danuutka
Junior Guinea Pig
I have a 1.5 year old boar Benio, and a 5-6 month old boar Ozzie. They were bonded at a rescue at the beginning of August, and Benio has been the dominant pig since. There were typical boar behaviours going on, which never really bothered me, just the typical reactions to Ozzie being an excitable baby whilst Benio wanted to sleep. Benio by nature is a softy - he never nips back, lets Ozzie rumble around him, and just over all is the most peaceful, mellow boy. Ozzie on the other hand is a little cheeky boy, who is often excitable and "trying it on".
Last night, they seemed to have a very big fall out. No blood was drawn, however I made the decision to split them up for the night because Ozzie was incessantly mounting and humping Benio, pee squirting and nipping his rump, and Benio was extremely frightened and distressed - he first tried to hide from Ozzie in my arms, but then just became very mellow and "depressed", and was clearly bothered by Ozzie's behaviour. Benio onyl nipped Ozzie once or twice in retaliation, the other times he just laid there very sad. Their cage is in my room, however they are essentially free roaming pigs - so over night, I locked Ozzie in the cage (this is where he sleeps at night), and Benio slept on the outside, under my bed (which is where he prefers to sleep anyway). They didn't show too much of missing each other, other than a few moments of cage biting from each of them. They did smell each other through the bars a few times too.
They have enough space, two of everything etc - so the only thing I can think of is either Ozzie having a mad hormone spike, or Ozzie trying to move from underpig to dominant. We reintroduced them to each other on completely neutral territory - there was some mounting from Ozzie which Benio didn't like, but other than that, Ozzie was just following Benio around and then they had a nap. What is worrying me, however, is that Ozzie is doing a lot of rumble strutting but Benio isn't... this has never happened before, as typically Benio will rumble strut in response to Ozzie. Instead, he is just letting Ozzie rumble strut all around him, and Benio is just chatting away or completely silent.
I have never had boars before, so I am hoping someone knowledgeable in guinea pig behaviour can tell me whats going on? What can I do to help, is Ozzie becoming the dominant pig etc?
Last night, they seemed to have a very big fall out. No blood was drawn, however I made the decision to split them up for the night because Ozzie was incessantly mounting and humping Benio, pee squirting and nipping his rump, and Benio was extremely frightened and distressed - he first tried to hide from Ozzie in my arms, but then just became very mellow and "depressed", and was clearly bothered by Ozzie's behaviour. Benio onyl nipped Ozzie once or twice in retaliation, the other times he just laid there very sad. Their cage is in my room, however they are essentially free roaming pigs - so over night, I locked Ozzie in the cage (this is where he sleeps at night), and Benio slept on the outside, under my bed (which is where he prefers to sleep anyway). They didn't show too much of missing each other, other than a few moments of cage biting from each of them. They did smell each other through the bars a few times too.
They have enough space, two of everything etc - so the only thing I can think of is either Ozzie having a mad hormone spike, or Ozzie trying to move from underpig to dominant. We reintroduced them to each other on completely neutral territory - there was some mounting from Ozzie which Benio didn't like, but other than that, Ozzie was just following Benio around and then they had a nap. What is worrying me, however, is that Ozzie is doing a lot of rumble strutting but Benio isn't... this has never happened before, as typically Benio will rumble strut in response to Ozzie. Instead, he is just letting Ozzie rumble strut all around him, and Benio is just chatting away or completely silent.
I have never had boars before, so I am hoping someone knowledgeable in guinea pig behaviour can tell me whats going on? What can I do to help, is Ozzie becoming the dominant pig etc?
