Will my boars ever be able to live together?

[GeorgesHuman]

I have 2 young boars, Elliot and Oscar. Elliot is 5 months old and Oscar is 3 months. They love playtime together on the carpet and follow each other round and do lots of popcorning and go on adventures, however Oscar is a little buggerlugs!

He is constantly trying to show his authority over Elliot (and George, my older boar), and rumblestrutts at them, tries to mount them and has done the aggressive showing of his teeth when he first arrived at my home, however he does love being with the other pigs and as I say, plays with Elliot in between trying to be the boss.

I got Oscar to live with Elliot as Elli is a very social pig and gets on with anyone he meets but 2 months since bringing Oscar home, they still live apart because i'm terrified that bullying, fighting or them killing each other will occur when i'm not there. Will they ever be able to live together?

 

[SweetsPig11]

Maybe try starting them out on the floor then let Oscar into Elliots cage for a while and if seriously fighting occurs separate them. The mounting and strutting will always go on unless they get to sort out the issues. So I think they should be allowed to be together unless one of them get's injured to the point of blood being drawn. You just have to be careful and know when enough is enough. I wouldn't put Elliot in Oscars cage though because that is Oscars territory and it may cause him to be more aggressive then normal and where it sounds like Elliot is a bit more easy going he might let Oscar hang out in his cage for a while.

 

[Suzygpr]

You will probably find these links useful.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38562

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949

Boys do rumblestrut, mount and generally show off when they are getting to know each other. Each time you introduce them they have to start the process from scratch, so if at all possible once you introduce them it's always best to let them stay together. Space is one of the main considerations with boars - 1sq metre each is best if you can manage it.

I also use a teddy in the introduction, as often they will take out their errrm.. 'hormonal frustration' on it rather than each other and this lessens the chance of a fall out.

See my Boar Dating thread for a picture heavy look at a few different meetings.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=59233&page=3

HTH

Suzy x
http://guinearescue.blogspot.com/

 

[Wiebke]

At one point you have to commit! A certain amount of "bullying", i.e. dominance behaviour is unavoidable. All the signs you report are well within the normal "par for the course" range of establishing who is top boar, so I personally would not be too worried. Make sure that they can spend a few hours on neutral territory and bond over eating from a big flad plate while you thoroughly clean out and rearrange the cage (don't forget sides and the hideys etc!), so it is as "new" to either piggy as possible.

I have yet to hear of boars killing each other; the worst they can do is bloody bites to the face/ears or to the rump or to keep an underpiggy from eating/sleeping. Only in those cases you need to separate immediately.

Guinea pigs follow a strict protocol during introductions. Every time you interrupt them, they are forced to start right back at the beginning. You have to sit back and let them work it out on their own terms - unlike you, piggies know what they are doing!

 

[GeorgesHuman]

Thanks so much for your replies! I am a paranoid piggy mama!

Ok, this weekend I am going be home so I am going to move naughty Oscar in with Elliot Pig. I didn't realise I was interrupting their sorting of the boss pig everytime I put them back in their own homes Can't wait for the weekend to come so they can be housemates! Hope they like to snuggle up together