Adult Guinea Girls Still Fighting

[Guinea Winnie]

I have two sister piggies who've been together since birth but still aren't getting along. They're one year and 3months old, so they aren't babies trying to figure out dominance any more, it's like they never finished establishing it. They often rumblestrut, purr, nip, jump at and chase each other for what looks to me to be no reason. They're in a 2x4 C&C cage with two waters, two hides, a massive litter box/hay holder and their food bowl is really wide so they can eat without being on top of each other. Some people have told me to get a neutered boar to settle them down, but I live in the US and they aren't a common find so I want to be absolutely certain that that has potential to work. What else can I do? Has anyone else had this problem with mature pets?

 

[Wiebke]

I have two sister piggies who've been together since birth but still aren't getting along. They're one year and 3months old, so they aren't babies trying to figure out dominance any more, it's like they never finished establishing it. They often rumblestrut, purr, nip, jump at and chase each other for what looks to me to be no reason. They're in a 2x4 C&C cage with two waters, two hides, a massive litter box/hay holder and their food bowl is really wide so they can eat without being on top of each other. Some people have told me to get a neutered boar to settle them down, but I live in the US and they aren't a common find so I want to be absolutely certain that that has potential to work. What else can I do? Has anyone else had this problem with mature pets?

My sister pairs and triplets have usually the been the most squabbly of all sow bonds! Just hang on in there; eventually they will settle down a bit more once they reach adulthood and a hormonally more settled age. Sows do have a more hormonal teenage period between 4-14 months of age, but as it much more rarely leads to fall-outs, it is not as well known. What you are witnessing is normal dominance behaviour; it is not fighting.
Your girls are still firmly bonded, but there is often a lot more sibling rivalry involved, especially when come into season. They will just never be best friends the way most people wrongly expect piggies to be.
Sow Behaviour


PS: A neutered boar will not cure the problem of a squabbling sow pair, as I know from my own experiences. He will associate more with one of the sows and the other will end up as an outsider. For a neutered boar/two sows trio to work (and they are great when they do!), the sows need to be good friends. Any trio where there are issues between two piggies is not going to work out. It is the most difficult combo to get right and fails more often than not.

 

[Guinea Winnie]

My sister pairs and triplets have usually the been the most squabbly of all sow bonds! Just hang on in there; eventually they will settle down a bit more once they reach adulthood and a hormonally more settled age. Sows do have a more hormonal teenage period between 4-14 months of age, but as it much more rarely leads to fall-outs, it is not as well known. What you are witnessing is normal dominance behaviour; it is not fighting.
Your girls are still firmly bonded, but there is often a lot more sibling rivalry involved, especially when come into season. They will just never be best friends the way most people wrongly expect piggies to be.
Sow Behaviour


PS: A neutered boar will not cure the problem of a squabbling sow pair, as I know from my own experiences. He will associate more with one of the sows and the other will end up as an outsider. For a neutered boar/two sows trio to work (and they are great when they do!), the sows need to be good friends. Any trio where there are issues between two piggies is not going to work out. It is the most difficult combo to get right and fails more often than not.

thank you for your advice!