I have an intact male and two females.
They are in a 6 grid x 2 grid cubes cage with a small 2nd level.
It is divided in the middle so there is a boy side and a girls side.
I am thinking about getting a young/baby male as a companion for my boy.
Could anyone tell me if this will work. I dont want to create a problem.
Boars together?
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HollyT
- Get on your bike.
The minimum is 7 1/2 square feet for two pigs and prefered is 10 1/2 square feet which is 2x4. I personally would get the companion and see if problems occur due to cage size and then go bigger if necessary. Otherwise with extra floor time I think they should be fine granted their personalities work together. Anyone else?
Cindy,
Generally, top levels are not counted in the total area of the cage, especially since support structures and ramps take away from bottom space.
I agree with Holly. I pair many boars together and it works well as long as they have enough cage space.
However, 2 pigs in a cage slightly too small is, I guess, better than one lonely pig by himself.
Just remember, 2 of everything! Lots of floor time! And if squabbling is continuous, take another look at the size of your cage. I always recommend that boars are housed in the 10 1/2 sq ft cube cage. Give it some thought, and meanwhile visit this site:
http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm
Generally, top levels are not counted in the total area of the cage, especially since support structures and ramps take away from bottom space.
I agree with Holly. I pair many boars together and it works well as long as they have enough cage space.
However, 2 pigs in a cage slightly too small is, I guess, better than one lonely pig by himself.
Just remember, 2 of everything! Lots of floor time! And if squabbling is continuous, take another look at the size of your cage. I always recommend that boars are housed in the 10 1/2 sq ft cube cage. Give it some thought, and meanwhile visit this site:
http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm
Hi Cindy!
Like you say if you had two boars living right next door to your girls they would end up fighting over them. I have two boars in one cage and two sows in another but they are at opposite ends of a very large room. I have never had any trouble with them so far as they can't actually see each other, although they can hear each other. Good luck with whatever you decide and Happy New Year!
Warm Wheeks, Jo.
Like you say if you had two boars living right next door to your girls they would end up fighting over them. I have two boars in one cage and two sows in another but they are at opposite ends of a very large room. I have never had any trouble with them so far as they can't actually see each other, although they can hear each other. Good luck with whatever you decide and Happy New Year!
Warm Wheeks, Jo.
ok, well you seem to have a few choices:
1) Leave them as is. Your boar is still getting company through the bars, although it's not *as* good as having an actual roomie.
2) Build another cage across the room or in another room to house 2 boars.
3) Neuter the male. Get some references from that vet and check him out! Ask him a lot of questions. Read this link on neutering: and finding a good vet.
http://www.guinealynx.com/links.html#neutering
However, keep in mind that you have NO GUARANTEE that neutering your male will make him compatible with those females. They may not accept him as a roomie--then what are you going to do?
Then again, you have no guarantee that your boar will get along with another boar (better chance if it is a baby, though).
So you will have to decide what is best for your boar. If you neutered him and they rejected him as a roomie, they might at least let him run with them at floor time.
1) Leave them as is. Your boar is still getting company through the bars, although it's not *as* good as having an actual roomie.
2) Build another cage across the room or in another room to house 2 boars.
3) Neuter the male. Get some references from that vet and check him out! Ask him a lot of questions. Read this link on neutering: and finding a good vet.
http://www.guinealynx.com/links.html#neutering
However, keep in mind that you have NO GUARANTEE that neutering your male will make him compatible with those females. They may not accept him as a roomie--then what are you going to do?
Then again, you have no guarantee that your boar will get along with another boar (better chance if it is a baby, though).
So you will have to decide what is best for your boar. If you neutered him and they rejected him as a roomie, they might at least let him run with them at floor time.
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Paravati
- I GAVE, dammit!
Just a thought - We have four sows and six boars living together in a cage with nothing more than a simple one-grid divider down the middle. Everyone gets along, and a MAJOR source of entertainment for everyone is rumblestrutting up and down the center divider, and poking noses through to see the members of the opposite sex. We have only had one fight, and we believe this was a personality issue between two recently introduced boars, and not the typical situation. If you wanted to get another boar for the boar side of your cage, I would try that FIRST. And if they fight over the girl on the other side of the bars, then you could separate the cages a bit.
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Lynx
- RESIST
Saying you can't have a group of boys in one cage and a group of girls in another is just as bad as saying you can't put boars together or they'll fight. Paravati is a case in point.
Vicki of JPGPR has many groups she cares for and they get along in the same room fine. Other rescues have the same experience.
I wouldn't want to promote more misconceptions.
Vicki of JPGPR has many groups she cares for and they get along in the same room fine. Other rescues have the same experience.
I wouldn't want to promote more misconceptions.
Not that I'm saying definitively that the living arrangements contributed to this, but didn't Paravati recently have 2 boars badly injured from fighting?Saying you can't have a group of boys in one cage and a group of girls in another is just as bad as saying you can't put boars together or they'll fight. Paravati is a case in point.
