Valentina Finally Has A New Friend But I Am A Bit Confused

katew

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Nov 1, 2013
Messages
156
Reaction score
130
Points
305
Location
Oxford, UK
Poor little Valentina has been on her own for a few weeks and pretty miserable with it. However, yesterday, we finally got our rescue piggy - now renamed Bingley.

They can't be together yet as he hasn't been neutered. That's booked in for Tuesday and I would be really grateful if someone could point us in the direction of a thread about caring for a post op boar.

We don't know too much about Bingley's previous life - he was with another pig ( I am guessing a boar), is a bit overweight and also ended up with mites and overgrown front claws - it feels as though his care was a bit mixed. We aren't even sure of his age - anything from 2 to 4. We don't even know how long he has been on his own for. However, he is happy to be handled, pretty confident in a new space and has a huge purr.

We have them in cages next to each other (indoors and out). Valentina is quite interested and sniffing him out, but he seems oblivious - his main interest is food.

We tried a bit of parallel lap time tonight and V was up for nose rubbing and even ended up grooming his ears but he was really uninterested. He was very vocal, but basically turned his back on her.

I know it is very early days and I am really grateful there is no aggression but it almost feels too calm. I guess I am worried that Bingley is too solitary and won't interact with V and she really does need a friend. Any suggestions?
 
Poor little Valentina has been on her own for a few weeks and pretty miserable with it. However, yesterday, we finally got our rescue piggy - now renamed Bingley.

They can't be together yet as he hasn't been neutered. That's booked in for Tuesday and I would be really grateful if someone could point us in the direction of a thread about caring for a post op boar.

We don't know too much about Bingley's previous life - he was with another pig ( I am guessing a boar), is a bit overweight and also ended up with mites and overgrown front claws - it feels as though his care was a bit mixed. We aren't even sure of his age - anything from 2 to 4. We don't even know how long he has been on his own for. However, he is happy to be handled, pretty confident in a new space and has a huge purr.

We have them in cages next to each other (indoors and out). Valentina is quite interested and sniffing him out, but he seems oblivious - his main interest is food.

We tried a bit of parallel lap time tonight and V was up for nose rubbing and even ended up grooming his ears but he was really uninterested. He was very vocal, but basically turned his back on her.

I know it is very early days and I am really grateful there is no aggression but it almost feels too calm. I guess I am worried that Bingley is too solitary and won't interact with V and she really does need a friend. Any suggestions?

This is our post-op care guide; you can now also find our guides much more easily via the shortcut on the top bar if you want to look up a certain issue and see whether we have got something.
Tips For Post-operative Care
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Valentina is certainly keen on company. It is fairly rare that a boar is not reacting to the presence of a sow, but it can happen. I did help a friend of mine work out whether it was worth putting her single boy through a neutering op after failed boar dating by letting him meet a couple of spayed sows of mine, but as he was completely uninterested, we decided that he was indeed one of these piggies that are just into people (with all day human company, so it worked out well in that respect).
My neutered Nosgan ended up with a boarmate because he's never quite managed to get on with sows and was much more interacting with my other husboars through the bars than flirting with their wives. He and Nye are still very happily bonded.

All you can do is keeping them side by side and see whether something is coming off or not.
 
He may have been on his own for so long he's forgotten how to interact with other piggies. As @Wiebke has said just keep him side by side with your girly and maybe she can work her magic and get him interested and interacting with piggies again. He is probably uncertain about his new surroundings and wondering where the hell he is and what the hell is happening. Give him time to settle and know that he is safe in his new environment and then see what happens. Just be patient. I know this is hard but you have to take things at is pace. He has had a lot of change in his life and the poor boy is wondering what is happening to him.
 
Back
Top