PerpLexxity
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi everybody, so a few months ago I got a guinea pig for my birthday (its literally the one thing I wanted haha). I named this little baby Henry. My mom picked him out at a pet store and the lady who sold him to my mom told her he was about 5-6 months. I did some more inspection as we bonded and I figured out his balls hadn't even dropped yet so I aged him about 3ish months at the him he was adopted. Hes now closer to the 5 month mark and for the past 3 weeks he's gotten super territorial with his cage mate.
The day after I got Henry we went to my nearby Guinea Pig Sanctuary to get him a buddy. I picked out a gorgeous Abyssinian and named him Gizmo. The woman who runs the Sanctuary said he was just dropped off at her work with another piggy, but the other piggy was super territorial and had to be separated. She estimated Gizmo was about 11 months old. Now Gizmo is now about a little over a year old *1 year and 2months*.
Up until a few weeks ago Henry and Gizmo had been getting along *Gizmo being the dominant pig*. Henry was very submissive and understood that Gizmo was dominant. A few weeks up until their fight Henry started lunging *with no biting* towards Gizmo and such. Gizmo would chatter for a few seconds and then go about his day. Then their fight happened. Henry lunged at Gizmo and Gizmo was not having it that day. Gizmo didn't attack initially but stood his ground and rumble strutted towards Henry along with teeth chattering. They both raised their noises at each other and Henry lunged at Gizmo with intent to harm (he pulled huge clumps of Gizmo's hair out, but no bleeding). I bolted up out of my bed, grabbed one of the hutches to stop the fighting between them and immediately separated the boys (I have the MidWest Guinea Pig Cage Plus so I have the wire divider panel piece, thats what I use to separate them. So they're in the same cage just divided).
I decided it was time to do some research on guinea pig behavior and tips on helping my guys. The next day I sanitized everything in their cage with a mixture of white vinegar and water so that no scents were left from either pig. Me and my sister gave the pigs a bath together before putting them back in the cage *I dabbed a bit of Dial Gold on both pigs butt and a bit behind the ears so that their scents were neutral*. We put the pigs in the cage together at the same time and they seemed to be fine for a bit. Towards the end of the night they started teeth chattering and rumble strutting so I decided to separate them again.
For the past few weeks I've let them see each other face to face and each time its the same result, teeth chattering, rumble strutting, short lunges and such. In total they have had three fights instigated by Henry *they come completely out of nowhere when they fight*. I don't know what do anymore and was wondering what would happen if I got a spayed female. Would they calm down, would it increase fights, or what if I threw in an older male piggy to calm things down? Is Henry just hitting puberty and releasing is hormonal rage on Gizmo? Help.
The day after I got Henry we went to my nearby Guinea Pig Sanctuary to get him a buddy. I picked out a gorgeous Abyssinian and named him Gizmo. The woman who runs the Sanctuary said he was just dropped off at her work with another piggy, but the other piggy was super territorial and had to be separated. She estimated Gizmo was about 11 months old. Now Gizmo is now about a little over a year old *1 year and 2months*.
Up until a few weeks ago Henry and Gizmo had been getting along *Gizmo being the dominant pig*. Henry was very submissive and understood that Gizmo was dominant. A few weeks up until their fight Henry started lunging *with no biting* towards Gizmo and such. Gizmo would chatter for a few seconds and then go about his day. Then their fight happened. Henry lunged at Gizmo and Gizmo was not having it that day. Gizmo didn't attack initially but stood his ground and rumble strutted towards Henry along with teeth chattering. They both raised their noises at each other and Henry lunged at Gizmo with intent to harm (he pulled huge clumps of Gizmo's hair out, but no bleeding). I bolted up out of my bed, grabbed one of the hutches to stop the fighting between them and immediately separated the boys (I have the MidWest Guinea Pig Cage Plus so I have the wire divider panel piece, thats what I use to separate them. So they're in the same cage just divided).
I decided it was time to do some research on guinea pig behavior and tips on helping my guys. The next day I sanitized everything in their cage with a mixture of white vinegar and water so that no scents were left from either pig. Me and my sister gave the pigs a bath together before putting them back in the cage *I dabbed a bit of Dial Gold on both pigs butt and a bit behind the ears so that their scents were neutral*. We put the pigs in the cage together at the same time and they seemed to be fine for a bit. Towards the end of the night they started teeth chattering and rumble strutting so I decided to separate them again.
For the past few weeks I've let them see each other face to face and each time its the same result, teeth chattering, rumble strutting, short lunges and such. In total they have had three fights instigated by Henry *they come completely out of nowhere when they fight*. I don't know what do anymore and was wondering what would happen if I got a spayed female. Would they calm down, would it increase fights, or what if I threw in an older male piggy to calm things down? Is Henry just hitting puberty and releasing is hormonal rage on Gizmo? Help.
