Loud squeaking (fighting?)

[Truffolo]

My seven monthish boars are squabbling alot. Polo used to give way, but now he is more assertively standing his ground against Truffle. I live in a studio flat so cannot risk noise problems. I am thinking that I need to get a bigger cage and split it so that grey can live together but safely separated. I am afraid that they might actually start fighting, which is irreversible. They scrap during out of cage time, so I will split their play area to prevent the shrieking and potentially the conflict. Putting them back together can lead to a few minutes of tension, so the split might have to be long term. Oh dear! Has the boar war begun?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear they are squabbling.
It is always important you determine the difference between normal teen boar dominance and a dysfunctional bond.
Dominance can look quite rough to us but is normal to them during their teens. You don’t want to intervene too soon.

If you are finding high pitched squeaking from the submissive piggy then that is normal and actually what you want to happen. It is called submission squeaking and is literally the underpig backing down.

With a boar pair, space is key - their cage should be 180x60 and with no dead ends (ie no single exit hides). But even with that, If you feel this is potential dysfunctional rather than dominance the best thing is to separate for a few days to let hormones settle and then carry out a reintroduction on completely neutral territory (never reintroduce in the same cage after a separation). There will be dominance again as they spend their time reestablishing their relationship. If a fight breaks out then that’s then the answer that they do not want to be together.

If they do fight and do need to be separated then each cage needs to be a minimum of 120x60cm.

The guides below will help further

Bonds In Trouble
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[Lorcan]

My boars regularly squabble - I keep apologising to my neighbours because they're loud but my neighbours keep insisting they can't hear them. I can empathise with the noise issue though.

I gave my pair as big a cage as I could for that reason, which is probably bigger than they need anyway. But I promise, you'd know the difference between a squabble and a fight if you heard and saw it, and the fact you don't is a good sign. It might be rough to listen to, but it's still normal.

If you can get a bigger cage do it, but don't feel you need to separate them at the same time. If that comes later so be it but it's better for them to try and work it out for as long as possible.

 

[fluffysal]

I agree, my boys have definitely given me some moments when I thought the end was nigh but on the whole their relationship is pretty harmonious now they are adults. It might help if when you do a cage clean, make it only half at a time, this decreases the need for scent marking which reduces the dominance issues somewhat. The guides you have been given the links to are fantastic for reassurance especially if you read them and realise the behaviour is still in the green zone.
It's not easy but try and look past the squabbling for the positive signs of a good bond.
More space can only ever be a good thing for them. If you manage it please ensure that you put some soiled bedding in, the same principle as not doing a full cage clean.

 

[Bill & Ted]

If floor time is becoming an issue then you can always leave it till they settle down. You will find teenage boar hormones come in spikes of up to 24 hours and then settle down again. these spikes are repeated at intervals but eventually ease off the older they get.

 

[Truffolo]

Thank you all for the amazing advice. I have ordered an L shaped 6' C&C cage with an option to divide it if necessary. I will give floor time a miss for a while and see if that helps. Thank you for all the wonderful support and reassurance!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you all for the amazing advice. I have ordered an L shaped 6' C&C cage with an option to divide it if necessary. I will give floor time a miss for a while and see if that helps. Thank you for all the wonderful support and reassurance!

6 foot - is the recommended size for two boars
So if they are in a smaller cage now then that can contribute to their tension.

Do note that moving them to a new cage will cause further and an increase in dominance.
It will be seen as a new territory and will cause two weeks of re-establishing
their relationship. You can work towards mitigating it a bit by using spiked bedding in the new cage so that it still smells of them.

Do note that the minimum cage side for a single piggy is a 3x2 c&c or 4ft x 2ft of space per piggy.

Reacting to group or territorial changes: Dominance and group establishment/re-establishment

 

[Truffolo]

Hehe, my piggies must have been reading this thread! They have been quite settled this evening, no loud squeaking and only a tiny bit of rumbling from Truffle, who is definitely in top pig status. We didn't do any out of cage time, but they didn't let me off veggies time. I think if I turned up empty handed there would be a riot. Now they are both snoozing contentedly!

