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Agitated Boys

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Ma7ie

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This evening after putting my boys back in their cage after 3 hours of floor time they seem really agitated and are squabbling a lot. I have just caught them both on their back legs having fisticuffs and making lots of noise. Luckily I was there to break it up. They are both over one and have been together since being small so it seems strange. We have only had them since 20th of March but I've not seen this before. What could it be?
 
Sounds like they needed to re establish dominance of their territory after being away from their cage for a while! If they are still together now I would keep a close eye on them as fighting on back legs is one of the more serious signs of aggression. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that they don't fall out!
 
Thank you @katie-elizabeth , it just seems strange because it's never happened before. They have 3-4 hours floor time a day, every day. They are still together but there is a lot of teeth chattering and rumblesrutting going on when they are near each other. Luckily I work from home, so I can keep a good eye on them during the day. I really hope that I don't have to split them up.
 
They like to keep us our our toes don't they! My boys still have little tiffs, they've been together since January, and Shaun is hormonal, so I'm having to keep an eye on them!
Hopefully your boys will behave themselves again now! :)
 
Did you clean out the cage in the interval?
 
Did you clean out the cage in the interval?
I changed their fleece, which is something that I do every day, but I didn't do a full clean out. They are bedded on vetbed over puppy pads with a layer of fleece over the top. I change the vetbed every 3 days and do a full clean, and change their fleece daily. I'm scared to let them out again today just in case we have a repeat of yesterday
 
I changed their fleece, which is something that I do every day, but I didn't do a full clean out. They are bedded on vetbed over puppy pads with a layer of fleece over the top. I change the vetbed every 3 days and do a full clean, and change their fleece daily. I'm scared to let them out again today just in case we have a repeat of yesterday

You just have to see. Some boys that have had a comparatively smooth ride through the big hormones can get into trouble at a late stage. Thankfully, permanent fall-outs are rare. Mostly it is just the occasional hormonal spike that dies down after a day or two.

Sometimes, a cleaned cage can be taken as new territory in these circumstances, so it can trigger dominance behaviour. If it gets really tricky, just separate overnight and re-introduce on neutral ground after a buddy bath that removes the scent of the excess testosterone. This works for most adult or nearly adult boars if they get into a spot of bother.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/introducing-and-re-introducing-guinea-pigs.38562/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/
 
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