Separated after fight - blood drawn - divided cage?

[Ethandbard]

Two of my boars, Monk and Choji, have had a very rough relationship. My latest attempt to reintroduce them to each other resulted in a couple days of peaceful living, before suddenly erupting one morning into bloodshed (nothing too awful... they both managed to bite each others scrotum while mounting, so they were smearing their blood all over each other.) Monk also has a cut on his nose (you can kinda see it in the photo above. Again, not awful, I'm keeping it clean and it seems to be healing nicely.)

I have two questions: First of all, right now they are side by side in midwest cages, but separated. They are very interested in each other, nibbling on the bars and rumblestrutting right up against the barrier. I'm aware that bar chewing can lead to injuries, so I'm looking into ways to prevent that. What I really want to know, is it a good idea to keep them in sight of each other in this way? I feel like they want to be together.

Second question; this is not the first time that they have drawn blood against each other. I have read over and over again that once blood is drawn between boars, that they can never be paired together again. Is this really true? Again, I feel like they have a bond... a troubled bond to say the least... but I understand guinea pig behavior can be difficult to predict/understand.

[jatean]

I'm bumping this up since no one has responded to this; must have been overlooked. I sympathize with your predictment - having a similar one myself only not as intense.

[bpatters]

It's not necessarily true that boars can't be reintroduced after bloodshed, but it probably makes it a little more difficult.

What kind of cage are they living in? Boars need a LOT of room, with a big open space where nobody has to get in anybody's face to get to hay/food/water/hideys, and where one boar can't trap another.

Also, how old are they?

[Ethandbard]

They are all ~1 year old. The incident in question occurred in two Midwest cages connected with the little ramp (Left two connected vertically.) Each cage is 2'x4', so together they make a 2'x8'. I definitely think it is a bit narrow since it's only 2 feet wide. However, the pigs can move across the cages quite easily (They tend to jump up and slide down the other side of the ramp, haha.) To separate the two, I have simply closed the doors on the cages, preventing them from moving across.

[bpatters]

The ONLY way two Midwest cages will work for boars is if you put the cages side by side longways and take the side rails out in the middle to leave the space open. And even then, that's not enough room.

[JX4]

Square footage that is in levels and not all on the same level doesn't count, if I remember right. I have a 2 x 8 grid cage with two lofts, but I don't count the loft space toward the square footage that my pigs have. We have six pigs in that cage (used to have 7), one neutered male and the rest females. And that is the minimum space for them.