Boy piggies fighting, separate them?

[BandApiglets]

Hello, I’m kinda new to all this so need some help.
My pigs are both male and about 1 and 1/2 years old. They have always lived together in a C&C cage with at least 2 of everything. I need some help on if I should separate them or not.
So they have always showed dominant behavior: rumbling, some humping etc..
A few weeks ago one of the boys had a cut on his lip. I don’t know if this was due to a fight because I never witnessed it and only noticed the cut once it wasn’t fresh. They were on light yellow fleece at the time so I would have definitely noticed blood if it has been a serious cut. It heeled fine and I didn’t separate them as I couldn’t be sure they had had a fight or if he had maybe done it himself (he loves to eat the wooden log bridge and it does splinter sometimes).
They are still chasing eachother a lot and there is teeth chattering etc.
I just need to know if I should maybe separate them? I don’t want to because I don’t think I could get 2 more piggies to keep them company and would hate for them to get lonely, but I also don’t want one of them to get seriously hurt.
Sorry for the long paragraph.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello, I’m kinda new to all this so need some help.
My pigs are both male and about 1 and 1/2 years old. They have always lived together in a C&C cage with at least 2 of everything. I need some help on if I should separate them or not.
So they have always showed dominant behavior: rumbling, some humping etc..
A few weeks ago one of the boys had a cut on his lip. I don’t know if this was due to a fight because I never witnessed it and only noticed the cut once it wasn’t fresh. They were on light yellow fleece at the time so I would have definitely noticed blood if it has been a serious cut. It heeled fine and I didn’t separate them as I couldn’t be sure they had had a fight or if he had maybe done it himself (he loves to eat the wooden log bridge and it does splinter sometimes).
They are still chasing eachother a lot and there is teeth chattering etc.
I just need to know if I should maybe separate them? I don’t want to because I don’t think I could get 2 more piggies to keep them company and would hate for them to get lonely, but I also don’t want one of them to get seriously hurt.
Sorry for the long paragraph.

Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry for your issues!

Personally, I would recommend a 2 day separation with a divider in the cage.
If the problem is down to a sudden strong hormone spike (which can continue occasionally into adulthood) and the relationship is otherwise still functional, they will get back together when you re-introduce on neutral ground. If their bond has become dysfunctional, then a re-introduction will fail.
It is the best way of working out where your boys stand.

Unfortunately, once a bond has gone seriously wrong, there is no magic wand measure that can heal a broken bond.

You may find these two links here helpful as they discuss all aspects in much more depth and detail than I can put into one post:
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

All the best!

 

[BandApiglets]

Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry for your issues!

Personally, I would recommend a 2 day separation with a divider in the cage.
If the problem is down to a sudden strong hormone spike (which can continue occasionally into adulthood) and the relationship is otherwise still functional, they will get back together when you re-introduce on neutral ground. If their bond has become dysfunctional, then a re-introduction will fail.
It is the best way of working out where your boys stand.

Unfortunately, once a bond has gone seriously wrong, there is no magic wand measure that can heal a broken bond.

You may find these two links here helpful as they discuss all aspects in much more depth and detail than I can put into one post:
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

All the best!

Thank you so much! I have just put a divider up in the cage. They are in my bedroom and I had left them for 5 to calm myself down and think about what to do and when I came back there was wood shavings all over my floor so god knows what they had been doing!
I’ll take your advice though and try and reintroduce them in a few days and see how they get on. Thanks again!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much! I have just put a divider up in the cage. They are in my bedroom and I had left them for 5 to calm myself down and think about what to do and when I came back there was wood shavings all over my floor so god knows what they had been doing!
I’ll take your advice though and try and reintroduce them in a few days and see how they get on. Thanks again!

Best have your oven gloves and a carrier handy to get one of the boys out of the neutral area without getting accidentally bitten!

The guides will explain more and are well worth reading to help you make as informed and assessment and any necessary decisions.