Oh dear... what to do now?

[Abi_nurse]

Little Hadley has gone off to his new home today and I'm left with the little baby boar (his son). Who i am rehoming.

However, i put him in a run again with my lone (almost 5 year old) rescue boar Polo and they get on. Polo tries to mount little one in dominance and then all the baby starts to do is popcorn like mad, and Polo joins in.

Hes been such an unsociable boar, hes gone for others through grids and teeth chattered and teeth bared really badly at other piggies. I tried him with young Peter a while ago (who now lives with forum member Ladykelly) but he had a bad fight with him, leaving poor Peter with a nasty bite wound. So i pretty much came to the conclusion he was very unsociable and would be happier living alone in the company of other pigs around him but not with him. Problem now is, do i keep baby boar or not? I have several worries:
1.) I will need to buy a new hutch in the spring, the hutch given to me with Polo was far too small for 2 piggies but ok for one. (Polo will be coming indoors once it gets very chilly)
2.) I'm worried when baby boar hits his teens he will cause a fight and we'll be back at square one again
3.) Polo is now almost 5, how long does he have left? And when he does go i will be stuck with a single boar all over again. Morbid thinking, but i need to consider it.

x.

 

[herbiehogs]

I'm a newbie to pig keeping and cannot offer advice - but how nice for Polo to have a friend after all this time x x

 

[Connie]

I think the best thing to do, is to do your homework on boar behaviour (i dont know how much you already know! ) And keep your eye on them. It has to be worth a shot! And baby will have hit his teens by the spring so you should have a good idea if it will work or not. If your left with a loner, your in no worse a spot than right now, and if they get on youll have a happy pair! (weve had piggies on here live till 7 or 8 easily, the world record is 14 years and 10 months)

 

[liquorice allsorts]

well it seems a shame to part them now, as polo has not taken to a friend before,and spring is a way off to worry about another hutch yet, but if all goes well, and they remain friends, could you get a cheaper second hand hutch? i understand your concerns with his age though, as pepper is 4 and a half, and in with a baby boy, when we had the three in together, i thought in the future it would be great, as when pepper passes, the two little boys would be ok together, sadly now one baby is on his own, it may mean i will have two lone boys.

 

[liquorice allsorts]

I think the best thing to do, is to do your homework on boar behaviour (i dont know how much you already know! ) And keep your eye on them. It has to be worth a shot! And baby will have hit his teens by the spring so you should have a good idea if it will work or not. If your left with a loner, your in no worse a spot than right now, and if they get on youll have a happy pair! (weve had piggies on here live till 7 or 8 easily, the world record is 14 years and 10 months)

14 years! thats amazing(sorry pepper for writing you off in my post)

 

[Connie]

Obviously as its the world record its pretty extreem!

But as i said 7 or 8 isnt unusual for a healthy piggy.

 

[Abi_nurse]

But as i said 7 or 8 isnt unusual for a healthy piggy.

Although healthy now, Polo wasnt well when i got him. I dont think the owners even realised. But they did realise his hutch was caked in trampled poo >>> grrrr. He was very underweight (800g now 1160g), had cystitis, chelitis, nasel discharge, inflamed skin, blocked and infected grease glad and thinning hair. He was a state. So it worries me how its affected him in the long term or not.

x.

 

[Connie]

It is horrible the was kept in such conditions, but i would still see how it goes. He could have another 3 years of happiness with baby.

 

[Glynis]

oh gee......erm.............. you know to be honest i'd give them a go together............. if it doesn't work you could still rehome little baby and Polo would still have his friends around him

i just thought this was such a cute pigture of them both x)x)

 

[Wiebke]

Frankly, I would give it a go - I agree that by spring the hormones will have kicked in and you will know whether it works out or not.

PS: They make a gorgeous pair!