Attention Multiple Boar owners...

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3 Little Pigs

Post   » Wed May 02, 2007 6:23 pm


I have tried to get my 3-4 year old boars to get along, but no success yet.

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MommasMenagerie

Post   » Sun May 06, 2007 12:39 am


Well I've put the 3 boys together and so far its going ok, not wonderful but ok. There is alot of rumblestrutting and chasing, with a little teeth chattering thrown in. So far, no major fights or tussles but I have to say its mighty stressful just letting them figure it out. I'm cautiously optimisitic, but really must say that I'm saddened because they are stressed and so worried about playing the dominance game that they don't seem to overly happy. I haven't seen any popcorning....I'm hoping that will come later. Any idea how long this dominance game can take?

I feel bad because the 2 youngest were quite content with each other and now they all seem driven to be top pig. I'm feeling regretful in a sense that I adopted a 3rd piggie, but he is such a cutie and he needed rescuing....but am feeling 3 is a crowd. I woke up this morning thinking to myself maybe I should seperate and get a 4th piggie, having 2 pairs but my luck is that wouldn't work either!

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MommasMenagerie

Post   » Sun May 06, 2007 12:39 am


Double post
Last edited by MommasMenagerie on Sun May 06, 2007 12:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

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MommasMenagerie

Post   » Sun May 06, 2007 12:40 am


Third post...ugh!

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PooksiedAnimals
Supporting my GL Habit

Post   » Sun May 06, 2007 9:18 am


What you describe isn't unusual from what I've heard at introductions of a third. A third pig almost always seems to upset the balance of the other two. It may take days to weeks for everything to settle down.

Isn't it *so* stressful to watch?!?! And things always look worse to us than it really is to them. As with many herd/prey animals, they try their best to look and sound as scary as possible to sort out dominance, because if it comes down to real fighting - no one wins. One can be badly hurt, and even the winner can be significantly weakened (and then be picked off by something else). I always have to remind myself that whenever I see pigs squaring off and looking/sounding really aggressive.

I hope things settle soon!

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dogsNrodents
Pigi Bigi Support!

Post   » Sun May 06, 2007 3:28 pm


Socrates and Archimedes are two boars, living together in a 2x4 CC with a 1x2 second floor. While one came from a pet store (I know... bad!) the other was a rescue, and they were introduced when they were approximately 12-14 weeks old. We have yet to have any significant issues with the two of them. They know their boundaries and know when to back off from one another.

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MommasMenagerie

Post   » Sun May 06, 2007 4:09 pm


Well today I'm seperating. It appears my younest/oldest are having a battle for the top pig and this morning the oldest (11 months) has a nip on his nose. The middle guy is terrified of all the fighting and his whimpers put me over the edge so I decided its just not worth it right now. The two youngest are back together in harmony, they don't seem to care much that Charlie is alone. Charlie on the other hand is going nuts, pacing along the cage wall and wants to be with the other boys. So, I'm seriously considering adopting another baby today to put with Charlie since babies seem to get along with anything. Any suggestions??

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MommasMenagerie

Post   » Sun May 06, 2007 5:02 pm


OK, so the seperation lasted about 5 minutes...the boys were biting the cage and pacing so bad that I felt like that wasn't the right decision either. Charlie has a small nip on his nose, that is the only wound so far in 3 days. Its barely noticeable so I guess I'm going to leave them be for now. They are all sleeping right now within inches of each other, so I think that is a good sign and I saw a few popcorns earlier too....I can't believe how stressful this is!!

Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Sun May 06, 2007 5:14 pm


I agree - it can be so stressful.

Hang in there!

Edited to add: Your "extra" stress may be coming from your youngest boars starting adolescence too.

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MommasMenagerie

Post   » Sun May 06, 2007 8:32 pm


Yeah, I'm thinking its the ages...I put up the barrier again, there were good tussles starting and its obvious that my original pair are alot happier without the 3rd piggie. I don't know what to do now, make Charlie a loan piggie...try again in a few months...get him a baby buddy or maybe rehome him. I wouldn't mind another piggie, but hate to gamble if that dosen't work out! What do you all think??

Brandilynn
Who's your Branni?

Post   » Sun May 06, 2007 8:48 pm


If you get him a friend, just get 1!!! *says the voice of experience!!*

dragnsl

Post   » Sun May 06, 2007 9:29 pm


My experience with merging pigs is that they should all be freshly bathed, the cage should be freshly washed as well as all of their things, and there should be a house, a food dish, and a water bottle for each pig at least to start.

I usually like to have an extra house to boot just in case because fights break out over real estate and food and if you have enough to go around it lessens the chances of there being disagreements.

I like to have clean pigs just so they are all starting on equal ground and one doesn't smell more strongly than another therefore giving him some "advantage."

Then, if you have any sort of charging with the head up and teeth bared, 80-90% of the time the personalities won't work and you will know within the first few minutes of putting them together.

Changes in their environment shortly after the bonding, like you going on vacation or something, can also throw them off kilter and set them to bickering.

Plus pigs who eat together, love each other so offer them something super-delicious right after the initial humping/get to know you session is over.

This is all true for adding any number of pigs, so going from 2 to 4 or 2 to 3.

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