Can we have a warm (but very hushed because he's shy) welcome to the latest member of the SFA Team. Introducing GP3

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

He's a little 6 wheeks old Swiss sort of agouti called Dylan (but will hereafter be known as GP3)

He's an almost carbon copy of GP1 but not such defined 'ticking' and his eyes are reddy/brown.
I'm thinking GP1 chose him thinking "Hmm, you handsome fellow you look like ME"

They are currantly in the neww paddling pool in the kitchen. GP3 is hiding under a towel, GP1 is alternating between prowling and sprawling out.

There were some other very baby babies but they were with their mum . But GP1 seemed to have taken a shine to this little boy (and yes he is definately a little boy) so here he is.

Will dophotos if he ever surfaces from the towel.

Hi 70 and welcome GP3. He sounds lovely and I've had a good chuckle reading about his first days living with you. I can imagine GP1 putting on the telly to watch Supernanny to get parenting advice. Sticker charts for good behaviour. Poo in the food bowl, now go and think about what you've done GP3

Thanks.
GP3 is getting more confident now and doesn't feel the need to have his little snout perma-glued to GP1 rump.

They are sleeping in seperate houses/ different corners -which GP1 and GP2 used to do as well.

I gave him some alfafa hay and sternly told GP1 to leave well alone
"For baby guins not lardy adult boars"
There was a huge pile of baby droppings next to the empty space where the hay was.

GP1 SuperNanny tactics involve a swift head jerk and the threat of a bite (but I haven't seen any teeth yet, just vocal)

Now I see where I went wrong with my DC. Should've "ticked" at them and offered a bite or two

I think gp1 is loving his role as a new dad figure... it seems to suit him. Lovely that gp3 is getting confident and more independent he obviously enjoys his new life with you all. Bless him.

Have been doing a rain dance and it seems to be working...should be so much cooler for all small snd large furries alike tomorrow and the grass will be green again.....

Little toad peed on me this evening. Still we've had him 10 days so he was doing well
I blame GP1 for this:
"Oh, Baby Son. I'll tell you how to wind her up. Poke your bottom into the crook of her arm and release the sacred boar flow. And she can't shout at you 'cos you are little" .

He's still only little and was probably just very excited about cuddle time. GP1 should remind him to visit the little boars room before he leaves the pig house in the future.

Hi 70, poor Sepp had a heart attack this weekend due to the extreme heat. We were frantic keeping them cool and Sonny was completely fine. The vet diagnosed a congenital heart defect and said it really wasn't our fault although I still feel bad. He was PTS at 11.15am, he was ready to go, he just couldn't get his breath and though he valiantly tried to eat and keep going, he was just done :( We are taking Sonny speed-dating with 3 12 week boys tomorrow. Tonight we gave him a bath, lots of cuddles and will put the cage in our bedroom so he's not alone. Tomorrow I will scrub indoor and outdoor cages. If we can't hook him up with a friend then he'll have to be castrated and get a girlfriend so I really hope he likes one of the boys. We visited 3 animal rescues today and all pigs were only available as pairs or single castrated males (not suitable for an uncastrated Sonny). Sonny is only 2 and really needs a friend. Fortunately a man who volunteers at one of the rescues is a cavy fancier and the 12 week olds are his. Sorry this post is so long I'm just a bit wrung out from the day. Please let me know if I'm doing the right thing and congratulations on your success. Sympathy also for GP2, its utterly heartbreaking, I know x

Oh Art it is heartbreaking when they go , especially when you fight to keep them going.
We've had days of extreme heat here. Early a.m. (about 6.30 am) I'm opening their window then putting the fan on (especially when they are going to be without someone in the house all day),
WRT the new piglet.
(Have you read the Barmy 4 Boars website? I keep blethering on about it on here but it is a good site).
They advocate neutering as a LAST resort, boar/boar match up is preferred.
They recommend a very young piglet to have the best chance of sucess.
GP3 was 6 weeks (he's been with us for 3 weeks now and he's grown like you wouldn't believe ).
He's starting to get a bit cheeky now with GP1 (I knew this would happen at some stage).
When he first arrived he flew to GP1 at every sound and I think GP1 was a bit "For the love of Jeff" at this very dependant little creature. He was used to the co-habitting space that he and GP2 had.
But if the little boy squeaked, he went to him.
Now they are respectful distance types in the run or the Pighouse.
Though a couple of times we've seen GP3 mount GP1. The older boar gives him a definate "NO" and walks off. No teeth are involved , it's a head jerk.

A 12 week will be right in that phase of becoming sexually mature. So would he have enough time to think "OK that's the Alpha Male" and respect him before they have the inevitable challenge.
On the other hand, there were some very tiny still with mum babies that I really liked but I'd worry about our large and lardy boar squashing or harming him (and it;s more difficult to make sure a baby is a him. And they'd smell of mum )

The only test is to take them along and see how he gets on. Your Rescue can assess the character of the babies and your boar.
They'll let them sit a while in a neutral area,
I think my boar is happy to have company that is 'there'. It doesn't matter if they don't cuddle up. There's another guinea voice to squeak to.

And cleaning the cage is one of the hardest thing. We lost GP2 on a Sunday and I didn't clean until the day before we got piglet (on the Saturday) mainly because my Boar was still in there but I had to steel myself.

To the bridge Sepp.
(And I posted on another thread- the b***d foxes dug my GP2 up . Luckily he was in his bag and DH returned him to his resting place, So extra flower pots , stones, binbags, anything. It's not pleasant)

Hi 70. We went speeddating last night and Sonny picked a 10 week old boy. He is tiny! But he is also pretty tough which is good because we are in a high drama! There is no biting or fur being pulled out but lots of bumping, nudging and humping. The brrrrrr noises are very loud! Currently they are playing on some towels on the floor with a pile of hay, some romaine leaves and a stuffed toy. Last night I had to split the cage with a wire divider because I was worried about them getting so tired in the heat. One of them started chirping at about 2am and woke us up. I've never heard that before - it was really spooky and loud!

