Seperated pigs at night?

[BonkeyMollocks]

Sorry another one from me
I have separated big pig and little pig with a wire mesh in their cage after a parsley induced fight after big pig got too fed up with little pig annoying him and it started getting heavy :( No actual bites but they were heading off to each other and big pig was showing his rather handsome teeth. No more parsley for little pig
They are both eating in their separate side and seem ok, much calmer, big pig is still giving the occasional rumble.Please tell me they will be ok back together in the run tomorrow.
Is it just a case of routine as normal or should I take it slowly?
I really don't want to have to keep them separate or take little pig back, they were getting on so well :(

Bonkey my 18 month old brothers are seperated at night in their indoor winter cage.
I got them last October as 1 year olds and they came in at night for Guy Fawkes.
They had a violent 'interaction' after too much coriander (but they will trough as much parsley as possible. Go easy on parsley though, just a couple of sprigs. We give some most nights as a cuddle treat, but not too much).

My boars are out in their Pighouse all day and night now since Easter. In the winter they went out every day with hot water bottles.

I'm assuming your boys are indoor guineas.
I reckon they just need the space,bear in mind they've only been together a few days and have probably been in each others faces since they met.

Our indoor cage for 2 adult boars is 4'x2' and my DH put a thick metal grill in the middle. I put Catsan, newspaper and a load of hay then give each a dish of veg.

They were fine all winter like this (but it's only at night).
In the pighouse haybox they don't sit side-by-side. In the run they have a hedgehog house and sit in there together.

Yours boars are just asserting themselves. They are noisy,terratorial animals. They need space and more important their own private space. Ours like to know the other one is there.we cuddle them in seperate rooms, DD takes her GP next door, GP2 is fine. But if I catch GP2 and leave GP1 in the run (I can only catch them one at a time) GP2 gets very fretfull.

Play it by ear.Make sure they've got lots of food and hidey spaces, boxes to chew.

And it goes without saying we gave no more coriander.. It was quite nasty actually. Little GP2 got his teeth right onto GP1 back, but no skin broken.
Now it's a case of pushing each other out of the way and a bit of grumbling but nothing more serious.

One GP poster "DoesItWearingWellies" had 5 boars originally (2 brothers then another group of 3 boars that were younger). When my chaps had their squabble she posted that it's often the little ones that are the troublemakers (yes you GP2).

I've never had 2 adult boars before. I had a male as a child, but he got his mate upduffed (he was sold as a girl) so lived seperated from the girls.And baby boars (until we homed them), so having 2 adults is a learning curve!

But as far as I know they've never tried to bonk each other.

Thanks 70 you are myguinea pig guru

They have plenty of room (same size cage huge run). But it gets more intense in the cage. Not as much space as the run obviously .

They are still talking to each other and are currently lay side by side with the grill between.

I might see how it goes tomorrow . If it carries on in the cage u think separate bedrooms may be the way to go.

And I will not be giving little pig any parsley until they are completely settled . He had one sprig, yes one! before he turned into a looney Lightweight !!!!

Oh and i will not be giving them corriander !!!
Can you imagine the carnage

I think big pig is the boss and little pig is, for want of a better word, a little shit !

Pigs are back together in the play pen i say play pen should say room divider popcorning like crazy pigs, but they seem much more tolerable of each other.

Will see how they are tonight and take it from there... :)

Are the chaps ok ?
They will most likely settle after a few days, but it is all new for both of them. Baby GP has left home and got a new BFF.
Big GP has recently moved house, now sharing his den.

In the run they'll have more space to chill and get away if need be.

Popcorning is good, in a manic way. My GP1 popcorns, he looks like he's been stung sometimes

Disclaimer - he hasn't been stung and I'd worry if he had been. Jusy in case he thinks I'd laugh at him being stung

They are fine. :)
Have decided to keep them separate at night though.
In the cage together they won't leave each other alone, so there is now a permanent grill down the middle. They can still see and sniff each other but have a chance to have a break.
Touch wood they seem to be getting on much better together in the daytime now too.

Its like having more kids!

Glad they are still getting on well outside :) Often the grass distracts them. You may eventually be able to remove the grill once the novelty has worn off for them as things are still rather new.

