When Boar Trio's Go Bad

[*Nibbles&Nugget*]

A friend of a friend bought three boars from a pet-shop-that-shall-not-be-named. Now they have had what she described as an little tiff where one has a bleeding nose and another has a torn ear. Not that little if you ask me. All three are currently separate in hastily made c&c's. Now she needs help working out what to do with them.

I have offered to go round and help do a bonding bath between two of them and then recommended she rehomes the final one. (As I am looking for a friend for Nacho at the moment I am seriously considering taking the poor little mite myself if he gets along with Nacho and is the right fit for him). However I've never dealt with a serious fall out of such young piggies (they are only 10 weeks old), I have successfully reintroduced two that had a drawn blood fight who live happily ever after though. And I don't know how to work out which pig is submissive and which is dominant. It's easy to work out in my piggies because I am around them a lot but what signs can I look out for in piggies I've never met before? Is it just mounting, and nose offs or something else I can see?

I tried saying she should visit a local rescue and see if they can help but she is adamant she can do this herself so at the very least if I am there I can help. I am getting so frustrated with this mentality of "it's ok to put three boars in together" It's not and they do fall out. I am surprised these have fallen out so quickly but it is still something she should have been told to expect.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give, I feel a little unsure about the best way to approach this so anyone with experience would be gratefully received.

Amy
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[Rodentopia]

Boar trios can either work or they don't in my personal experience once they get past 15 months they are only as likely as a pair to fall out but till then it will either work or it won't and once the hormones kick in you will know either way. I have 3 trios at the moment, the fourth one I split up, there was no blood drawn but I could tell it would be for the best as clash of characters between them and two dominant characters. With boys personality plays a lot in it, with a trio you need one dominant male and two submissive otherwise once the hormones spike they will fall out also a mixture of ages works better in order to keep some order in the group. There are a lot of people out there with successful trios and more of males but you need to know what to look out for and not go into it blindly and a lot of boys do fair better as a pair which you need to be prepared for if and when it happens. Sadly most pet stores won't tell you that, just sell you the guinea pigs and let you figure it out for yourself.

10 weeks old is a little young for them to be falling out I usually find the hormones tend to kick in 12-16 weeks old and from then on you need to watch them. Has anything changed in the environment would be my first question? That way you can assess if anything has triggered the friction off. I think you need to give them all a bath and then put them in a bath tub, the dominant piggies will usually choose one piggy to mount. They tend to have an order when there is a trio so using one of mine as an example Frodo rules his herd, second in command is Pippin and lastly Merry who gets mounted by both. Teeth chattering and noses offs don't really show dominance so mounting is key to figuring out how the trio works so you can assess which are the dominant pigs and work out which one to remove, you would be better to remove the middle piggy as a submissive piggy will usually work better with the dominant. I hope you can help your friend out x

 

[*Nibbles&Nugget*]

That's really interesting. Yes, I thought they were a little young to be falling out. After having a look at some photos on my friends phone I think someone told her friend porkie pies as they look older than 10 weeks to me (just guessing from pictures, they were pretty blurry so it was hard to tell). She has only had them a week and a half and hasn't really handled them much so says nothing has changed.

Her issue probably lies in the fact she was told a 120cm cage was enough room for three and only gave them one of everything. She is now has lots of food bowls and bottles from the emergency cage building with my friend so that will help, and she is going to keep two when we work out the two that work best. That info is really helpful so I'll definitely work from that. I'm going to have a look at them this afternoon with a view to trying some bonding something tomorrow.

Guess I'll know more once I've met them. Thank again ^_^

Amy
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[Wiebke]

It sounds like it is a dominance/hierarchy issue rather than a hormonal problem if it happens so early on. The initial dominance sort out can last for two weeks, and blow ups can happen at any time. I hope that it is not due to a small cage! Pets@home seem to be really pushing trios this summer; we have got so many people who have bought them this year compared to other years.

If I were you, I would try them in pairs on your lap (oven glove at the ready) and see what is worth taking further and what not. Make sure that you use a neutral area with a humping toy if you take it further, but nothing where a little one can be trapped. The trickiest time in a promising boar bond is when they wake up after their first nap together.
This thread here can help you, apart from our usual stickies. http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?59233-Boar-Dating-Service-Wales

 

[Rodentopia]

120cm way too small for 3 boars mine are all in large c&c cages with two floors. Least they sold her 120cm though should be thankful I spoke to a lady last week who had been sold 3 males and was sold an 100cm, I also had a piggy handed into me last week in an 80cm cage which I fear he lived in with his brother, it got binned as soon as they had gone.

I spend a lot of time watching my boys so I know the in's and out's of how they work and my advice is built on my own experience If they were brought from p@h they are more then likely older then you think so hormones and a new home will have spiked off the scuffle as they sorted out the hierarchy of whose in charge. I think you need to work out who will work out with who and that will become clear in person and by spending a little time with them. Goodluck with it and please let us know how you get on