Separated pigs/new friends?

[Kathryne]

Hi all!
My two boars have recently begun fighting to the point of needing separating Rocket is in his teenage phase, so was being a bit of a nuisance really, so Loki ended up taking a chunk out of him! Rocket was treated and is now absolutely fine, but I haven’t been able to reintroduce them. Every time they are near each other they will start growling again.
They have been in separate cages for a week, one c&c and one store bought while I’ve been waiting for new materials to be delivered.
My plan is to build a second c&c cage directly next to the other, with separating grids in the middle.
My question is, do you think it would be better to get them both a new friend in their own cages (my local rescue centre offers bonding sessions, where they stay for a week to be introduced to lots of pigs), or should I leave them alone and hope we can eventually remove the separating grids? My worry is that the new bonded pairs will try and fight through the grids and I really don’t want to cause any more distress for them.
Any thoughts or recommendations would be great!
Thanks!

 

[eileen]

i have two boars who cannot live together or live apart ! both are in a 6x2 c and c cage with a grid divider down the middle.the grids are two grids together cable tied and of two grids width,both now sit at the grids and talk away !both boars will not go with any of my other boars. your options are to seperate with a divider,2) boar date each at a rescue to get compatible boar companions,3)get both boars neutered wait 6 weeks and rescue a sow for each.4) rehome one boar and find a compatible boar for the remaining boar.so complex options,but if you do not want to add to your piggies it is a last resort !i started out with two boars and at 6 months of age had a furball fight ,each knocking the otherones teeth out,i decided to neuter both,waited six weeks and get both a sow companion ,and the rest is history !

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all!
My two boars have recently begun fighting to the point of needing separating Rocket is in his teenage phase, so was being a bit of a nuisance really, so Loki ended up taking a chunk out of him! Rocket was treated and is now absolutely fine, but I haven’t been able to reintroduce them. Every time they are near each other they will start growling again.
They have been in separate cages for a week, one c&c and one store bought while I’ve been waiting for new materials to be delivered.
My plan is to build a second c&c cage directly next to the other, with separating grids in the middle.
My question is, do you think it would be better to get them both a new friend in their own cages (my local rescue centre offers bonding sessions, where they stay for a week to be introduced to lots of pigs), or should I leave them alone and hope we can eventually remove the separating grids? My worry is that the new bonded pairs will try and fight through the grids and I really don’t want to cause any more distress for them.
Any thoughts or recommendations would be great!
Thanks!

Hi!

With residential rescue bonding available, I would strongly recommend to consider finding a new friend that way. Your boys won't fight through the bars although there will be the usual boar hakas when they move back in next to each other. But having their own groups, they will concentrate on that and mostly ignore each other.

If you are really worried, you could cable tie an opaque divider like a sheet of correx to the divider. I sometimes do this during the dominance phase when I shift a piggy from one group to another bond, so there is no distraction. Once a piggy is happily bonded, they will go and say hello to their old friends, but then bound off after their new friend(s). Guinea pigs identify first and foremost by the group they belong to.