It's up to Cindy what she decides to do--I'm not saying that it CAN'T be done.
However, I have noticed (and heard from other people), that boars housed near females will escalate from rumblestrutting, bar-chewing, to spraying and then fighting with each other. They will even start squabbling if I put them down to run on a blanket that sows have just been on.
Pavarati's pigs MAY be the exception, but due to her recent experience, I doubt it.
To back myself up, here is Teresa's quote:
I think it stands to reason that boars housed ADJACENT to females may also not work. This is not to say, Lynx, that you can't have, as you said "a group of boys in one cage and a group of girls in another." I'm just not so sure that they can work out NEXT to each other in the majority of cases.The bottom line is one boar per group of females. We have not been able to successfully introduce a second boar to one or more females. It's a combination that rarely works. We have heard of a few cases of this working, but they have been in larger herds which have a significant degree of free-range
You know that I would be the last person who would want to contribute to more myths about boars. But you do have to recognize their limitations.
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Paravati
- I GAVE, dammit!
Well, I agree with both Lynx and Charybdis in this instance.. but I believe that the way we introduced our boars that later fought was a significant factor in the fight to begin with.
The underlying circumstances were these.. The boars were all getting along in THEIR side of the cage, with no problems.. And the girls were in their side, and everyone was happy. We decided to flop sides after adopting out some sows, since we ended up with fewer sows and more boars... And the sow side of the cage was bigger. So we took everyone out and switched the sides - WITHOUT cleaning the cage thoroughly (Removing the fleece liner with a clean one, etc.) THAT was our mistake.
The boars got dumped in the sow side of the cage, which was reeking of "sow scent", and one of the sows we found out later was in heat. Also, combined WITH that, was the fact that we then threw Charley in there without a "proper" introduction time. That's why we just happened to be standing in the room when they fought - We were waiting, with fingers crossed, to make sure nothing happened. Well, it did, and now I feel like a sh*t because I feel that the entire situation was my fault.
So - I'm going to keep the current arrangement, because with the injured boar out of the cage while he heals, and the other boar he fought with out of the cage in another room along with the baby he's being adopted out with as a pair, the other three boars we have in there get along fine (even with sow smell in the cage.) I think it was more a matter of the two only adult boars in there getting dumped into a cage that reeked of sow and fighting for dominance.
When Tigger heals, he's going back in there. And I know it'll be ok, because there aren't any other boars in there that are his age - Everyone else is younger. (Except for Tommy, who is such a puss that if you look at him sideways he squeaks and runs into his pigloo). We never have problems wtih Tommy.
So even though I've had a fight, I feel that it was my being slack that caused it. I was NOT a good pig mama, and made my pigs nervous and frustrated, and caused them to fight. It is NOT going to prevent me from keeping on with what was up until then, a working situation where all my pigs are happy.
The underlying circumstances were these.. The boars were all getting along in THEIR side of the cage, with no problems.. And the girls were in their side, and everyone was happy. We decided to flop sides after adopting out some sows, since we ended up with fewer sows and more boars... And the sow side of the cage was bigger. So we took everyone out and switched the sides - WITHOUT cleaning the cage thoroughly (Removing the fleece liner with a clean one, etc.) THAT was our mistake.
The boars got dumped in the sow side of the cage, which was reeking of "sow scent", and one of the sows we found out later was in heat. Also, combined WITH that, was the fact that we then threw Charley in there without a "proper" introduction time. That's why we just happened to be standing in the room when they fought - We were waiting, with fingers crossed, to make sure nothing happened. Well, it did, and now I feel like a sh*t because I feel that the entire situation was my fault.
So - I'm going to keep the current arrangement, because with the injured boar out of the cage while he heals, and the other boar he fought with out of the cage in another room along with the baby he's being adopted out with as a pair, the other three boars we have in there get along fine (even with sow smell in the cage.) I think it was more a matter of the two only adult boars in there getting dumped into a cage that reeked of sow and fighting for dominance.
When Tigger heals, he's going back in there. And I know it'll be ok, because there aren't any other boars in there that are his age - Everyone else is younger. (Except for Tommy, who is such a puss that if you look at him sideways he squeaks and runs into his pigloo). We never have problems wtih Tommy.
So even though I've had a fight, I feel that it was my being slack that caused it. I was NOT a good pig mama, and made my pigs nervous and frustrated, and caused them to fight. It is NOT going to prevent me from keeping on with what was up until then, a working situation where all my pigs are happy.
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Lynx
- RESIST
I think it stands to reason that boars housed ADJACENT to females may also not work. I disagree vociferously. Ask Cara, who has a bunch of each. There are more people who have groups of males and groups of females. I'm sticking with this being just as bad as saying you can't put boars together or they'll fight.
Perhaps those people who do have groups of each can share their experiences. But I think you'll find you are going down the wrong road (hey, we gotta fight for something!!).
Perhaps those people who do have groups of each can share their experiences. But I think you'll find you are going down the wrong road (hey, we gotta fight for something!!).