Aggressive behaviour

[07venkat]

I’ve got two boars, one about age 1 and the other about 4 months. The younger one keeps initiating teeth chattering and rumbles at the other with his fur on end, which causes the other to chatter back a bit. The older doesn’t get too bothered by it and just ignores him mostly but it’s not nice to witness.
We got concerned so separated them initially, but the younger gets very distressed, wanting to be back in together.
They haven’t hurt each other and it just happens every now and then but as we’re stuck at home I feel we notice it more often.
Should we be very concerned or is it them just figuring out who’s in charge? Any advice or reassurance would be appreciated

 

[Piggies&buns]

This is totally normal behaviour, it’s not aggressive. Your younger piggy has just started his teens so is experiencing hormone spikes as well as asserting dominance. As long as there are no full on fights or blood drawn, then please leave them together. If you panic and separate them then you interrupt them, they need to go through this to have a good relationship. He will be in his teens until 14 months of age so you will see a lot of this over the coming months and increases as he experiences further hormone spikes at around 6 months and then again at around 10 months.

With boars it’s important to have a large cage - we recommend a cage measuring 180cm x 60cm as having too small of a cage and lack of space can cause issues between them. Ensure two of every item including food bowls, hay piles, water bottles and have plenty of open ended hidey (nothing enclosed).

I’ll add in some guides below to help with further information.

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Cage Size Guide