 

[Piggies&buns]

That’s the way it goes - it’s probable there isn’t any issue between them and it just normal teen behaviour.


I’ve just seen you have what looks like muesli in the food bowl.
Muesli (food made up of different coloured and different types of pieces) is not recommended. Usually they are not healthy and are instead full of sugar and often unsuitable/unsafe (seeds and grains) ingredients. They can cause the risk of selective feeding whereby they pick out the sweetest and most unhealthy.
It’s recommend that they are given just one tablespoon per pig per day of a plain guinea pig pellet.

We don’t advise the use of bowls as they can increase the risk of food hogging.
Also, eating from a bowl doesn’t encourage foraging behaviour. Instead we recommend scattering veg and pellets around the cage and amongst hay. It encourages foraging, keeps their minds active and can stop any food related bullying/hogging behaviour.

Pellets Or Muesli / Dry Mix?

 

[Truffolo]

Thank you, excellent advice! My fluffy butts are lucky to have great advice on hand.

 

[Truffolo]

Things went well with the morning tidy up! I put Truffle in the carrier with fresh hay and he went to sleep. Polo walked around grunting gently until their cage was ready. There was a tiny bit of token remonstration from Truffle, but both of the piggies tucked into their mountain hay and harmony prevailed They snooze and lounge around eating and resting now until veggies time this evening.

 

[fluffysal]

How are they doing today?

 

[Truffolo]

They are doing well today, thank you for asking about my piggies! I put Polo into the carrier and let Truffle roam the hallway during cage freshening time. They ate the hay I gave them and Truffle chewed at the cardboard barriers I put up while I cleaned. They were quite chilled. I trimmed Truffle's hair as checked his bottom and had a look at his lively white teeth. At the moment they are dozing and looking very relaxed! So cute!

 

[Truffolo]

Sorry, lively should be lovely

 

[Truffolo]

I have ordered a C2C L shaped 6' x 2' cage, so won't need to move them out while cleaning. I just need to settle them into it. I expect some chasing and rumbling. I'll use their bendy bridge hides and avoid corners and flash points. Hay in small amounts around the space and no bowls. Bottles well spaced apart. I plan to move them in the sleepy hours and hopefully they will start napping before long And also put old hay and litter in the new cage to help them scent mark. I might use the cage as a long cage instead of an L shaped cage.

 

[Piggies&buns]

That sounds good.

What is your reason for moving them out while you clean the cage now, or why one is left to roam and the other is put in a carrier.
I’ve never removed any of my boys from their cages while cleaning. Ideally you don’t want to ever separate a bonded pair - where one goes the other goes.

 

[Truffolo]

I am looking forward to getting the 6' C2C cage, it should help greatly to keep my piggies happy! I will update on their house move

 

[Truffolo]

Here is the C2C cage. It's very nice and the gins have plenty of space to popcorn in!

 

[fluffysal]

I bet they love all the space. How are they getting on?

 

[Truffolo]

Truffle is still a bit insecure and reinforces his status quite a lot. Polo whimpers to him and puts up with Truffle taking his food, lying on top of the hay pile, charging across the cage at him, putting his mouth against his neck and putting his chin over Polo's muzzle. Truffle starts trying to mount him, but Polo won't allow this and rushes off, or gors into a hide and butts Truffle away with his nose. Truffle gets warm quickly, so soon they both lie down for a rest. Polo seems a bit heavier than Truffle, but seems OK with under pig status. He loves to eat and relax and is the first to come forward for food and takes the initiative venturing into new places. When I put them in the new cage, I put up a divider at first down the middle to give them a chance to regain their composure. However Polo started determinedly going about chewing the bars between them and definitely wanted to be with his little tormentor. Truffle greeted him by very gently mouthing his ear and seemed pleased to have him back. The only time they are near each other is if something frightens them, they never groom or snuggle, but perhaps that will come in due course. They seem to not be bar biting or chewing the Correx, touch wood. I put some fleece blankets up to give then extra privacy and reduce stress.