4 male Pigs trouble together, licking ass

[JIn1234567]

Hi everyone, recently I got 2 new guinea pigs. They are 1 month old boys. I put them together with other 7 month old boys. I got two problems recently.

First problem is that one of the big one is licking the small one ass, and likely eating his poops. But I think he licks toooooo much, like over half awaken time is licking small ones ass. And it happens for one weeks already. Small one is yelling but dont seems unhappy. Some time the big one licks too hard and he lifts the small one's leg or ride one the small one. Then the small one runs.

Second problem is that his old brothers' relationships are broken. They are my old guinea pigs, and they live together for whole life. During the old days, one is dominating another and the another one accepted and didnt fight back. However, recently after I got small guinea pigs, the old brothers chase a lot. The master one bully the surrendered one more often and chase him around the cage. But the surrendered one dont have neither domination behavior to the small ones nor any fight back behavior. He screams and very very sad. He never fight back and only be chased in corner and scream.

May i ask if these two are normal behavior, or should I do something to help them?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I am afraid the issues are occurring because you cannot keep four boars together. Boars must be kept in pairs only and trying to keep four together will result in fights and broken bonds sooner rather than later. Plus the space requirements to even attempt it are enormous - a cage covering larger than four square metres but even this won’t help them like each other

Please separate them out into separate pairs and they need to live in two separate cages, as you are highly likely to run into more serious troubles by the time the young ones are 16 weeks old. If you leave them together there is a very high chance you could end up with all four piggies fighting and then needing to live as four single piggies in four separate cages.

Unfortunately trying to put four boars together can break existing bonds so you will need to see if the two older ones can remain together going forward. You will see a period of dominance now while the two of them try to reestablish their relationship. If putting the two older ones with the little ones has damaged the bond of the two older ones, then they may need to live separately (ie three cages may be needed)

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

 

[weepweeps]

I agree. About 10 years ago I had two boars. Biscuit and Blackie. Then I saw that two more boars needed to be rehomed so I asked the pet shop and they said it would be fine for them all to live together (bad advice). So I took Sunny and Stripes home and added them to the hutch. Oh dear. We had massive fall out. I had to split each existing pair. So Biscuit ended up with Stripes and Blackie ended up with Sunny. Then they all fell out too! So I had four hutches. Not good. I really hope you can save your original boars bond. . Good luck.

 

[JIn1234567]

I am afraid the issues are occurring because you cannot keep four boars together. Boars must be kept in pairs only and trying to keep four together will result in fights and broken bonds sooner rather than later. Plus the space requirements to even attempt it are enormous - a cage covering larger than four square metres but even this won’t help them like each other

Please separate them out into separate pairs and they need to live in two separate cages, as you are highly likely to run into more serious troubles by the time the young ones are 16 weeks old. If you leave them together there is a very high chance you could end up with all four piggies fighting and then needing to live as four single piggies in four separate cages.

Unfortunately trying to put four boars together can break existing bonds so you will need to see if the two older ones can remain together going forward. You will see a period of dominance now while the two of them try to reestablish their relationship. If putting the two older ones with the little ones has damaged the bond of the two older ones, then they may need to live separately (ie three cages may be needed)

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

Thank you so much for your kind and specific advice! Wish you a lovely day!

 

[JIn1234567]

I agree. About 10 years ago I had two boars. Biscuit and Blackie. Then I saw that two more boars needed to be rehomed so I asked the pet shop and they said it would be fine for them all to live together (bad advice). So I took Sunny and Stripes home and added them to the hutch. Oh dear. We had massive fall out. I had to split each existing pair. So Biscuit ended up with Stripes and Blackie ended up with Sunny. Then they all fell out too! So I had four hutches. Not good. I really hope you can save your original boars bond. . Good luck.

Thank you a lot for sharing experience. We are trying to amend their relationship now .

 

[JIn1234567]

I am afraid the issues are occurring because you cannot keep four boars together. Boars must be kept in pairs only and trying to keep four together will result in fights and broken bonds sooner rather than later. Plus the space requirements to even attempt it are enormous - a cage covering larger than four square metres but even this won’t help them like each other

Please separate them out into separate pairs and they need to live in two separate cages, as you are highly likely to run into more serious troubles by the time the young ones are 16 weeks old. If you leave them together there is a very high chance you could end up with all four piggies fighting and then needing to live as four single piggies in four separate cages.

Unfortunately trying to put four boars together can break existing bonds so you will need to see if the two older ones can remain together going forward. You will see a period of dominance now while the two of them try to reestablish their relationship. If putting the two older ones with the little ones has damaged the bond of the two older ones, then they may need to live separately (ie three cages may be needed)

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?

Sorry for asking again. I just separated them. 2small and 2 big in 2 cages, but they can see each other. The dominating one and small ones are biting cages, and seems like wishing to stay together. Is it possible for me to put 1big 2 small in one large cage? They are all males. The other big surrendered male seems dont care about these 3 at all.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Sorry for asking again. I just separated them. 2small and 2 big in 2 cages, but they can see each other. The dominating one and small ones are biting cages, and seems like wishing to stay together. Is it possible for me to put 1big 2 small in one large cage? They are all males. The other big surrendered male seems dont care about these 3 at all.

No you can’t do that. Three boys together will still not work for the long term and you will be still have to separate them when fights occur. You can only keep two boars together in one cage
You will just have to ignore the bar biting

 

[weepweeps]

No. Don’t put three in together. Let them settle down. They might stop biting soon. You said the older ones are 7 months old. That’s coming up to a hormonal spike that piggies have at about 8 months. So they might be feeling more hormonal that usual.

 

[JIn1234567]

No. Don’t put three in together. Let them settle down. They might stop biting soon. You said the older ones are 7 months old.That’s coming up to a hormonal spike that piggies have t about 8 months. So they might be feeling more hormonal that usual.

Do they need to see each other or no? if they dont see small ones they are yelling sometimes. like wolf

 

[weepweeps]

Technically as there are two pigs in each cage they don’t need to see the other two.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Separated pairs do not need to be able to see each other

 

[JIn1234567]

Separate pairs do not need to be able to see each other

I just put them in 1 , 1 , 2. I also separate two big ones. Do you mean 2 big ones dont need see each other? They wont be lonley?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I just put them in 1 , 1 , 2. I also separate two big ones. Do you mean 2 big ones dont need see each other? They wont be lonley?

Sorry I thought you had put them into two pairs. If they are on their own in a cage, then the cages must be next to each other they can interact through the bars

 

[JIn1234567]

Sorry I thought you had put them into two pairs. If they are on their own in a cage, then the cages must be next to each other they can interact through the bars

ye unfortunately the old boys cant stay in bound anymore. the surrendered one are so frightened. Anyway, Thanks so much for helping.

 

[JIn1234567]

Sorry I thought you had put them into two pairs. If they are on their own in a cage, then the cages must be next to each other they can interact through the bars

Sorry for asking again, The old dominating one is keep biting the cage, and he cant stop it. His cage is next to the surrender one, but the surrender one dont bother him at all. What can i do to help him and help us, he is really annoying right now.

 

[Piggies&buns]

You can try covering the bars with something to stop him from being able to chew them. Otherwise, it’s just a case of having to ignore his bar chewing and eventually he will call down. It’s quite normal for the dominant piggy to be upset by a separation but it’s not his reaction which is the important part. If the submissive piggy is not upset at all by the separation then you have definitely done the right thing by separating them