Aggressive behavior

[Breee12199]

One of my guinea pigs(chip) has been started to fight with my older guinea pig and have been very dominating over my new baby guinea pig and I don’t wanna keep them separated but idk what to do I have them separated now but he’s just so mad right now he’s like chewing on the bars to get to the other side help please also they all are male

 

[Piggies&buns]

so you have three boars together is that correct?

then this is why they are fighting. You cannot keep three males together. three boars almost always ends in fights. The space required to attempt a boar trio is huge - they need a cage of three square metres which most people can’t offer And even then if they aren’t character compatible (which is hard to get right in a trio) then they will still fight. If you do have a trio, then keep the two which get on best together and one will have to stay on his own from now onwards. Keep him in a separate cage so he can talk to the others through the bars, but please don’t put them back together as it will cause fights.

If you already had two and then added a new baby, it can ruin the bond between the original two as well as the new baby not be accepted. So you run the risk of all three ending up single.

If the single piggy is to remain single, will need a cage of 120cm x 60cm. The pair will need a cage of 180cm x 60cm.
if you decide to get the single piggy a new friend of his own, then he will also need a 180cm cage. You need to go about finding a new friend the right way, via dating at a rescue centre if possible. Character compatibility is key to a successful bond so if you have the option of dating then it means your piggy chooses his own new friend which will result in a better bond. Buying a piggy from a pet shop has risks as you don’t know if they would be compatible and they may not like each other meaning the new piggy would also need to be kept in a separate cage.

Did you check the sex of the new baby yourself? Accidentally bringing home a missexed piggy and putting a female in with two boars would also cause them to fight.

If I’ve misread and it is two piggies -
how long have they been together?
what is actually happening?
did you bond them together yourself?
how big is their cage?

Character compatibility is the key to a successful relationship. If the younger one is coming into his teens and now has his own ideas on dominance then If they aren’t character compatible then this can mean their relationship will fail.

if it is just dominance behaviours, then you need to leave them to establish their relationship.
if they are having full on fights, then their relationship is over and they must not live together any more.

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Bonds In Trouble

 

[Breee12199]

so you have three boars together is that correct?

then this is why they are fighting. You cannot keep three males together. three boars almost always ends in fights. The space required to attempt a boar trio is huge - they need a cage of three square metres which most people can’t offer And even then if they aren’t character compatible (which is hard to get right in a trio) then they will still fight. If you do have a trio, then keep the two which get on best together and one will have to stay on his own from now onwards. Keep him in a separate cage so he can talk to the others through the bars, but please don’t put them back together as it will cause fights.

If you already had two and then added a new baby, it can ruin the bond between the original two as well as the new baby not be accepted. So you run the risk of all three ending up single.

If the single piggy is to remain single, will need a cage of 120cm x 60cm. The pair will need a cage of 180cm x 60cm.
if you decide to get the single piggy a new friend of his own, then he will also need a 180cm cage. You need to go about finding a new friend the right way, via dating at a rescue centre if possible. Character compatibility is key to a successful bond so if you have the option of dating then it means your piggy chooses his own new friend which will result in a better bond. Buying a piggy from a pet shop has risks as you don’t know if they would be compatible and they may not like each other meaning the new piggy would also need to be kept in a separate cage.

Did you check the sex of the new baby yourself? Accidentally bringing home a missexed piggy and putting a female in with two boars would also cause them to fight.

If I’ve misread and it is two piggies -
how long have they been together?
what is actually happening?
did you bond them together yourself?
how big is their cage?

Character compatibility is the key to a successful relationship. If the younger one is coming into his teens and now has his own ideas on dominance then If they aren’t character compatible then this can mean their relationship will fail.

if it is just dominance behaviours, then you need to leave them to establish their relationship.
if they are having full on fights, then their relationship is over and they must not live together any more.

