New piggies have started fighting

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NinaAndMark

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Hello all,

We are new owners and have had our two boars, Clive and Captain America, for two weeks now (they are 16 weeks old).

Captain America has always shown his dominance and Clive has usually backed down, until yesterday. Captain America is the one starting with the butt wiggling and the 'growling' but now Clive is fighting back, and they are starting to have full on squabbles. Luckily they've not drawn blood, but as new owners we are naturally concerned.

Is this normal behaviour for young piggies who have just started living together and something they will grow out of once Captain America realises he can't bully Clive anymore? Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

Thanks
Nina and Mark
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. I don't know if you've had a look through our guides yet but this is probably the most useful when it comes to bindings and what's normal/what's not Bonding: Illustrated Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics

I've not kept boar pairings myself but I do know it can take a few weeks for the dominance to die down. Hopefully some other members can help give you some tips. What size cage do you have them in? If it doesn't start to settle I would see if you can increase the space they have as with boars it is generally as much space as you can offer
 
NinaAndMark said:
Hello all,

We are new owners and have had our two boars, Clive and Captain America, for two weeks now (they are 16 weeks old).

Captain America has always shown his dominance and Clive has usually backed down, until yesterday. Captain America is the one starting with the butt wiggling and the 'growling' but now Clive is fighting back, and they are starting to have full on squabbles. Luckily they've not drawn blood, but as new owners we are naturally concerned.

Is this normal behaviour for young piggies who have just started living together and something they will grow out of once Captain America realises he can't bully Clive anymore? Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

Thanks
Nina and Mark
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They are probably just testing each other, as long as no blood is drawn don’t separate.I'm not sure if at their age they are ‘teenagers’.Is their cage big with plenty of space to get away from each other?
 
I agree, make sure there are 2 hideaways, 2 hay racks, 2 water bottles etc. Make sure all hideaways have 2 openings so 1 piggy cannot corner the other piggy. Can be helpful to place them in new territory weekly even if you just pop them on your bed to explore, I think it's called fear bonding, they will stick together and hopefully when you pop them back they should get on better. If a fight does break out please seperate them, boars like their own space but also like to see other piggies, maybe 2 cages side by side if they fight otherwise keep them together and let them sort it out. Usually teenage hormones kick in and they both want to be the boss
 
I definitely agree with getting them more space if possible at some point, boars tend to need more room. I have a pair of boars (one is five months old and the other is six months old). They have a 5 foot x 5 foot space. They do still occasionally bicker but any moments are short lived now they have more space to get away from each other.
 
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