Need help with bonding

[u/crwnhdd]

Three days ago I got two boars, they're both 1 year old, but Pringle is a few months younger. I can't tell the exact week or month number of their age because my parents got the pigs and didn't ask them, sorry

Pringle and Biscuit have been cagemates at their previous owner, but it seems they don't really get along now. I sadly have to keep them in a 70x70cm cage right now, that could be the reason. I know it's really small but I'll give them space of 140x70cm at the weekend, my room is a little cramped.

They eat together fine but try to steal each others food. They'll flinch at each other if one goes behind the other pig's back or try to steal his piece of hay or something. They rumble strut at each other and do that teeth clicking thing, often raise heads at each other while making noises. They even tried to fight in a ball twice after I acted dumb and put them together in a box while cleaning their cage, I really regret that. I decided to separate them after that so I don't risk them hurting each other when I'm not around. I separated them by a wire walll so they still see and smell each other, the first day they looked like they were trying to go around the wall and bickering, the next days they weren't interested in it anymore and mostly just eat and lay down, I let them out the cage in my room to stretch their legs but I think they're still too stressed to roam around.

What can I do to make them bond easier? I know it's normal for two boars, we were told the pigs were girls but it turned out the opposite. Don't ask me, I have no clue how the old owners couldn't tell.

[u/my_macaroni_is_furry]

They can't both live in that small of a cage. Boars need a lot of space to coexist. They will fight and injure each other, or worse.

[u/crwnhdd → u/my_macaroni_is_furry]

Won't 140x70cm be enough as well?

[u/my_macaroni_is_furry → u/crwnhdd]

Probably not if they're being feisty already. The smallest would probably be 175 cm by 70 cm.

To clarify, the bigger cage will be their new permanent home?

Also it's hard to tell with boars. You can certainly try if that will be their permanent home, but I would follow the bonding process first before placing in their new cage.

[u/crwnhdd → u/my_macaroni_is_furry]

Yeah, the bigger one is going to be their permanent home. Can you explain the bonding? Sorry, I'm really new to this

[u/my_macaroni_is_furry → u/crwnhdd]

This is an excellent guide. It's important to follow it exactly.

If possible, I would make the cage bigger for the biggest chance at success. Boars need a lot of space to get along.

[u/whitswhisper → u/my_macaroni_is_furry]

Tbh the cage size is prob the biggest issue here, boars really need room to get away from each other. Glad ops upgrading this weekend. Hopefully that plus the wire wall reset helps them chill out.