Boars 6 monts old

Sophie76

Sophie76

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello!
My two boars have been getting along great the last weeks.. Now all of a Sudden it is really tense in the cage.. Som quite load teeth schattering and almoast fighting over houses...
Is this a 6 month hormonal spike you think? How long can i expect it to last? I have read 6 month is a critical age...
BR
 
Sounds like the hormone spike to me. There is another big one at around 10 months of age but you can expect this kind of thing to last until around 14 months of age.
Make sure you have plenty of houses each with two exits (you don’t want a piggy getting cornered). I have a pair of boars and when they were that age, I had extra houses, I believe it was four between the two of them at that stage (they’re older now so I’ve removed some) to stop there being any issues. Same with water bottles and food bowls. How big is their cage? Boars need a lot of room. I had to increase the amount of space my two had when tensions kicked in and it settled things down very quickly.
It is important to not do anything to upset their hierarchy ie don’t pick up the submissive piggy first etc.
You need to leave them to it but it is important to watch out for behaviours. Only separate if blood is drawn and a full on fight occurs. If you panic and step in too soon it can make things worse. It’s hard, I know, but watch them closely but leave them to sort things out.
Have a plan and be prepared if you need a separate ie if they are in a c&c cage, have extra grids on hand etc.

The guides below should help you

Bonds In Trouble
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
 
I have done everything i can. The cage is 160 × 60 + 100 x 60.. 4 houses .. 2 areas with hay, water in each..
Hope this increase in tension will calm.. My kids are scared to watch since They dont want too see them maybe fight :-(
 
That’s all good.
Hopefully they will be able to sort it out between them. It isn’t nice seeing tensions rise.
 
Firstly take the time to read the threads linked above. They really are very helpful.
Remember that when it looks like things are quite heated to us humans, it is often normal guinea pig behaviour.
However if you are really concerned, as you have such a decent sized cage maybe consider putting a few grids up and separating them for a few hours and watching how they react. Sometimes a small break is all that is needed to help things settle down.
 
Thank you! I have read them all many times. That why my cage is so large :-) I was just wondering how long this extra intense hormonal spike might last.. i know there will be more.. I hope it is only a few days...
I will do the short separation though if needed ... Just afraid i can make it worse..
Ty for your replies!
 
It should hopefully be back to normal tomorrow. The times that my dominant boar has had the spikes, it’s lasted some hours then back to normal, so to speak!
 
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