Advice On This Behaviour - Video Included

Edanomel

Edanomel

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jul 6, 2017
Messages
42
Reaction score
76
Points
200
Location
Edinburgh
I'm a bit worried about my guinea pigs. I have 2 boys, they're around 7 months old but I've only had them since last Wednesday. Every day the black one, Oreo, seems to be bullying the other one, Finn. Or that's what it looks like to me. Oreo chases Finn away from wherever he goes, multiple times a day Oreo will mount Finn's face, he "bites" Finn - but no blood and I just don't know if this behaviour it normal or not? Finn doesn't seem like he likes it. He goes into a hidey but Oreo jumps in a starts harassing him and pushes him out.

I've gave them a much bigger cage as I thought that may be the problem, they have 2 food bowls, water bottles, hay trays and 3 hideys plus a tunnel and bridge.

I've added a video of some of what's went on tonight. The concerning bit for me was one of them, Finn I think, was making a loud chattering sound which can be heard in the last 20 seconds of the video.

Should I be worried? Or is this ok?

(Sorry about my son in the background, but want to leave the audio in so you could hear the noises)
 
Until the end it didn't seem too bad. All that was happening was dominance behaviour- so the rumbling,mounting and nipping. Now that is just Oreo asserting his dominance over Finn and clarifying that he is top piggy. Didn't you say you've moved them to a bigger cage? That will help in the long run (looks great by the way) but at the minute the change of cage has just made the process kind of start over. He's now making clear that in this cage he is still the top pig. Some chattering is normal but at the end of the video it did look like Finn had had enough and there mightve been a standoff he is persisted.

Now I wouldn't separate unless there is blood or you feel a piggy is in danger or being pushed out from food/water. Nipping,chasing and mounting can look quite aggressive and scary to us (I know it did for me) but it doesn't last forever :)

You could always separate them temporarily and see what happens. If they look for each other it means a bond is there but if they both seem happier without each other then it's probably best to leave them separated.

I'll tag @Wiebke and @Flutterby
 
It did look like normal dominance behaviour to me. Boys can be terrible to each other but they need to go through this after any move to new areas as they need to establish who is the "boss". Just at the end tempers are a bit high with the chattering. Hopefully they calm down and one of them backs down.
 
Thanks for the replies. I put up a divider in the cage last night as I was really worried and just wasn't sure what to do and Finn looked like he just wanted some rest! I checked on them about 15 minutes after putting up the divider and they where both fine. They didn't even seem bothered! Finn was lying at the far end of the cage away from the divider and Oreo was lying in the hay tray eating.
 
Hi! It looks like normal dominance behaviour to me as the boys establish their hierarchy in any new territory (which on average takes about two weeks) - and theirs comes right in the middle of the teenage months when testosterone is at an all time high. The teeth chattering is an "I've have had a enough now. This is no longer fun!" warning, but it is not a sign of an imminent attack and the body language is nowhere near tense enough to cause worry, nor is the teeth chattering on the highest level.

The hard bit during the dominance phase is to sit it out. Piggies do instinctively understand what is going on. Yours don't look like they are likely to fall out or fight anytime soon.

Please take the time to read these guides here:
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
 
Wiebke said:
Hi! It looks like normal dominance behaviour to me as the boys establish their hierarchy in any new territory (which on average takes about two weeks) - and theirs comes right in the middle of the teenage months when testosterone is at an all time high. The teeth chattering is an "I've have had a enough now. This is no longer fun!" warning, but it is not a sign of an imminent attack and the body language is nowhere near tense enough to cause worry, nor is the teeth chattering on the highest level.

The hard bit during the dominance phase is to sit it out. Piggies do instinctively understand what is going on. Yours don't look like they are likely to fall out or fight anytime soon.

Please take the time to read these guides here:
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for the reassurance. These are my first piggies so it was a bit worrying seeing them like that. They seemed to enjoy having the divider up and having some time out from each other. I've taken out the divider now. The next time it happens, should I just leave them to it and not split the cage in half? I done it last night because I panicked and wasn't sure what to do. But if it's not advisable to split them I don't want to make any mistakes.
 
Edanomel said:
Hi, thanks for the reassurance. These are my first piggies so it was a bit worrying seeing them like that. They seemed to enjoy having the divider up and having some time out from each other. I've taken out the divider now. The next time it happens, should I just leave them to it and not split the cage in half? I done it last night because I panicked and wasn't sure what to do. But if it's not advisable to split them I don't want to make any mistakes.
Click to expand...

Temporarily splitting up hormonal boars to let tempers cool down does have its place, but it can contribute to destabilising a bond if it is overdone. Dealing with teenage boars in a new environment is always quite a challenge.
It has done the trick twice for my two boars when tempers started boiling over. They still have the occasional teeth chattering fit, but youngster Nye as now reached a hormonally more settled adulthood and they are still best of friends for most of the time with the odd little spat between them. They are very careful to back down once a warning has been given that one of them has reached his limit via some teeth chattering.

You may find our teenage boar guide helpful. it is as detailed and precise as I could make it. Please be aware that your boys are not playing in that league yet, but yours are currently in one of the trickiest phases.
Boars: Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top