[Gpdd] [BEHAVIOR] Nosophoros and Flaco-Paco have been "formally" introduced--would love more advice

[Ginger Hoffman]

Thank you Laura, Penny, Charlene, Maren, and everyone else who gave me 
advice about introductions.

Here's the update:  I followed the "gradual introductions" of 2 adult 
boars on barmy4boars.co.uk, and introduced last night on neutral 
territory.  I also rubbed something that smelled like Nosophoros on 
Flaco-Paco (and vice versa) before putting them in the introduction 
territory.  They were in that territory for about 4 hours, and there 
were no major fights, but there was a LOT of mounting, rumbling, butt 
sniffing, chasing and heated "talking".  I then put them in their fully 
cleaned cage (what used to be Wallie and Nosophoros' cage, and then 
just Nosophoros' cage--it's 4 x 3.5 C and C) for about 3 hours.  Same 
deal--almost constant chasing and talking, LOTS of rumbling and 
butt-sniffing.  I put a divider down the middle when I went to bed just 
because things seemed a little too rambunctious and I was worried about 
injuries.  I took the divider out about 30 minutes ago today, and the 
behavior is the same--almost *constant* sniffing and chasing and 
"heated" talking.  There are breaks of 2-3 minutes of quiet, sometimes, 
though!

All advice is appreciated.  I want to keep putting the divider up when 
I go out or go to sleep, because I feel like the risk of injuries is 
high.  But I've also heard (mainly from cavycages members) that it's 
very bad to keep taking the divider down and putting it back up--that 
they "start over" every time the divider is taken down (which seems a 
little extreme to me--I thought that they could remember each other and 
make *some* relationship progress through the bars--is that true?).  
So, should I keep putting the divider up and down, or should I leave it 
in?  What about floor time?  Should I try a buddy bath?  (although I 
can't do the buddy bath for a few days, because I need someone to help 
me with it).

I'm a little confused about the "buddy" relationship in general--how do 
you know if two pigs have bonded?  Because it seems like most bonded 
pigs still rumble and even have a little spat occasionally.  It seems 
like there's a very fine line between 'bonded' and 'not 
bonded/bullying'.  For example, Wallie and Nosy seemed to get along 
reasonably well.  There was lots of rumbling and some brief spats 
between them for 8 months, but also lots of calm.  Eventually, it 
seemed like the spats were resulting in tufts of fur being pulled, and 
blood was drawn twice (two very minor cuts on the lip) so I separated 
them (although put them together for floor time).  Basically, it was 
never clear to me when they crossed the line from "getting along" to 
"not getting along."

Maybe I should just keep the divider in, and if it looks like Nosy and 
Flaco are getting super-friendly, I can try taking it out.  But then 
should I have them together for floor time, or is that stressful for 
them??  It's all very confusing to me.

Sorry for such a lengthy post!  Thanks for listening!

best,
Ginger, Nosophoros, and Flaco-Paco (and Wallie, who's watching from the 
bridge, probably rooting for Flaco-Paco!)