Oh and thanks for your kind words about Sepp. I am still wondering if there was anything I could have done differently :( hope your little guys are having a good time together.

Still going strong! I have got R.Kelly - Bump'n'grind stuck in my head now :( But they just sat really nicely together for about 5 minutes and shared some grass so I think its getting better :)

Okay, so for the past hour they have been cuddling together with the stuffed toy beaver. They are happily sharing foods. There is still some brrrring, mostly from Sonny, he's also circling him and rubbing against him but there is little humping. I think they are friends :) they are still on towels on the floor so it might kick off a bit when I put the back in the cage but I have taken the divider out and they will just have to tire themselves out. They squeak and grunt at each other a lot, but not shrieky noises. Last night and this morning was awful - really glad I found the boars behaving badly thing on guinealynx. It helped keep my nerve - DH was in shreds :D sorry to hijack your thread btw. But its probably good that people can see a naice pair story (like yours) but also be reassured if they end up with something from Sodom and Gomorrah (my pigs).

Glad to hear they are bonding. It is a heart-in-mouth situation isn't it?
Even when my GP1 and GP2 used to have their little squabbles it was but they were evenly sized and aged.
Piglets are more of a worry because they are vunerable and the only adults they'll be used to is mum. Then suddenly they have a great big adult boar to deal with.

Our GP1 seems to be taking all GP3 shenanigans in his stride so far. The mad half hour. The stealing out of his mouth. The jumping on his rump.
When I go to the Pighouse to give them breakfast or supper they are both tucked away in the haybox so I think they are giving each other 'space'.

I am very very of singing guineas BTW. I've only ever had 2 that sang (both sows)

But GP3 does a very good "Grizzly Bear" impression when he snoops about on his hind legs

That's the thing isn't it - when there's a great fat lump humping a tiny fluffy waif its very upsetting. However, said fluffy waif is surprisingly feisty and did plenty of humping himself (which just looked hilarious). They are now cuddling under a house with open sides and little Bo also has a pipe that he climbs in every now and again because Sonny is too big to follow him in, it gives them both a bit of peace. Both are eating well. Thanks for listening and support!

Oooh is Bo short for Boris?

I so wanted to call GP3 Boris but DD gave me a fish eye look and sternly declared he was "Dylan" (Not Dillon or Dhillon which was my preferred spelling).
But he's been renamed "Dill Pickle" - DD and I saw a jar of dill pickle in the supermarket and chortled (childishly).

I think I've been gazumpted and DD has taken the two hogs as hers.

Good to hear that all the boar matching is going well. All these baby pigs sound lovely - I'm so jealous as I've never had a baby pig.

Boris is a great name, as is Dylan. All our animals get 'proper' names which are normally shortened to something daft.

Bo is not from Boris, although that is a good name :) Bo is the abbreviation the council and highways department use for the area where we live! Pretty stupid but its a nice name anyway. Thanks for the good wishes, today they are just snuggling on the floor and sniffing each other. Dill is a great name - like in To Kill a mocking bird and pickle is a perennially brilliant name for any pet. Ferni - yes names always get corrupted!

Oh, I love hearing how pets get their name. DBoar1 was almost a Dylan. It was on the short list of Welsh names I'd picked (he was born in Newport, you knows it!) It got vetoed though as a member of my pub quiz team said it was her ex-husband's name and she didn't think she could bear me talking about what Dylan was doing every week (although she might have got a smile if I mentioned him eating his poops or something!)

Our late cat named DBoar 2, which was handy.

That's really funny :) but what on earth was your piggy called? Mew? Purr? :)

Malcolm

(Think about it!)

Little GP3 is now about 11 weeks old and has developed a weird habit (just to freak me out you understand)

When we cuddle him (and he finally settles down) he stretches his back legs out behind him - straight out.

I was a bit "Oi, wassup" when he did it first. But in the run he popcorns and leaps about, so nothing wrong with his legs.
I'm trying to convince him to curl up like a croissant (like GP2 used to) so maybe lying stretched out (like someone diving into water) is his compromise

He's just a stretchy out kind of snuggler. Smoothpig does this sometimes and it looks a bit odd. He favours the croissant but if he stretches out straight like this he can keep a better eye on Scruffy and also this posture makes him look like he's collapsed mid run from exhaustion and needs urgent administering of parsley.

Aaah , it's a "parsley. Paaaaarrsley" demand.

He got very animated by a crust of toast today.

The legs thing is weird though. GP1 sometimes stretches a leg when DD lefts him but he snaps it back up. GP3 stretches his out and leaves them dangling like a frog. (I used to tickle them to test his reflex but I guess it's just him )

Smooth also has a habit of batting us away with his back leg if we try to get a hand under him to pick him up. It's very effective

Scruffy just grumbles and mutters to himself - probably calling us names (he knows all the bad words).

If GP3 goes all dangly, he'll look floppy and in dire need of sustenance. He's a clever little chap and has clearly started training you to take him to the magic cool cupboard in the kitchen for something to revive him.

AAw you two and your guineas with stretched out hind legs - how cute is that! Making me very jealous! My Black and White Eliza used to lie like this, with back legs both outstetched, she used to have black back legs and black leather feet - she loved them to be massaged whilst she cooed. Try tickling them, nothing made her move quicker then if they were suddenly tickled and she would get very judgey.

Hope you and all the guineas are having good holidays. Cannot believe GP3 is nearly 3 months old!!! Photos, 70?? - looking foward to seeing him!!