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Help with boars

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Gph

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Hi, I am adopting 2 boars from the RSPCA and am bringing them home sometime next week.

Do you have any tips on how to stop them both fighting. Do we need 2 water bottles etc?
 
Gph said:
Hi, I am adopting 2 boars from the RSPCA and am bringing them home sometime next week.

Do you have any tips on how to stop them both fighting. Do we need 2 water bottles etc?
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome

Please consider these tips:
- lots of space; the more the better! Cage Size Guide
- more space...

- have everything in twos: hideys with two exits, bottles and bowls as well as access to hay that cannot be blocked. If possible, have hay in two places, too; one of them with soft hay for burrowing and ideally two exits. Always make sure that there is an escape route that cannot be blocked and that no piggy can ever be trapped or 'locked in'.
- Serve veg (ca. 10% of the daily food intake) and 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy per day in portions that can be eaten in one go and remove the bowls in between meals; place the bowls at least one body length apart. The more hay your piggies eat in between meals, the healthier they will be and the longer they will live. It really makes a difference!
You may find our comprehensive and detailed diet advice with a sample diet helpful.

- When you move your boys into their new cage, rub it down with the cosy or bedding they have travelled home with so it smells of them and is clearly marked as their territory. New territory means that the group and therefore the hierarchy has to be re-established, and that means a renewal of dominance and the potential of a fall-out in pairs that have an underlying rift (thankfully not all that common).

- Peg a blanket or sheet of over the cage in the first days to give them an additional feeling of safety.
Follow our settling in and making friends tips.

- The majority of carefully paired up and personality matched boar pairs does NOT fall out! Most cases are caused by buying two pretty babies without any though of whether they actually suit each other and like each other and then not having enough space for the boys to get away from each other and have their separate territories when they hit the teenage months. Fall-outs in adult boars (over 15 months) are pretty rare and comparable to those of sows. The older boars get, the more they generally mellow as the testosterone output gradually fizzles out.
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

Please take the time to read our New Owners guide collection. You will find it both helpful and interesting, as we tackle all the areas we get the most frequently asked questions and concerns. We cover settling and making friends; practical advice for parents; housing and enrichment, diet and care; understanding behaviour; learning what is normal and what not and when to see a vet plus a lot more!
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome

Please consider these tips:
- lots of space; the more the better! Cage Size Guide
- more space...

- have everything in twos: hideys with two exits, bottles and bowls as well as access to hay that cannot be blocked. If possible, have hay in two places, too; one of them with soft hay for burrowing and ideally two exits. Always make sure that there is an escape route that cannot be blocked and that no piggy can ever be trapped or 'locked in'.
- Serve veg (ca. 10% of the daily food intake) and 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy per day in portions that can be eaten in one go and remove the bowls in between meals; place the bowls at least one body length apart. The more hay your piggies eat in between meals, the healthier they will be and the longer they will live. It really makes a difference!
You may find our comprehensive and detailed diet advice with a sample diet helpful.

- When you move your boys into their new cage, rub it down with the cosy or bedding they have travelled home with so it smells of them and is clearly marked as their territory. New territory means that the group and therefore the hierarchy has to be re-established, and that means a renewal of dominance and the potential of a fall-out in pairs that have an underlying rift (thankfully not all that common).

- Peg a blanket or sheet of over the cage in the first days to give them an additional feeling of safety.
Follow our settling in and making friends tips.

- The majority of carefully paired up and personality matched boar pairs does NOT fall out! Most cases are caused by buying two pretty babies without any though of whether they actually suit each other and like each other and then not having enough space for the boys to get away from each other and have their separate territories when they hit the teenage months. Fall-outs in adult boars (over 15 months) are pretty rare and comparable to those of sows. The older boars get, the more they generally mellow as the testosterone output gradually fizzles out.
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

Please take the time to read our New Owners guide collection. You will find it both helpful and interesting, as we tackle all the areas we get the most frequently asked questions and concerns. We cover settling and making friends; practical advice for parents; housing and enrichment, diet and care; understanding behaviour; learning what is normal and what not and when to see a vet plus a lot more!
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
Click to expand...
weibka... 1 tablespoon of pellets per pig per day? Is this any pellet? Gosh if so I think I’ve been over feeding mine 😬😳
 
AnnieMills said:
weibka... 1 tablespoon of pellets per pig per day? Is this any pellet? Gosh if so I think I’ve been over feeding mine 😬😳
Click to expand...

Diet recommendations have changed a lot in recent years as there has been more research and new insights.

Preferably some good quality pellets rather than muesli/dry feed mix! We have got a comparison chart for UK pellet brands.
The more pellets you feed, the less hay your piggies eat and the more likely to be overweight they are; this is impacting on the longevity.
Pellets are the part of the diet piggies can live without.
Nugget Comparison Chart

How much veg piggies need and what veg they should preferably eat is also another area where advice has changed a lot in recent years as there has been more research. Some veg like carrots is like feeing burgers to a piggy for instance.
You can find a picture of a sample diet in our diet guide: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
 
Ah my days I’ve been so careful with their diet/the right veg etc but followed the back of the pack for pellet amount which is wayyyyyyyy more than 1 tbs! Right I'm getting them down to the correct amount! Thank you x
 
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