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Bonds In Trouble

This is just so much they haven’t been acting like this I just cleaned the cage and moved some things around so I think that could be why he’s acting like this too idk but I’ve never seen him like this now he is trying to jump over the cage part separating them. Btw as I wrote that I literally jumped over the part separating this....did not even know that was possible

I originally had two guinea pigs dash and brownie but sadly brownie passed away from a URI .... he was the most chillest guinea pig ever I swear...but anyways I bought another guinea pig for Dash to be with and they got along pretty good not as good as brownie tho...so I had them together for about two month and then I got the new baby and suddenly chip started to get all dominant and would not stop humping the baby so for about two days I separated the baby and then put them all together and the humping still would happen but I heard that you should just keep them together because if I keep separating them then the whole domination thing would start back all over

so they have been together for a little less than two weeks and dash and chip had been fighting a bit but not like this ...I have two 24x47 or 49 cages (Midwest) oh yeah and the New Guinea pig and dash get along a bit like there’s not fighting or anything it’s kinda like dash doesn’t mind him being there but they don’t interact that muchh so I now have them together in one cage

Although dash is older than chip..somehow chip is pretty much dash size if not bigger tbh he’s gotten really big compared to dash I just don’t know how he’s so dominant..dash isn’t at all and he’s older
Honestly the baby is really cute and I love dash and chip but idk what I should do he’s acting crazy

 

[Piggies&buns]

If you are keeping three males together, then this is why there are problems. As I have said three boars together does not work out. Boars can only be kept in pairs to have a functioning relationship. He is behaving like this because boars don’t often function properly in trios.

it is true that if it is just dominance then you ride it out until their relationships settles, but that’s only if it is dominance and their are otherwise character compatible. With three boars together it is highly unlikely to ever settle down.

You need to keep two together and one by himself. He will not be happy about being kept separate but it’s the way it will have to be.

Age has nothing to do with dominance. Dominance is down to character.

One Midwest cage isn’t big enough for a pair of boars. Two boars together need a cage of 24 inch x 70 inches.

 

[Piggies&buns]

What you can do is cover the cage so he can’t see the other two for now and allow him time to calm down. Then slowly remove the cover and hopefully he will settle into his own cage with the other two as neighbours.
He is going to be upset by it Though. His bond with his cagemate has been disrupted by introducing the third piggy and now he is by himself so it is going to take time for him to adjust to being separated

 

[Breee12199]

What you can do is cover the cage so he can’t see the other two for now and allow him time to calm down. Then slowly remove the cover and hopefully he will settle into his own cage with the other two as neighbours.
He is going to be upset by it Though. His bond with his cagemate has been disrupted by introducing the third piggy and now he is by himself so it is going to take time for him to adjust to being separated

Thank you! although idk how to cover it to where they can’t see each other because the cages are connected

 

[Breee12199]

Thank you! although idk how to cover it to where they can’t see each other because the cages are connected

Idk if I should just surrender the new one or dominate one...this is stressful the reason I didn’t go to a rescue was because it’s very far , now I’m realizing I should’ve just taken the trip

 

[Piggies&buns]

Idk if I should just surrender the new one or dominate one...this is stressful the reason I didn’t go to a rescue was because it’s very far , now I’m realizing I should’ve just taken the trip

Rescuing via dating is always best where possible. However, even if you had gone to a rescue, having a trio still wouldn’t work.

if you are going to surrender one, it probably needs to be the one by himself. It’s possible that the two who were originally together before you introduced the baby, won’t ever go back together again now even if it was just the two of them.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you! although idk how to cover it to where they can’t see each other because the cages are connected

could you drape a blanket over the divide and clip it on to the wire? Once he has calmed down then hopefully you can remove it and they can live happily as neighbours.

as I said though, your pair really need a bigger cage particularly once the baby hits his teens and becomes hormonal himself. Lack of space can cause problems for boar pairs. They need a lot more room to have their own territories and space to get away from each other.

 

[Swissgreys]

You can always cable tie a piece of cardboard across the cage wall so they can't see each other until you work out what to do.

