Baby guinea pig getting all bossy with his older pal

[ThePiggyPalace]

I have a baby who is around thirteen weeks old. He's got on brilliantly with my older boy who is age two and the older boy has really been so gentle and loving with him.

Today, my other two older boars who live in the same room played out. Nothing unusual in that but it seems to have turned the baby into a bully. He's clattering his teeth at his roomie and has shown aggression. I've taken him out and don't know how to proceed. His roomie is a chilled piggies and doesn't deserve aggression from any pig, let alone a baby who he's effectively shown the ropes to and been a great father figure to! How do I proceed?

 

[Mrs Tiggy Winkle]

I imagine the 'baby' has come into early puberty and is testing the older boy's boundaries. Unless the 'baby' is actually injuring the older boy, I'd leave them together because as long as the older boy is properly socialised, he should be able to deal in guinea pig fashion with the situation. I don't think the older boy will consider whether he deserves certain behaviour from the younger one, or not, he'll deal with it - put his foot down so to speak, even if he takes longer at that than you expect. You say he's been a great father figure - then I'd trust him with this too! After all, human fathers have to deal with this sort of behaviour too.

And thinking of humans - I don't know if this is applicable to young guinea pigs or not, it could be that the 'baby' got freaked out by the other two older boars and he's out of his depth dealing with that and turning aggression onto his father figure, not because there's a real problem between the two, but because the younger one doesn't know how else to get help from his father figure. In human psychology, that kind of stuff happens, but as I say, idk if it does with guineas, but possible? They are mammals as well.

However, I don't know if the baby and father figure have been separated for too long now to do a quick re-introduction? Hope somebody with more knowledge on bonding can get back to you on that, as well as with further information in general. I may be wrong in my thoughts/opinion, there are more experienced people on the forum.

 

[ThePiggyPalace]

Hi @Mrs Tiggy Winkle, thank you for your post.

I hadn't thought of it like that.

I held him for half an hour and gave him a talking to on how to respect his brother pig (the one he lives with who has brought him up and been so lovely to baby). I put him back and they're all calm and sleeping.

Baby has had a spirited personality since I got him! He's a wild one. His teenage years will be fun! Ha ha ha!

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m glad you’re put them back together. This is just dominance behaviour and him trying himself out, not a reason to separate them. You always need to let them get on with it unless there’s actual fights and injuries as stepping in with any separation cause more dominance behaviours upon being reunited.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

Your little one is just experiencing the first teenage hormone spike that signals the very start of the descent of his testicles; some boys start a bit sooner than others.

Please do not interfere unless absolutely necessary as I you unbalance the bond even further.

I would like to encourage you to please read these very helpful links here so you can learn better to spot from the body language whether things can be left for your boys to sort out or whether a fight or some serious boar bullying is really imminent. You have obviously got a feistier youngster. Unfortunately, while the majority of boar pairs make it, with babies their full adult boar personality will only develop during teenage and it can change the dynamics.

- A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

- Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

- A - Z of Guinea Pig Behaviours

- Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

All the best!