2 male guinea pigs fighting

[appleblossom03]

Hi,

I have two male guinea pigs who are just about 6 months old.

They are both trying to assert dominance but one will not leave the other alone (running sniffing his bottom, constant rumbling) and this turns into face to face teeth chattering. A couple of times this has turned into lungeing at one another and once this has resulted in a very small amount of blood (I think this was just from head butting).

This has been going on for a few months now but has got worse recently as the other one is not giving in.

They do get on a lot of the day and leave each other alone, but there are periods where it's constant and tension builds up.

I have just got them a bigger hutch but am worried about how this will go, if they will ever be compatible or if it is purely because no hierarchy is set yet.

Please help as I have never had this with two piggies this bad before! TIA

 

[Mrs Tiggy Winkle]

I'm sorry this is happening, I don't have enough experience to know if the bond has failed or not. Are both guineas able to eat and drink or is one guinea preventing the other one?

I do know that a bigger hutch won't help if they're incompatible. Most members on here are in the UK so possible on Sat evening nobody will get back to you, tho I'm sure somebody will check for New threads tomorrow morning.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

They are teenagers (teens start at 4 months of age) and at the point if highest hormone output. This can result in a lot of dominance behaviours.
If it is just dominance and they are actually ok then you don’t need to be concerned.
The issue will come if they are not compatible and one is not prepared to step down and be submissive. That will mean the bond breaks and they would need to be separated permanently.

What you have to do is work out whether this is still normal dominance or whether there is a problem between them. I have added guides in below which explain more about this

Mrs Tiggy winkle is right - boars need a lot of space but getting a bigger hutch won’t fix anything if they are not compatible. Boars need a 6x2 foot enclosure.
The issue with having got them a bigger cage is that that new environment means they have to reestablish their bond in that new space.
In compatible pairs it will result in extra dominance but will come to nothing.
In unstable pairs, changing their environment can bring problems to the fore and In some cases be the catalyst to end a bond if they still fail to reestablish their hierarchy and bond.

If you are worried about their bond, we would suggest you carry out a separation for a few days. The piggies must be completely side by side so they can still interact between bars. During that time the piggies can calm down. You then carry out a neutral territory reintroduction to allow them to decide whether they want to go back together.
If they do like each other, then they will go back together and all will be well after initial dominance.
If when you reunite them, issues immediately return (or worsen) then it is most likely they would have to be permanently separated.
The reintroduction must happen in neutral territory, you can’t reunite them after separation in their current cage.

The problem with having a hutch is that they don’t allow for such separations (either temporary as a bond tester or permanent) while still keeping the piggies being able to see each other side by side. piggies who can’t live together need to be completely side by side so they can interact 24/7 through a mesh divider.
The other issue is that dividing a 6ft hutch in half (with the difficulties it brings anyway) does mean each half falls below minimum size (each piggy needs their own enclosure of a minimum of 4x2ft) so it is not a long term solution to separate living


Bonds In Trouble
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Reacting to group or territorial changes: Dominance and group establishment/re-establishment

 

[appleblossom03]

Welcome to the forum

They are teenagers (teens start at 4 months of age) and at the point if highest hormone output. This can result in a lot of dominance behaviours.
If it is just dominance and they are actually ok then you don’t need to be concerned.
The issue will come if they are not compatible and one is not prepared to step down and be submissive. That will mean the bond breaks and they would need to be separated permanently.

What you have to do is work out whether this is still normal dominance or whether there is a problem between them. I have added guides in below which explain more about this

Mrs Tiggy winkle is right - boars need a lot of space but getting a bigger hutch won’t fix anything if they are not compatible. Boars need a 6x2 foot enclosure.
The issue with having got them a bigger cage is that that new environment means they have to reestablish their bond in that new space.
In compatible pairs it will result in extra dominance but will come to nothing.
In unstable pairs, changing their environment can bring problems to the fore and In some cases be the catalyst to end a bond if they still fail to reestablish their hierarchy and bond.

If you are worried about their bond, we would suggest you carry out a separation for a few days. The piggies must be completely side by side so they can still interact between bars. During that time the piggies can calm down. You then carry out a neutral territory reintroduction to allow them to decide whether they want to go back together.
If they do like each other, then they will go back together and all will be well after initial dominance.
If when you reunite them, issues immediately return (or worsen) then it is most likely they would have to be permanently separated.
The reintroduction must happen in neutral territory, you can’t reunite them after separation in their current cage.

The problem with having a hutch is that they don’t allow for such separations (either temporary as a bond tester or permanent) while still keeping the piggies being able to see each other side by side. piggies who can’t live together need to be completely side by side so they can interact 24/7 through a mesh divider.
The other issue is that dividing a 6ft hutch in half (with the difficulties it brings anyway) does mean each half falls below minimum size (each piggy needs their own enclosure of a minimum of 4x2ft) so it is not a long term solution to separate living


Bonds In Trouble
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Reacting to group or territorial changes: Dominance and group establishment/re-establishment

Thank you both for these replies. I currently have them separated so will try reintroduction in neutral territory soon and pray that works.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Give them a few days apart and see how it goes.

A separation won’t fix an unstable bond though, all it will do is give them and you the answer - they will either have missed each other and will go back together (with dominance for two weeks) or be happier apart and in which case reintroduction will cause an immediate negative reaction or fight