Bonding Troubles

[Buster<3]

Hi, I'm new to this whole taking care of guinea pigs, but I've done a lot of research before bringing home my new pets. I picked them up from someone who needed to re-home them and they told me that they were bonded, but the day after bringing them home i noticed that they were, well it looked like they were fighting. I looked up everything they were doing and its said that they could be bonding so i left them alone and let them try to work things out naturally. Over the course of the night my black american crest* his name is Buster (i believe that is his breed) kept squealing and whining and just running away from the brown and white american guinea pig* his name is Author. So i did more search and once again it said it was part of the bonding process, so i left the alone to bond but i still kept an eye out because i was scared for Buster my american crest. A few minutes in and the Author is aggressively humming Buster,( i kept thinking that Buster was a girl, because of how aggressive it was) there was chatter with the teeth from Author when Buster ran away, and as i was watching i noticed blood coming out of Buster behind at first i thought i saw wrong because he raw away so fast, but after i confirmed it the second time i took Buster out of the cage and since i thought they were bonded and would get along i didn't have a spare cage for Buster so i let him roam around my room until i found a box he could stay in for the night. I was so scared something could of happened to Buster because he was bleeding and i couldn't take him to the vet late at night, all i could do was try to see how bad his butt was, it wasn't bad as i thought it took about a few seconds for him to relax and within those few seconds he stopped bleeding he had a slight tear in his anus. In the same night my sister told me to put them back together since they bother calmed down, so i did butt i was too scared Buster was going to get an even worse injury when Author came up to hump him again it might of been the wrong move but these are my first pair of guineas and i don't want to have to get a new one to replace the other and so far it seems i have to get ride of Author if there is a away i can keep them both please let me know i already feel in love with them at first sight. But if there is no other option, i'll have to do what i have to keep them both safe.

 

[Piggies&buns]

There is always a risk when you rehome piggies privately that you aren’t told the whole truth about their relationship and there is always a risk that you bring home piggies who do not get on.
The key to a successful bond is character compatibility. When piggies move to a different environment, they have to reestablish their relationship so you will see an increase in dominance behaviours. If they are compatible then they will be fine. If they aren’t compatible, then a change in territories can destabilise a relationship and cause it to break.
However, dominance behaviours such as chasing, humping, teeth chattering are all normal throughout the whole of a guinea pigs life but more so while they are reestablishing their relationship.

Do you have them in a big enough cage? Two boars need a cage of 180cm x 60cm (6ft x 2ft). Any less than that and it can cause problems due to lack of space.

Have you checked their sexes yourself? It is is essential that you do so. If you do have a mixed sex pair, then they do need to be immediately separated and the female put on pregnancy watch. https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/illustrated-sexing-guide-for-all-ages.156297/

What you then need to do is determine whether their relationship is functioning - if it isn’t, then they need to be permanently separated and live in separate cages but side by side so they can interact through the bars so they don’t get lonely. It’s important to not confuse normal dominance behaviours with aggression

Please read the guides below
Bonds In Trouble
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[Buster<3]

I'm going to have to order a bigger cage then. Should i keep them separated while the new cage is being shipped?

 

[Siikibam]

Keep separate. Did you check to see where the blood was coming from? Is there a wound of some sort where the blood was coming from? Also how old are they?

 

[Buster<3]

I did put them back together they seem to be doing fine before my first post and kept them in after the first reply, i do here whining from Buster but it is not as loud.They are both 1 year old and Buster wound was from his butt. But if you're saying i need to keep them separated them until the new cage comes in which is about 2 weeks i will keep them away from each other because if that will help I'm willing.

 

[Wiebke]

I did put them back together they seem to be doing fine before my first post and kept them in after the first reply, i do here whining from Buster but it is not as loud.They are both 1 year old and Buster wound was from his butt. But if you're saying i need to keep them separated them until the new cage comes in which is about 2 weeks i will keep them away from each other because if that will help I'm willing.

Hi!

The whining is submission and perfectly normal for the re-establishment of a group hierarchy in new territory.
What cannot do is short meetings. You either need to re-introduce your boys on neutral ground and leave them together until you are sure that they have fully rebonded; or you need to leave them separated. Dealing with teenagers is not easy because their bond is already under pressure and the reason their owners wanted to get rid of them is likely that the bond has already been in trouble.

Please take the time to read the green links in @Piggies&buns post. They will help you learn to understand guinea pig behaviours and social interaction; you can find a full list of options with their various pros and cons for a failed bond at the end of the teenage guide.

This is common problem for new owners and one of the reasons why we have written our very detailed guides so they can learn to spot what is normal and what not as quickly as they need to. We can't explain all of that in just two short sentences.