Oh Wyatt!

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Tbag

Tbag

Adult Guinea Pig
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After saying goodbye to Tango on Tuesday I started contacting local rescues looking for a new friend for Wyatt.
Luckily we've had a bit of a better response than after we lost a Cash as that was a log harrowing experience for us all!

Anyway, we went to Piggy Palace Rescue yesterday morning to see two single boars they had in.

One, Hendrick, was gorgeous and a bit of a timid and shy little fellow so we tried him first since he was more likely to be submissive to our lively lad. At first everything was going great, they sat eating hay next to each other and the ladies remarked how calm Hendrick was and how they'd never seen him like that. Then after about 5 mins Wyatt decided to thoroughly impose his dominance by humping the living daylights out of poor Hendrick! It just got too much for the poor lad and we had to separate :doh:

Tried with Basil their other single guy after that but he also wanted to be top pig so we had hunping and chasing from the start which we cut off pretty quick!

Daddypig is rather upset with Wyatt as he really got attached to poor Hendrick and was pretty set on taking him home with us!

Think it's going to be a bit of a struggle to find a good friend for Wyatt, need the perfect pig who is submissive but able to put up with sir humpsalot!

He's not doing too badly on his own, no signs of depression but yes very jumpy now and not as confident as he used to be. Hope we won't be searching too long!
 
Aww, that is a shame. wyatt sounds very dominant! I hope you can find him a suitable friend.
 
My single boar Whiskey was quite timid, but rather than try to bond him we got a baby boar for him- he's now not so timid and decided to hump poor little Tyrion- luckily he's tiny enough to run, lets hope Whiskey calms down again soon- good luck finding a cage mate for Wyatt , its sad seeing them on their own.
 
Some dominant boars can be difficult to find the right friend for, but I hope that you can eventually succeed. Can you get as far as East Peckham Rescue? I think that Crawley GPR has stopped their boar dating.

Perhaps a youngster will be easier to bond, provided the baby has got a humping refuge that Wyatt can't get into. It is always rather deflating when your dating piggy messes up with the candidate you'd rather choose. I have been there a few times!
 
It's odd really as Wyatt was the bottom pig but as Tango got ill and his condition worsened Wyatt kind of assumed top pig role without any dominance behaviour. Obviously now he's meeting new pigs I assume he's just trying to prove himself/or is under the assumption he's always going to be boss now.

It's doubly difficult as Wyatt is still young himself (7 months end of October) so we're dealing with a bit of a hormonal excess on top of everything else.

I'm willing to travel to EPGPR but alas no single boys there at the moment. Piggy Palace have got some babies due, and there are two baby boys under assessment at ARC but need a bit longer in the rescue first. So we still have options. Just a matter of crossing fingers!
 
It's also so different from when we dated Tango with Wyatt. Popped them in the pen together and Wyatt might as well have not been there! But he followed Tango around and then that was that!
 
Tbag said:
It's also so different from when we dated Tango with Wyatt. Popped them in the pen together and Wyatt might as well have not been there! But he followed Tango around and then that was that!
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Was Wyatt a baby and Tango older when they met? That may be why he followed Tango so placidly & a baby might work better with Wyatt now. My Hazelnut was 7 months old when I introduced him to 1 month old Peanut Butter. Baby PB followed Hazelnut everywhere & still objects to being away from him. But when he was a teenager PB got into th let's hump Hazelnut phase, which he still occasionally indulges in. Fortunately Hazelnut was older by then & took it in his stride by just shrugging PB off each time. Perhaps dating Wyatt with a baby boy will work better.
 
Thanks @Lilly its interesting to know a baby to 7 month old works. I definitely think we'd have more success trying a much younger boar!
 
It may be well worth waiting for rescue babies to be ready for rehoming, especially if there are several that Wyatt can choose from. Boars won't necessarily take to every little one - there has to mutual liking as well; some members made that experience when dating bereaved or single boars of theirs. 6-7 months old is about the trickiest age to bond boars, but pretty much all of them CAN find a new friend if you persist. ;)
 
Date arranged for tomorrow with another timid and submissive guy but much older than what we've tried so far at approx 4years - more like Tango - so might have more success....
Otherwise it's waiting for babies!
 
Best of luck finding him a companion!

Have you thought about getting him neutered, waiting 6-8 weeks, then introducing to one or more girls? That tends to work out pretty well. You don't have to spend ages looking for a lone sow, you can introduce him to a pair or trio. Of course a lone sow would be better because then that's more piggies that are no longer alone, whereas introducing him to a pair/trio of sows is great but the sows would already have eachother, if that makes sense. :D
 
Thanks all!

Thanks for the suggestion but I'd only consider neutering as a last resort @Ruby Inferno. Whilst we've got an excellent piggy vet it's never without its risks. After losing two pigs this year I don't want to do anything that'd put another under strain or at risk. I also couldn't really afford the costs of neutering after all the vet bills we've been paying!
 
Tbag said:
Thanks all!

