Do I need to separate my pigs?

[LeviAckerman]

They just bicker so much! I have 2 boys - 23 months and 3y 4m.

They just cant seem to settle on which one is Boss Pig. The younger one keeps bugging my older boy a lot. Chasing and mounting him. My older boy occasionally chases and mounts his brother but not often - he does do the pissed off rumble around him often though.

It's not constant. They still spend most of their time snoozing and eating. But it's several episodes a day. Some last just seconds and others seem to go on for a while. There's no biting or anything more aggressive than chasing/rumbling,

Neither seems to want to let go of the idea of being in charge.

Do I separate them to stop the stress? I can put them side my side with grids separating them so they can still see, smell, and poke noses through to each other. I hate to do this as they'll have half the space they’re used to but will if I have to.

They have lots of room, I change their set up each week to keep it interesting, they have two of everything, things to chew, multiple hidey areas, tunnels etc so I don’t think it's a space issue or anything like that.

There's a definite chance I'm stressing out too much and I should just leave them to sort themselves out. I just thought they'd have done that by now so don’t know if it's time to accept they cant get along.

Please advise!

Oh, they've been together since the younger was 2 months old so plenty of time to settle down!

Ahhhhh boars .
Love them. My DD got two brothers years ago they did scrap time to time but TBH when they were left to sort themselves , given a lot of space and safe* houses they were pretty ameanable
(By safe* you need to make sure there are 2 doors or a wide enough door for two to pass through, don;t let one pig get trapped . And the ideal is a housie each + one extra)

When GP2 died we got a piglet boar so there was an age difference and like you're finding they have a tussel for Alpha Pig Status .
Our young boy was a big Rex , poor GP1 when the young boar tried to jump him !

The older boar seemed to shrug and say "You wanna be Boss , crack on"

We sometimes had to give them a guinea-pig bubble bath ( Gorgeous Guineas have some lovely , pig safe , well scented shampoos ) to make them smell neutral . It either calms them down or puts them in all almighty sulk with you ...so they go about their business .
Clean the cage , move things a bit .

If its all bluster then keep an eye on them. But no actual biting , just noise and dominance mounting is normal.

Bear in mind , 2 boars isn't 'natural' for guinea-pigs . They like a herd of sows by choice . 2 boars are lovely but they need careful management .
I've noticed on selling sites the seem hellbent on selling boar trios . Bloody asking for trouble .

The only bonding I've failed with is my GP8 sow who wouldn't join my herd (she had a female cagemate) wouldn't marry my boar when he was on his own. We tried several times but the expression throwing the towel in was invented for her . She turned into a teethchattering excocet missile of a guinea-pig !
We kept 2 groups for harmony ( B/S/S and S/S)
When I was down to 2 pigs the cagemate married the boar and lived out their days Bless them.

We're getting to Spring so they'll be thinking Spring Thoughts too , the sap will be rising

Boars are meant to stop being boary by 5 yo ( I don't believe that though !)

Any pics ?

I gave them butt washes last week. Didn’t help. Woe.

Their main area is 6’ by 3’ with an extension of 2’ by 2’ and a balcony of 6’ by 1’. There are at least 6 hidey's as well as 2 areas that are always completely covered. All hidey's have 2 exits. They’re spoiled little sods!

I'll maybe change up the layout more often to distract them more.

Thanks for all the advice!

Two terrible pics but both make me laugh. Big bum boy is my older piggy and I had to post the terrible shot of my younger boy as it shows his weird half and half lips.

If they aren’t hurting each other I would give jt a little longer and see if they settle.

We had 3 boats together. One got totally picked on so we separated one out so had two and one.

Then the pair started fighting and one drew blood so had to separate them too.

Then all 3 lived separately...!

Boars not
Boats!!!

I'm sitting here now with my boars doing jungle noises and chattering away. They are unsettled tonight so there must be something in the air! As others have said, if it is posturing and no actual fur or teeth flying I would leave them to settle. I take it you don't have sows in smell range? That always gets them agitated.

Ahhh gorgeous lardy pigs , sprawled out on hay .

Bum dips are just to freshen up their gentlemans bits
We used to put our boars in the bath ( obviously we thought they were boats too ) , shallow water , towel on the bottom , either end of the bath and watch for the evil glint in their eyes because they can jump !

When the bodies were drenched and the head/neck dry they looked like tiny angry lions .

Is your tri-colour boar a Rex ( they curly whiskers ) ?
We had a Rex then a Teddy . They were dry as soon as we lifted them out of water . Like GoreTex !

I take it you don't have sows in smell range?

You might have neighbours with new pigs they might be getting scent of ?
I reckon Spring though . But it means nice grass and dandelions to search for (bribery works for guineas)

Thanks so much, everyone. All your comments have been very reassuring. That's exactly what I needed. I'll keep on keeping a close eye on their shenanigans and hope that summer brings a more chilled pig time.

I don’t think there's and ladies nearby, certainly not in our wee corner - there's only 4 houses here. But wouldn’t surprise me that they could smell lassies streets away!

@70isaLimitNotaTarget, I think he is a Rex! All the blurb about breeds point to him being a wiry wee rex. He's not a fan of being petted, I think because of his hair, but he's a big fan of cuddling and will allow behind the ear scratches. 🥰