 

[DougalandDiego]

Sorry to hear your boys aren’t getting along. with what’s already been said. My two boys had a 3x5 c and c which is much bigger than what’s recommended and they still fell out which resulted in them living side by side as neighbours. A bigger cage is a must so that they have time to get away from each other.
I hope you find a solution that you and your boys are happy with

 

[Breee12199]

What you can do is cover the cage so he can’t see the other two for now and allow him time to calm down. Then slowly remove the cover and hopefully he will settle into his own cage with the other two as neighbours.
He is going to be upset by it Though. His bond with his cagemate has been disrupted by introducing the third piggy and now he is by himself so it is going to take time for him to adjust to being separated

Today I had open up the part separating them and he seems okay there’s no fighting for now we’ll see

 

[Piggies&buns]

Today I had open up the part separating them and he seems okay there’s no fighting for now we’ll see

i really would not recommend this. A boar trio has a very high chance of fights occurring, and once your youngest hits his teens it could be worse. At worst, all of them fighting and then all three ending up never being able to live together, you then need three cages. And as mentioned previously, your cages (even when they are both connected) are not big enough for a trio to have enough space. Lack of space can also cause problems for a relationship. If you are going to attempt a trio, you will need to make their cage bigger.
you should always reintroduce on neutral territory - not just open up dividers and allow one piggy into another’s cage - this is how you can cause fights.

 

[Breee12199]

i really would not recommend this. A boar trio has a very high chance of fights occurring, and once your youngest hits his teens it could be worse. At worst, all of them fighting and then all three ending up never being able to live together, you then need three cages. And as mentioned previously, your cages (even when they are both connected) are not big enough for a trio to have enough space. Lack of space can also cause problems for a relationship. If you are going to attempt a trio, you will need to make their cage bigger.
you should always reintroduce on neutral territory - not just open up dividers and allow one piggy into another’s cage - this is how you can cause fights.

Okay I will try to see if I can get another cage because currently I live with my father who may complain about me needing to get another cage

 

[Siikibam]

Please make sure you do. Otherwise you’re making things hard for the boys. Lack of space will affect them once the young one hits his teens. I would also separate the other one and try to pair him up through a rescue.

A ‘quick temporary fix’ for expanding living space would be to set up a play pen around the cages. Then you give them 24/7 access to the floor area. Once your single boy is pared up then you could have stacking cages. But for now he needs to be living alongside the pair as interaction is crucial for them - it’s not just about sharing space but about body language and smells.

 

[Breee12199]

Please make sure you do. Otherwise you’re making things hard for the boys. Lack of space will affect them once the young one hits his teens. I would also separate the other one and try to pair him up through a rescue.

A ‘quick temporary fix’ for expanding living space would be to set up a play pen around the cages. Then you give them 24/7 access to the floor area. Once your single boy is pared up then you could have stacking cages. But for now he needs to be living alongside the pair as interaction is crucial for them - it’s not just about sharing space but about body language and smells.

They are doing fine now I don’t wanna separate them because it just doesn’t feel right to me as they are getting along now..what happened yesterday was just unusual(fighting is not a everyday thing) guess he just was moody. But yes I will see about getting a new cage when I can. Here’s a picture of my big guy

 

[Piggies&buns]

They are doing fine now I don’t wanna separate them because it just doesn’t feel right to me as they are getting along now..what happened yesterday was just unusual(fighting is not a everyday thing) guess he just was moody. But yes I will see about getting a new cage when I can. Here’s a picture of my big guy

the choice is yours and all we can tell you is that we see the aftermath of attempted boar trios on here all the time and that the vast majority of boar trios do not survive. once the youngest becomes hormonal it is possible it could get worse. Fights and injuries can occur. And once piggies have had a full fight, they will not have a functioning relationship again. As said, at worst, all bonds could be broken and if they all fight with each other then none of them can live together, youll have three single piggies. you say they’ve all been together for less than two weeks. It takes two weeks for a relationship and hierarchy to be established and if they have issues within that two weeks, then there are likely problems between them and the chances are it is going to happen again

All you can do is try your best but ultimately its entirely down to them and it’s not something you can control - you will need to make sure you handle the dominant piggy first to respect their hierarchy. Ensure you’ve got at least one hidey per piggy, all with two exits. Watch out for any bullying behaviour, ensure nobody is losing weight through not being allowed to eat. bullying can be an issue due to the nature of trios being difficult anyway as there is often and outsider situation occurring. Don’t clean the entire cage in one go as it constitutes a change in environment and can disrupt territories and cause over dominance and fall outs.

you ideally need a cage of three square metres (so each piggy can have a square metre of territory) so by my calculations adding one more cage still won’t make it quite big enough for a trio.