Separated my two boys today :(

[Sodapops]

Ive had to separate two of my boars (father and son pairing) - although they've lived together for nearly 2yrs - but unfortunately yesterday was not a good day.

A few wks back i noticed tension between the two - with Homer (father) chasing LB (son) around more than usual - LB was on occassion nipping back and this then created mild teeth chattering - however things settled fairly quickly and they 'appeared' to be acting normally.

It was bath/nail trimming time yesterday - and tensions were running high with the two - and we noticed some very loud teeth chattering from Homer - with LB doing all the chasing. We noticed that Homer spent most of the day lying in the hay tray on their mezzanine level and both were pretty much staying out of each others way. I proceeded with baths to try and settle them and the teeth chattering completely stopped when face to face -0 however Homer was still spending all of his time lying in the hay tray and not doing much all else.

Late last night i checked Homer over and found a wound on his cheek (i only found it by chance because his hair was covering it and i felt what i thought was scab - turns out it was dried blood) - i cleaned the wound with salt water and it's today scabbed over completely (will still be checking it daily though)

Ive obviously now got the problem of two lone boars and what my next step is going to be long term?

My current setup was two 5ftx2.5ft cages together each housing a pair of boars - on top of this ive got a pair of 140 cages opened up (9.2ft x 2.2ft) that houses my neutered boy and his girlfriends.

At the moment LB is still in the 5ft x 2.5ft cage next to shadow and elvis - while homer is upstairs in a 120 cage.

Future wise i want what's best for both boys - but I'm not going to financially be able to take on another 2 pigs to keep each lone boar company - so my options are pretty much keep them alone - or rehome one of them


Need some words of wisdom - today has been upsetting to say the least 8...

 

[Suzygpr]

It's very sad when boars fall out after they've managed to get through the teenage months intact.

Sometimes a time out can help - most of the time once they have fallen out to the degree your boys have it is not easy to rebond them. Housing them underneath entire females may be the problem - any bedding that gets scattered can fall into the cage below and trigger male dominance problems.

If you do try to rebond them please follow this thread. http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38562

I would strongly recommend not housing them in the same room as the females if at all possible and never place them in a run where females have been.

HTH

Suzy x

 

[Guinea pigs <3]

Gosh, i'm so sorry to hear of your situation it's not an easy one! I don't have any experience with boar bonding but Suzy has given some great advice and i'm sure others will too. The only other option would be to neuter and give them a girlfriend from your current herd but that has it's risks and will mean changing the dynamics of your herd

 

[Sodapops]

My girls and boys have always been housed in the same room - never been an issue, they are all on fleece and vetbed - so falling bedding shouldn't be an issue. I've always been VERY strict with not handling the boys after handling the girls and in summer our runs are placed in opposite ends of the lawn - boys one end - girls the other - and neither are switched!

To be honest, at this stage ive no interest in trying to re-bond them - it's obvious that although Homer was 'top-pig' things have changed and he is now the one being 'hounded' - LB is being relentless in chasing him - something ive never seen as LB was always bottom pig in the pecking order!!

My priority right now is to try and find why there has been such a sudden shift in dominance - and to figure where we go from here - it's not fair for any of my boys to live a life alone - and with my setup i dont have a lot of room for change due to having a mixed group that neither of the boys can be within view of.....

It's a very sad situation - many tears have been shed today, i dont want to let any of them go, but i dont want them to spend a life alone - hard choices to make in the coming days/weeks....

 

[Amanda1801]

How many females do you have at the moment? Is neutering and re-arranging your pairings an option if you cannot afford the long term commitment of another 2 pigs?

 

[Piggywiggys]

I am the same problam right now! i separated mine last week. they had a much more agressive fight and had loads of big bite marks on each other, i treated them with a little savlon, they now live side by side of each other & dont seem to mind...
I'm not in a place to be getting more piggies. ide say if yours dont mind living side by side then they still can keep each other company..

 

[Sodapops]

How many females do you have at the moment? Is neutering and re-arranging your pairings an option if you cannot afford the long term commitment of another 2 pigs?

I have Wexford and his 4 girlfriends x)x)

I did think about neutering and pairing each of the boys with one of Wexfords girlfriends - but the problem then comes what happens with Shadow and Elvis? The cage set up i have doesn't allow for me to add another next to it - furthermore while shadow and elvis have a very strong bond they would not tolerate living right next door to a boy/girl paring - it would drive Shadow wild (Elvis would probably take one sniff and run away).

The problem would be which of Wexfords girls id take away from him? I would also need to re-think the cage scenario as id have to upgrade/re-purchase another 150 cage - while the 140's are great opened up and give the 5 of then lots of room - a 140 in my opinion wouldn't be big enough for wexford and two of his girlfriends.

Add this to the cost of neutering two boars/aftercare etc etc (Homer is coming up to 3yrs old and I'm unsure whether an op of this kind is worth it for him) and I'm looking at £300+ straight off the bat and then there's the problem if things dont work out and ive split up a happy herd and then end up with more single pigs :{:{

It took me 6months of careful bonding to get wexford and his girls together - id hate for anything to upset this balance and them never going back together.....