed boar group and these were the best matched as Snowball was established as alpha male and Piglet was happy to follow within the group.

When I took them home Piglet did try and challenge Snowball but he was put in his place and they've been mainly fine ever since. But over the last week or so, I'm finding piglet chasing snowball around the pen and there's huge chattering.... snowball then stands on a pigloo.

This is the first time I've owned a pair of young boars.
Do you think this is just a phase, or could this be the beginning of the end? I really don't want to separate them if poss as they are in a large c and c cage. I guess if needs be I could put a divider but for the time being I'm hoping it's just a man thing? Do they get affected by seasons?! They have plenty of space, toys, food, and a separate pigloo each. Not sure how I can help.

Thanks x

 

[VickiA]

It's teenage hormone time I'm afraid. As long as there is no full blown fight or no bite marks on each other I would not separate. If they can get through this they will be fine. It does sound like there is a challenge for alpha male.
How big is their cage? Young boars need loads of space and daily exercise and distraction time on floor or in a run. While there is disharmony I would remove all hideys that don't have multiple exits. Small stools or cardboard boxes or tubes can be useful for this purpose. That way no one can get trapped. Hopefully things will settle down again.
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Boars: A guide to successful companionship.

 

[Wiebke]

My 2 boars ( Snowball 7 months old -dominant, and Piglet 8 months old) who have grown up together have started having daily chattering/standoffs.

I got them from a mixed boar group and these were the best matched as Snowball was established as alpha male and Piglet was happy to follow within the group.

When I took them home Piglet did try and challenge Snowball but he was put in his place and they've been mainly fine ever since. But over the last week or so, I'm finding piglet chasing snowball around the pen and there's huge chattering.... snowball then stands on a pigloo.

This is the first time I've owned a pair of young boars.
Do you think this is just a phase, or could this be the beginning of the end? I really don't want to separate them if poss as they are in a large c and c cage. I guess if needs be I could put a divider but for the time being I'm hoping it's just a man thing? Do they get affected by seasons?! They have plenty of space, toys, food, and a separate pigloo each. Not sure how I can help.

Thanks x

Hi! Your boys have hit one of the difficult teenage phases. Please make sure that the two can get away from each other if necessary and remove any hideys and corners where Snowball could to caught in for the time being. If you still use hideys, please only ones with exits on opposing sides like log tunnels or plump for children's stools or use fabric/old hankies to create open tents.
You can separate temporarily to let them cool down, but you cannot do that too often or de-stabilise the bond. You also need to conduct any re-intros on neutral ground.

You can find all the information and detailed tips of what you can do/should not do in this guide here: Boars: Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[Mudpuppy]

Thank you both. I will remove the pigloos that have only one entrance and put in more tubes and open wooden bridge hideys. They havea lot of space, but i'll try and bring them out more often for a run. Eeek....