Should I separate or not?

pudding&ginger

pudding&ginger

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Hi I have 2 boars, one is 18 months and his brother who is 4 months. They have been together a month and have always got on well from the start. But over the last week the baby is starting to test his dominance. Up until today it has been mild and the older pig hasn't reacted apart from some teeth chuttering. But today he has started arguing back and we hve found small cuts on each of them. I'm pretty sure it's hormones from the baby pig and establishing dominance. We have taken them out to calm them down a few times and other times they have gone to their separate pigloos and calmed down themselves but I'm really worried they will have a big fight over night or tomorrow when I have to go out for a few hours. Should I put a divider in to keep them apart or not? They have 2 of everything and i have put one of everything at each end of the cage
Thanks
 
The little one is just entering his teens now and hormones are rising.
How big is their cage?

As long as it remains dominance and doesn’t tip into aggression, fighting or bullying then you need to leave them to sort things out between them. It’s fine to give them some time to calm down if hormones get the better of them.
However, if they can’t sort things out and things do turn (aggression and fights occur) then it means they aren’t compatible and won’t be able to live together.

Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
 
They are in a 4x2 c&c cage. I am thinking of getting them a mezanine level to give a bit more space. I put some extra hidey spots for them made from blanlets pegged to the corners and Egg (the baby) really loves them so this has been a bit of a distraction. They are mostly ok at the moment except when Egg gets a bee in his bonnet and keeps following his brother around annoying him, probably when he gets a surge of hormones! Hopefully he will grow out of it soon!
 
A 4x2 can be little on the small side for boars. A 5x2 is the recommend size for boars. As ground roaming creatures, adding a loft level won’t actually increase their total cage size as they need their cage to meet size requirements on the ground level. Upper levels are only bonus spaces.
He won’t grow out of it yet! They experience the highest hormone output at around 6 months but are in their teens until around 15 monfhs of age!
They need to be compatible for their bond to work for the long term. If the older is the dominant but the younger makes a play for dominance then that is when trouble can occur
 
Thanks for your reply. I've always had 2 boars in this same cage but never had this age difference before. Maybe I will extend their cage instead of adding the upper level. My older boy is very easy going and I think eventually will allow his brother to take over dominance but not yet!
 
I was just wondering, I never had two boars at the same time. Does neutering the dominant one solves a problem?
 
Jimmie O'Chutt said:
I was just wondering, I never had two boars at the same time. Does neutering the dominant one solves a problem?
Click to expand...

No it doesn’t. Dominance is not a problem. Neutering a boar does not change behaviour, it only prevents pregnancies. A dominant boar will always be dominant and will always rumble, mount, chase etc regardless of being neutered
 
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