DD1s 4 boars get on very well outside mostly but have to be split into 3+1 when inside and it doesn't look like they'll be able to live together anytime soon as the lone pig is such a pest. It too is her little pig who is the little shit DD said he was creating a nuisance of himself outside today

Piggies popcorning is one of the most adorable things ever. DD's favourite often popcorns and rumbles at the same time and he ends up falling over!

They are indoor pigs, but I think the space of their run definitely helps with keeping things calm. (They have somehow taken over a third of the living room )
They seem to appreciate their days together more (if pigs can appreciate anything apart from food ) and just potter round together, not so much rumbling and humping. Things are much calmer :)

I'm already in love with the little buggers.

Ah, apologies...yes, extra space also seems to help. Here they have taken over about a third of DDs bedroom, and lone pig has sprawled out in our second sitting room. They've also taken up a large chunk of the back garden. For small animals they certainly take up a lot of room!

It doesn't take long to fall in love with them, that's for sure

I don't think I would separate them if I were OP, it really isn't that bad sounding (if I read right).

GPigs I looked after recently for 5 months: I ended up separately them at night, too. 2 in one cage & one in the other. Worked well enough, and the picked on one (which wasn't just strutting, but lots of active chasing, sores & horrid bites) healed up nicely & even put on weight.

No ragged it wasn't that bad but it did look like it would have escalated, I really didn't fancy a fight on my hands in the middle of the night. Since doing it though they seem so much calmer.
On a normal night big pig was constantly on little pig. This way i think it gives them both a break and will hopefully avoid any furthertension.
I was worried about them being worse when they got back together but its the opposite they are happier.
I will try them back together in a few weeks and see how it goes but for now this seems to be doing the trick :)

Bonkey I always put the boars back together during the day (they are inside winter nights).
TBH I think they smell less when they've got their own patch (I use Catsan under newspaper to absorb the nasty niffs and they bed in hay which just gets chucked out)
When GP2 wees, GP1 wees over it.

My DH was worried about them being seperated at night, but they can still see and touch each other.They sit close in the outdoor run shelter, but not in the pighouse.
I reckon as long as they don't see it as punishment, or one pig getting attention over the other one, they're cool with it.

I didn't fancy a 2am Fight Club either

chucked out I mean I throw out every day.
They don't throw it out of the cage. Too busy eating it.

I tried all sorts of night bedding.
Megazorb and fleece + hay cookie. Couldn't get the megazorb off the fleece.
Newspaper, fleece and hay cookie. Bed got stinky .
Fleece and hay- couldn't get hay off the fleece.

So Catsan+newspaper+hay was my best compromise, though I'm not keen on the smell of hay. I found Jolleys hay was the nicest smell.
ReadiGrass smells lovely, sort of malty. But it makes GP2 sneeze .

70 Im testing bedding at the mo.
I was using carefresh but its expensive for pigs. Hammy was fine. I could get away with one bag a month but its nearly two bags a week for the pigs, which works out about £12 on bedding pw
I have bought some 'back 2 nature' stuff to try under newspaper and hay.
Although i did discover last night that little pig likes the taste of newspaper so its off on his side. Will have to think again for him!
Funnily enough i bought some redigrass yesterday , i can't decide if i like the smell or not...but then im a country bumpkin to who the smell of hay is heaven !

Pigs are chasing each other through tunnels.... Nutters !!!

Megazorb is like carefresh, and DD was able to pick it up for about £6.50 a bag and it lasted ages, but it is a bit light so can end up everywhere. It was great, especially for DDs rats, but lone pig developed an allergy to it - he was cleaned out every 4 days and would be snuffly for 2-3 days after being cleaned out, so was almost always snuffly.

She changed him to aubiose (hemp bedding) and he's stopped snuffling. It's not quite as soft as the megazorb but it is as good, if not better, at absorbing wee and smells. It is also more expensive at £12 a bale, but it seems to be lasting longer than the megazorb.

The three pigs are on fleece with a towel backing (all sewn together) and velcro'd in place. It is poo picked every day (dustpan and brush) and changed every 2-3 days. The hay and poos of that day are emptied into our garden waste bin for composting, then DD brushes off the bits that won't shake off with a handle-less yard broom (she says it's like dandy brushing a horse ), then it goes in the washing machine on 60.

I know what you mean about the readigrass - I think it smells a bit like tea leaves!