Introducing a new boar -- help!

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Machine Messiah

Hello,

In early January, I got a male guinea pig named Pickles, who is now three-months old. He has been doing great -- he popcorns a lot, eats as much as you'd expect, and is growing up a lot. I have him housed in a 10.5 sq. ft. cage.

I decided to get a friend for him this weekend since I heard that's beneficial, and decided to get a male guinea pig who is 2 years old. His name is Chuy. I decided not to quarantine because I didn't have adequate accommodations, and the rescue gave him a physical.

I tried introducing the two Sunday night in a neutral area that neither of them have been before. But after a while, since Chuy was still mounting pickles and there was some teeth chattering, I separated them. I tried again later that evening but this time gave them more space, and gave them something to eat. I let them sort things out for about an hour and it seemed like the mounting had decreased, and more importantly they did not chatter their teeth at each other. I scooped Pickles's cage, cleaned out his tube, and had a brand-new "pigloo" ready for Chuy.

At this point -- because Pickles had been housed with a female when he was a baby, before I got him -- I gave them both a bath because I've read that's a good idea to get the two pigs to bond. They were frightened but they huddled up close together when I was drying them off. I put them into the cage and they actually lied down together inside the brand-new pigloo (not the old one). The mounting pretty much stopped. This was yesterday.

This morning, I gave them a treat (as usual) and after they finished eating, Chuy started chasing around Pickles trying to mount him and he was crying. This didn't bother me so much, but then they started "yawning" at each other, and chattered their teeth at each other in a sustained manner. I believe they started nipping at each other after that -- but no blood was drawn. Regardless, I had to go to work and decided that because they were not getting along, I needed to separate them.

What should I do next? Do I need to completely change out the cage before I put them back in again?
 
Attached are some pictures of them actually getting along (this was yesterday). I couldn't snap a shot in time of them fighting.
 

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They look like gorgeous boys!

Really, the whole cage and accessories should have been scrubbed clean before you introduced the boys to it in order to remove any smells. I've only ever introduced a younger pig (Dave) to an older pig's (Ben) domain - and this worked OK. Perhaps as the existing pig, Pickles feels his territory has been attacked by Chuy?

A lot depends on personalities - in my case, Ben was the existing dominant pig and Dave was the baby coming in to live with him in his existing environment. Although Dave did try to put up a bit of a fight and out-do Ben on a few occasions, he was soon put in his place.

Sometimes even now, Ben will chase Dave and it is really quite distressing to see. When it happens, I take them out of their cage and put them in a large run so that there is space for Dave to get away and in the hope that Ben will tire himself out.
 
Thank you! They are very cute!

In the end, Chuy (the new, elder pig) is way more dominant. He was doing 90% of the mounting and yawning. Both pigs were teeth-chattering equally.

Should I try re-introducing tonight by cleaning out the cage completely? Is another joint-bath necessary?
 
I'd clean the cage completely, clean everything really well.

If the bath really scared them, I'd just leave them alone for now.

If Chuy continues to try and mount Pickles and there is not too much stress caused, I'd leave him to do so and it may just be that they need to sort out ranking. Supervise them though and have a towel at hand to throw over them if they start to fight - i.e. become a fur ball...you don't want to be putting your hand in there to split them up. Throw the towel over them if need be and this will distract them.

Could they have some floortime so that they have lots of neutral space? Try leaving some veggies there too...food can work wonders!
 
Thank you for the reply!

Yeah, the bath is probably a bad idea, because now I've got Chuy teeth chattering when I try to pick him up. Between that and clipping his nails the other day, he's not happy with me! :)

OK sounds good about the cage cleaning. If they start teeth chattering again, should I separate them? The problem is, I gotta go back to work tomorrow morning & sleep tonight so I can't monitor them that well except for this evening. My biggest fear is leaving them alone and one of them getting injured.

I was thinking an hour of floor time to re-introduce. Is this enough?

Thanks again
 
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Just do what you can tonight - gradual may be best. I'd keep them apart until you can monitor them properly but floortime tonight is a good idea.

I've only ever done this bonding malarky once (Ben fell out with Garry and Minty so needed a new friend) and I'm sure there are more experienced people who will have more suggestions!

Good luck!
 
Hi,

I've got 2 pairs of boars and no major problems so I can't really offer any advice.

Having said that, I've 2 very lively, slightly amorous boars making use of floor time and tearing around the room chasing each other, right now as I type. I also go for the "giving of lots of space when hormones are high" approach!

Have you looked at the advice given on Barmy4Boars website - there's some useful stuff on there.
 
I did check out that site. I also checked out a sticky in this forum and I'm starting to believe that maybe I shouldn't have separated them this morning (6 hours ago). The teeth chattering could probably be classified as "light." I'm still concerned that the combination of the chattering, head-lifting, and mount/chasing may be overly aggressive, but I really don't know. Maybe I should reintroduce them tonight with a clean cage and let that be that.
 
I can fully sympathize with you. Whilst it may be better to just let them get on with it to sort it out themselves I'd be totally the same as you i.e. reluctant to leave them alone when out at work. It's a real difficult one, and hopefully somebody with alot more experience will be able to advise you. I'd maybe be tempted to wait until you have a bit more time off work so you can be around to monitor them for a full day or so.

In the meantime, can you put the cages close together so they can talk to each other? At least that keeps communication going for now.
 
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