Not sure which boar is the dominant one?

[JEFF&JOJO]

Hi guys, I have 2 piggies I have recently been bonding after we lost our last little guy Joey. When Joey was with Jeffie it was obvious Jeffie was the more dominant piggie and Joey just let him get on with it. Now we have the new piggie Cookie and I’m not sure who is dominant? I keep changing my mind! The bonding has been going okay, they seem to tolerate each other (rather than really like each other) and there is the odd chasing and teeth chattering when they argue over new beds etc in the cage. Jeffie seems to freeze a lot and squeak loads when Cookie chases him so I wondered if Cookie was more dominant but then Jeffie always seems to get the spot he wants to sleep. So I don’t know! Maybe they are not well suited if they are too similar. Sometimes they chase each other and then there is a little teeth chattering and then the next minute they are popcorning so I don’t know what to think. I’m constantly worrying still! They have been together now for about a month. They have 2 open ended hidies but only ever want to sleep at one end outside them! Not sure if I need a different cage set up as they always want to sleep in the same spot! Thanks so much!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi guys, I have 2 piggies I have recently been bonding after we lost our last little guy Joey. When Joey was with Jeffie it was obvious Jeffie was the more dominant piggie and Joey just let him get on with it. Now we have the new piggie Cookie and I’m not sure who is dominant? I keep changing my mind! The bonding has been going okay, they seem to tolerate each other (rather than really like each other) and there is the odd chasing and teeth chattering when they argue over new beds etc in the cage. Jeffie seems to freeze a lot and squeak loads when Cookie chases him so I wondered if Cookie was more dominant but then Jeffie always seems to get the spot he wants to sleep. So I don’t know! Maybe they are not well suited if they are too similar. Sometimes they chase each other and then there is a little teeth chattering and then the next minute they are popcorning so I don’t know what to think. I’m constantly worrying still! They have been together now for about a month. They have 2 open ended hidies but only ever want to sleep at one end outside them! Not sure if I need a different cage set up as they always want to sleep in the same spot! Thanks so much!

Please take a deep breath! Your boys have bonded and while they are still working out on the dominance front, it is all in the mild range. Joint popcorning means that they want to stay together.

Not all bonds are clearly divided between a very dominant and a very submissive boar and they can be actually more stable; especially if both boys are on the submissive/laid back end of the spectrum.
My guess is that Cookie is the more dominant one, but he is fairly laid back and is not extreme in exercising his dominance. Piggies can be very much like competitive children - they want exactly what the other has, even if they both have the same... Just leave them to it.
You could try and place the hideys side by side so no boar can control both tunnels at once. That has helped with my hidey war situation in one of my groups.

 

[JEFF&JOJO]

Please take a deep breath! Your boys have bonded and while they are still working out on the dominance front, it is all in the mild range. Joint popcorning means that they want to stay together.

Not all bonds are clearly divided between a very dominant and a very submissive boar and they can be actually more stable; especially if both boys are on the submissive/laid back end of the spectrum.
My guess is that Cookie is the more dominant one, but he is fairly laid back and is not extreme in exercising his dominance. Piggies can be very much like competitive children - they want exactly what the other has, even if they both have the same... Just leave them to it.

Okay thank you so much for putting my mind at ease! I think you are probably right! There is definitely plenty of joint popcorning so that really helps! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply!

 

[JEFF&JOJO]

Please take a deep breath! Your boys have bonded and while they are still working out on the dominance front, it is all in the mild range. Joint popcorning means that they want to stay together.

Not all bonds are clearly divided between a very dominant and a very submissive boar and they can be actually more stable; especially if both boys are on the submissive/laid back end of the spectrum.
My guess is that Cookie is the more dominant one, but he is fairly laid back and is not extreme in exercising his dominance. Piggies can be very much like competitive children - they want exactly what the other has, even if they both have the same... Just leave them to it.
You could try and place the hideys side by side so no boar can control both tunnels at once. That has helped with my hidey war situation in one of my groups.
View attachment 102076

Oh yes thanks. I do have them side by side but they seem to lie outside them and both want to lie at the same end so I put cosy blankets at each end to try to get them to compromise. A lot of the times they are happy to lie together at one end but when I clean it every night and put fresh cosies in they go mad trying to claim the same bit and then they settle pretty quickly!

 

[JEFF&JOJO]

It’s weird because cookie always seems to chase Jeffie and they both teeth chatter when I’m cleaning their cage in the evening! And then when I finish they run around and then a few minutes later they seem happy again! There is always some boisterous behaviour every evening! And I always panic and think they hate each other

 

[Bill & Ted]

Bill and Ted are my 3.75 year old boar brothers and I still have not worked out who is dominant. They rarely fall out but never groom or lay next to each other. Ted always gets his way with food, he’s always first and very greedy. Bill is more likely to try and hump Ted, but neither chase each other round much, they do popcorn in their run outside, otherwise quite chilled and a little lazy if inside.

The only time they get a little Tetchy is when you move things round, or change things. They like everything to stay the same. They once had a fight because I put them into a very large double decker rabbit hutch we had been given which was beautiful. We had to separate them for a couple of hours and put them back into their much smaller double decker. Don’t know if they smelt a rabbit and thought it was a female or what. There is no accounting for boars and their tastes, most peculiar?

 

[JEFF&JOJO]

Bill and Ted are my 3.75 year old boar brothers and I still have not worked out who is dominant. They rarely fall out but never groom or lay next to each other. Ted always gets his way with food, he’s always first and very greedy. Bill is more likely to try and hump Ted, but neither chase each other round much, they do popcorn in their run outside, otherwise quite chilled and a little lazy if inside.

The only time they get a little Tetchy is when you move things round, or change things. They like everything to stay the same. They once had a fight because I put them into a very large double decker rabbit hutch we had been given which was beautiful. We had to separate them for a couple of hours and put them back into their much smaller double decker. Don’t know if they smelt a rabbit and thought it was a female or what. There is no accounting for boars and their tastes, most peculiar?

Yes I can’t work my two out at all. They seem to get on most of the time but when I move things about they seem to get annoyed at each other. Otherwise there are no real problems and when out for floor time they popcorn all over the place and seem happy. And they seem to get so excited when they go back into their cage on the complete cage clean out! So odd indeed!

 

[Reenie]

My Bobby and Bailey are pretty equally matched. There's a very occasional, half hearted hump, but otherwise no dominance behaviour at all. The trio on the other hand are always chasing, shoving out of areas etc. It makes them much more interesting to watch, so I have two for cuddles and three for giggles. Lol

 

[JEFF&JOJO]

My Bobby and Bailey are pretty equally matched. There's a very occasional, half hearted hump, but otherwise no dominance behaviour at all. The trio on the other hand are always chasing, shoving out of areas etc. It makes them much more interesting to watch, so I have two for cuddles and three for giggles. Lol

Haha! That’s so funny! Yes there’s no real humping with my two but Cookie is the only one who rumblestruts and they go through periods of teeth chattering for no apparent reason! But it always scares me a bit! It always passes pretty quickly but I’m always frightened they will fall out so I’m a bit paranoid. However most of the time they get on fine! But I’m always stressing! Never been so stressed since I got guinea pigs!

 

[Bill & Ted]

Just relax and enjoy your pigs

 

[JEFF&JOJO]

Just relax and enjoy your pigs

I know! I wish I could Thx!