When To Seperate Boars?

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Grant

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Hi. I made a post recently about my boars falling out and me trying to reintroduce them. I was wondering if I should keep them together or not.
They were reintroduced around 3 days ago but they're still occasionally lunging at each other (probably a couple of times a day), although these lunges don't last more than a few seconds and no blood has been drawn.
One of them has a few small cuts on his face.
They're still rumblestrutting, teeth chattering, yawning, nose-uping etc. very often too.
Apart from that they do leave each other alone for quite a bit and they did used to be very well bonded. One of them is just very hormonal I think.
They are still sleeping next to each other and if I seperate them they miss each other a lot.
Should I keep them together or is them still lunging at each other a sign that they need to be seperated?
Thanks.
 
I don't know what to tell you. My personal experience says that chattering and yawning are pretty much game over, but if they're still sleeping together, that suggests otherwise. I'll be very interested to see what advice you get here.
 
How old are they? We usually suggest separating guinea pigs permanently if blood has been drawn or serious levels of aggression are shown which could lead to a piggy becoming harmed. I only asked their age because it is possible one has reached the hormonal stage where their testicles descend and they tend to test the other guinea pigs limit. If both have reached that stage it could make it a little difficult.

As said above, sleeping together and looking for each other when separated is a sign that they've bonded and in this instance (had you not already separated before) I would probably have said temporarily separate them and see if they look for each other. The fact they have means that they have bonded.

Now some nipping is normal in establishing dominance- especially if one pig is getting rather annoyed with the other. And lifting heads up is also a normal sign of dominance something I see with my own two boys (aswell as nipping).

I would advise at this minute leaving them together and waiting it out for awhile. It seems unfair to separate if they will miss each other and no blood has been drawn.
 
Thank you both. They're 13 months old and I'm pretty sure they started fighting after coming back from a guinea pig boarders because of the change in territory.
I'm glad that you're advising that they stay together because 50% of the time they don't seem to mind each other and every night they spend the whole time lying next to each other.
But the other half of the time one of them seems to be very aggressive and annoying and the other one is submissive until he gets too annoyed and lunges at the other one, but then they immediately separate and there is no blood.
 
Also I don't think their rebondig dominance issue has been sorted out as the less dominant one is acting very aggressively and the more dominant one is the submissive/lunging one. But it's been 3 days and I've heard it normally doesn't take that long.
 
Grant said:
Also I don't think their rebondig dominance issue has been sorted out as the less dominant one is acting very aggressively and the more dominant one is the submissive/lunging one. But it's been 3 days and I've heard it normally doesn't take that long.
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It really depends on the guinea pigs to be honest. You can sometimes have piggies who take a bit longer to completely calm down. And rebonding is basically starting from scratch so it may take a little while for you to see the lunging etc stop. My two boys still rumble and have the odd nipping/lunging session.
 
Just wanted to let people know that the rebonding worked and they're getting on well again! Thank you all so much.
 
Hi, need help! I recently rehomes a boar to live with my 2 year old boar who lost his laid back Friend. They didn’t instantly get on but didn’t figure either. Seemed to be working it out. Then 4 weeks later out of nowhere suddenly lunges and lots and lots of tooth shattering. They had a little ruffle in the garden and pulled a tiny bit of fur. But no blood. I’ve now separated them and my original pic seems really sad they can hear each other and his biting at cage running around for him. What do I do? I’m worried to keep then apart for too long but also worried to leave them alone?
 
Elishabutler said:
Hi, need help! I recently rehomes a boar to live with my 2 year old boar who lost his laid back Friend. They didn’t instantly get on but didn’t figure either. Seemed to be working it out. Then 4 weeks later out of nowhere suddenly lunges and lots and lots of tooth shattering. They had a little ruffle in the garden and pulled a tiny bit of fur. But no blood. I’ve now separated them and my original pic seems really sad they can hear each other and his biting at cage running around for him. What do I do? I’m worried to keep then apart for too long but also worried to leave them alone?
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Hi! How old is your new boar?

Don't look at the piggy that wants to be together, look at the other piggy - is he OK?

Give them a day or two cool down and then re-introduce on neutral ground. their bond will not break in that short time unless it is already broken.
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
 
Thanks so much for the reply. The new piggy is approx 2 years old too. He is ok he is eating and quiet my other piggy is approx the same age and seems sad to be apart but is very tired from today. The can talk but not see each other. Shall I leave it a night then try tomorrow on neutral ground? They both lived with a boar Friend each before and like I said had about 4 weeks prior to today just normal dominantly behaviour. I don’t know if I should have spilt them up but I didn’t want it to escalate and end up in a bad fight. Both similar size by the way.
 
Elishabutler said:
Thanks so much for the reply. The new piggy is approx 2 years old too. He is ok he is eating and quiet my other piggy is approx the same age and seems sad to be apart but is very tired from today. The can talk but not see each other. Shall I leave it a night then try tomorrow on neutral ground? They both lived with a boar Friend each before and like I said had about 4 weeks prior to today just normal dominantly behaviour. I don’t know if I should have spilt them up but I didn’t want it to escalate and end up in a bad fight. Both similar size by the way.
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Yes you can. Just remove any houses with just one exit. Children's stools make good hideys; have one for each boar, as well as following the other tips on how to remove any potential flash points. . I think that the bust up has shocked both boars.
 
I think so. I’m really hoping they get back on as my original pig is very playful and loves company. Do you suggest I try a bonding bath in the morning as the new piggie has quite long hair and they both definitely marked their scent earlier! They have two waters and two food bowls then I have one set of hideaway sticks and one straw house placed either end. If they do get back on I’m going to look at getting a two storey for more space I have an outdoor run which they did like together prior to today!

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Whether you want to do a bath or not, is up to you. They are not exactly teenagers who are literally bathed in testosterone laden pee - and that is the only time I would do a bonding bath.

When you extend an existing boar cage, wipe the new parts with some used bedding and also use used bedding in the new parts so it smells like their territory and doesn't trigger a new hierarchy sort-out which has to happen in new territory.

All the best!
 
Reenie said:
I don't know what to tell you. My personal experience says that chattering and yawning are pretty much game over, but if they're still sleeping together, that suggests otherwise. I'll be very interested to see what advice you get here.
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Oh god, then it's game over for me. Jake has yawned at Winnie today and they have been teeth chattering a lot too..
 
winniethepooh said:
Oh god, then it's game over for me. Jake has yawned at Winnie today and they have been teeth chattering a lot too..
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Not necessarily. That's only my experience - when they got to that, it became a full blown fight a bit later, but neither chattering nor yawning means there will definitely be a fight. I'd be interested if anyone has different experiences from mine
 
I think I will leave the bath. I’m doing the reintroduction tonight! On neautral ground then going to clean everything out in their main cage but leave some bedding from both. Just a question today through the bars next to each other they were chattering teeth but have both been really quiet and sad. Do you think it’s risky trying the intro because of this or is that quite normal? I hope I’m over worrying!
 
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