Thanks for the suggestion but I'd only consider neutering as a last resort @Ruby Inferno. Whilst we've got an excellent piggy vet it's never without its risks. After losing two pigs this year I don't want to do anything that'd put another under strain or at risk. I also couldn't really afford the costs of neutering after all the vet bills we've been paying!
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Yeah that makes sense. :)

Hope all goes well! Boars are tricky aren't they?
 
My two boars are currently separate, alone, because they fought. Currently going over options on what to do, I am thinking of putting them in cages side-by-side but space is a bit limited so at the moment I just have to give them plenty of attention. They currently live on different floors of a double hutch, obviously with no ramp.
 
Well...

we're home with a piggy... but I'm not sure whats going on now :help::ple:

Wyatt met Ludo (formerly Nemo) approx 4 years old, today on neutral territory stuffed full of hay and treats. Initially he ignored him, then took some interest, then there was the expected mounting. But unlike Saturday Wyatt let up and went back to hay/veggies. This continued on and off, Ludo would also occaisionally try mount but would then back off and run away. The mounting episodes got less and less, they were sharing hay and veggies and sitting next to each other with no problems.
Tried them in the travel box and still all fine, no issues so we thought right, we'll do it.
Journey home also quiet and simple.

Put both in cage when we got home, Ludo very scared and didnt move so i popped a tunnel infront of him which he shuffled into. Wyatt soon joined him in the tunnel and they sat snuggled for a while. After a bit Wyatt got out and went about business as usual.
Some minutes later Ludo felt brave enough to explore and had wander around. Wyatt did a bit of humping, similar behaviour to at the foster home. Ludo found the corner house and retreated there for a bit. Wyatt would occaisionally drop in to "roger" him and no complains.

about 15mins later Ludo decided to venture out and explore. cue humping. but this time Wyatt would just not let up similar to saturday again. General teeth chattering and rumbling but nothing serious. Humping still continues and we saw head raising and a tiny bit of lunging with the odd scuffle but no blood and no obvious violence. I'd say "amber level".

So I took them out of the cage and into the conservatory, rubbed Ludo and Wyatt both down and all over with the fleecy tunnels (whilst wearing them as mitts in case need of separation!) Wyatt proceeded to continue humping Ludo but I was sort of keeping the hump area contained with my hands and there was no fighting back from Ludo this time. Still didn't stop Wyatt.
Eventually it seemed Wyatt tired himself out and wandered off. I continued to wipe Ludo down with the tunnels. Wyatt came back after about 5mins and didn't try any humping and at first didnt pay much notice to Ludo. I was sat stroking them both and they both settled on one tunnel and ended up snuggled right up next to each other, very calm and content.

Wyatt now doesnt seem interested in humping and they are a lot calmer, still out in the conservatory now. The trouble happens now when Ludo is trying to mount Wyatt - Wyatt really doenst like it and things start to get a bit heated again. Nowhere near like it was earlier but theres still teeth chattering and rumbling with the odd scuffly/mounting circle. They're quite content to sit about 15cms from each other and chat and I've felt confident enough to leave them out there alone long enough to write this (though I can still hear if anything is kicking off) and so far it seems quiet.

Are things normal? I'm so stressed and worried I feel like I'm going to go grey through all this! :yikes:
Am also terrified of what will happen when/if I put them back in the cage again...


Literally as I finish typing this I can hear things kicking off again. Still no major violence, Wyatt doesnt chase Ludo any more but obviously they're still not settled.

Help please!
 
So I've been sitting and discreetly watching from the doorway, this is generally what happens:

Wyatt sitting in his hut, Ludo sitting in tunnel.

Wyatt ventures out for a chat, goes to entrance of tunnel to say hello.
Ludo talks back then ventures out and tries to mount.
Wyatt gets upset, shrugs him off and bit of teeth chattering/chasing ensues.
Wyatt returns to hut, Ludo returns to tunnel.
Repeat.
 
@Wiebke sorry for the tag but couldnt think of anyone else. any ideas?
 
Now both sitting under the spare vet bed together, no sounds or sign of conflict.

I have never been so stressed in my life. I was meant to be working frome home today and I've got nothing done!
 
Aw bless you. Sounds fairly normal to me- I would leave them in a big area for a few days. I use my bedroom floor for bonding. The cage will be familiar territory for Wyatt, so may make tensions higher. The first week or so with boars in particular seems to be allot of displaying and chatting/humping. To be honest- this sounds alot like Honor and Sweep for the first few days- once he calmed down- they were much better- it took a few weeks before they fully settled down.
I know they are both boars so may be different from my 2...but it all sounds fairly normal to be honest. ake yourself a nice cuppa to try calm your nerves x I know i was a wreck for about 3 days lol x
 
Just grabbing some dinner now while Daddypig is on watch and it seems fairly quiet.
I can't leave them in the conservatory as it gets too cold in there overnight this time of year, even with all the heating on. I'm racking my brains trying to think of a way they can have a bigger space than the cage for now but there isn't a solution. We have a spare smaller cage if the worst comes to the worst.
 
Its a ferplast 140 cage so can't really extend it like a C&C in anyway :[

tempted to retry them in the cage again as things are so quiet but think thats just down to the fact poor Ludo is hiding the whole time.
 
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