bumbling-bambi
Junior Guinea Pig
So just as a quick disclaimer i am aware that boars can be grouchy and that dominance plays a big part in this! I know who is the dominant pig and who is the submissive but i was just wondering if anyone else finds this! Also i apologise in advance for the novel i am about to write!
So my boys are kept on shavings - I've tried them on various other beddings but they seem the happiest on shavings and thats fine with me! I do a full clean out of the cage every week or so (its a big double story cage so uses lots of shavings!) spot clean every other day and they spend a lot of their time out of the cage anyway so hygiene isn't really an issue. they are also bathed on a monthly basis (give or take!) to ensure they are kept clean in themselves as they are both very long haired!
So here is the thing - when I've left the cage and its slightly dirtier than normal (by that i mean i haven't done a spot clean in a few days and they are beginning to need a good clean out) they start to argue as it were - Sometimes if i am exceptionally busy that day and it gets to the evening they can start fighting... Now this only happens when they get a bit smelly!
In the interests of science and whatnot i did a little experiment today - I left spot cleaning for 3 days more than i usually would (it wasn't that dirty so they weren't uncomfortable) and the fighting started. So i took them out and popped them in a travel case/carrier to see if it was an issue between them in general (they were closely supervised at this point so had no chance of hurting one and other) and nope nothing not even a peep, now they were in there for a good 20/25 minutes while i cleaned and disinfected the cage. So my interpretation of that is that they get on pretty well (for boars anyway).
So now they have been in the clean cage for about 3 hours and not the slightest peep has been made from either of them - both pigs are sharing food (odd i know) and cleaning each other before snuggling up to sleep. This mostly happens when the cage is totally clean.
They have 2 of everything in the cage so there is no arguments over anything and the layout of the cage means if they don't want to they don't actually have to see each other! (or more importantly should anything go wrong and a big serious fight breaks out i can separate them quickly without anyone missing out on anything!)
The important point i'd like to make before someone tries to report me for neglect is that both of my boys are healthy, eat a full an varied diet, they have good ventilation/access to fresh air and sunlight and for the most part they are kept clean through baths (when they need it/about once a month) and I keep on top of their bedding/mess as they are indoor pigs its our best interests as well as theirs!
They are on the same cleaning schedule (more or less) as my particularly picky snake so cleanliness isn't usually an issue.
They only get smelly or messy when i have been exceptionally busy with Uni work or something major is going on in the house!
I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this phenomenon with their boars? I would assume it has something to do with scent marking and dominance but please correct me if I'm wrong!
So my boys are kept on shavings - I've tried them on various other beddings but they seem the happiest on shavings and thats fine with me! I do a full clean out of the cage every week or so (its a big double story cage so uses lots of shavings!) spot clean every other day and they spend a lot of their time out of the cage anyway so hygiene isn't really an issue. they are also bathed on a monthly basis (give or take!) to ensure they are kept clean in themselves as they are both very long haired!
So here is the thing - when I've left the cage and its slightly dirtier than normal (by that i mean i haven't done a spot clean in a few days and they are beginning to need a good clean out) they start to argue as it were - Sometimes if i am exceptionally busy that day and it gets to the evening they can start fighting... Now this only happens when they get a bit smelly!
In the interests of science and whatnot i did a little experiment today - I left spot cleaning for 3 days more than i usually would (it wasn't that dirty so they weren't uncomfortable) and the fighting started. So i took them out and popped them in a travel case/carrier to see if it was an issue between them in general (they were closely supervised at this point so had no chance of hurting one and other) and nope nothing not even a peep, now they were in there for a good 20/25 minutes while i cleaned and disinfected the cage. So my interpretation of that is that they get on pretty well (for boars anyway).
So now they have been in the clean cage for about 3 hours and not the slightest peep has been made from either of them - both pigs are sharing food (odd i know) and cleaning each other before snuggling up to sleep. This mostly happens when the cage is totally clean.
They have 2 of everything in the cage so there is no arguments over anything and the layout of the cage means if they don't want to they don't actually have to see each other! (or more importantly should anything go wrong and a big serious fight breaks out i can separate them quickly without anyone missing out on anything!)
The important point i'd like to make before someone tries to report me for neglect is that both of my boys are healthy, eat a full an varied diet, they have good ventilation/access to fresh air and sunlight and for the most part they are kept clean through baths (when they need it/about once a month) and I keep on top of their bedding/mess as they are indoor pigs its our best interests as well as theirs!
They are on the same cleaning schedule (more or less) as my particularly picky snake so cleanliness isn't usually an issue.
They only get smelly or messy when i have been exceptionally busy with Uni work or something major is going on in the house!
I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this phenomenon with their boars? I would assume it has something to do with scent marking and dominance but please correct me if I'm wrong!