Leo is Constantly Bullying Rusty!

[Storm1974]

Leo has returned to bullying his cage mate Rusty again, after what we thought was just a one off, the other week. This time though Leo is constantly chasing Rusty all around the cage, humping him and making him squeak and he won't even let him eat! They've always had such a close bond, up until, as I said a couple of weeks ago, when Leo started this behaviour, but then stopped and didn't do it again.

Anyway, we have taken Leo out of the cage this morning countless times and have now put him temporarily into the carry cage, just to give poor Rusty a break, but obviously we now know that we need to separate them a bit more permanently and all we can do is put a divider up in the current cage they live in as we have no other option at this minute.

The cage they live is in 2 meters long and 23" deep, so we will be giving them half the cage each, which will work out to be 39" by 23" approx.....Will that be big enough?
I know they are used to the whole cage to run around in, so it's going to be hard but we can't keep letting Leo bully Rusty this way.

Can't believe it's come to this, they're nearly 3 years old (roughly) and we really didn't think their bond could break at this stage, but it does seem to have. Every time I took him out of the equation today for a few minutes, and then put him back into their cage, he was straight back chasing Rusty, just totally relentlessly!

 

[Storm1974]

We do actually have Bramble living in a separate cage next door to the boys, that we could possibly try to bond with Rusty, but we don't really have room to try out neutral territory or anything. That way Bramble and Rusty could live in the big cage together and Leo in the smaller one.

 

[Storm1974]

Please can anyone reply?

Leo is now in the carry cage while we get ready to go out and buy some cable ties to seperate the cage, but I know he can't be left in there too long!

We have tried putting him back in with his brother a few times but each time he goes straight for Rusty again, humping him like mad!

 

[Piggies&buns]

We are volunteers and can get online during our own availability.

I’m sorry to hear of their falling out.

I am afraid those measurements make the cage 99x58cm which is below minimum welfare requirements so not suitable for anything other than a couple of days in an emergency.
Each cage needs to be 120x60cm as a minimum to meet welfare needs for each single piggy.

If you do intend to attempt to bond bramble and rusty then it must be done on neutral territory.
If you were to just put the other in the other one’s cage, you will cause a territorial fight and cause any bonding to fail immediately

 

[Piggies&buns]

I note that Leo is the one you were worried about with weight loss in your other post. Normally you would expect the piggy who is being bullied to be the one to lose weight. As it is the one doing the bullying I would urge you to get a vet check carried out in Leo. For him to be bullying and losing weight may be an indicator that he is a brewing health issue

 

[Storm1974]

I note that Leo is the one you were worried about with weight loss in your other post. Normally you would expect the piggy who is being bullied to be the one to lose weight. As it is the one doing the bullying I would urge you to get a vet check carried out in Leo. For him to be bullying and losing weight may be an indicator that he is a brewing health issue

Leo has only just started bullying Rusty, so that's why he's not the one losing weight. Also Leo is eating ok again now, but is still losing weight, so will take him.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[Storm1974]

We are volunteers and can get online during our own availability.

I’m sorry to hear of their falling out.

I am afraid those measurements make the cage 99x58cm which is below minimum welfare requirements so not suitable for anything other than a couple of days in an emergency.
Each cage needs to be 120x60cm as a minimum to meet welfare needs for each single piggy.

If you do intend to attempt to bond bramble and rusty then it must be done on neutral territory.
If you were to just put the other in the other one’s cage, you will cause a territorial fight and cause any bonding to fail immediately

Would it be ok to try and bond Bramble and Rusty in the bath, with a towel put down etc., if we need to?

It really is the only 'spare room' we have.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Would it be ok to try and bond Bramble and Rusty in the bath, with a towel put down etc., if we need to?

It really is the only 'spare room' we have.

Yes you can do that. Really you’re just looking for anywhere neither of them see as their normal territory

 

[Storm1974]

Just an update on Leo and Rusty...

Leo stopped the bullying behaviour within a few hours, and went back to normal with Rusty, so now they are living happily together again, which is such a relief!

He has also been eating a lot more hay and grass and actually put 50 grams on in the last two days!

We did take him to the vets for a check up but they didn't really find anything obviously wrong with him and his teeth looked ok.

I also played all the healing frequencies that I have on my 'animal healing' playlists, for general body healing and some Reiki (for sick pets and also for pets to have harmonious relationships with each other) for pets too, and I think the combination of all of these has really done the trick!