Bubbles Unusual Behaviour. -fighting Boys!

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Abbie

Abbie

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I'm getting worried about my boys. They sometimes have their little dominance displays but tonight Bubble is being very odd. The boys have become very aggressive to eachother. Bubble was mounting Piglet, which he has Never done before. Piglet was just taking it but it's kinda blew into a huge fight. No blood was drawn but they were getting very very aggressive towards eachother. I felt like they needed separating, so I don't know if it was the best idea, but they are currently apart. I know it's normal for boys to have their fights every now and then but this was getting very worrying :(

I worried that if I let it continue it would have ended in blood.

What should I do next? Let them chill out seperately? Or put them back together now? I don't wanna end up with two single boys now!
 
I have no advice. But I am saddened to hear this for your little pair. I hope they calm down soon,
 
I wonder if the advice about bonding new guinea pigs will help here, I.e put them in a neutral area, maybe wash them both and let them sort out the dominance issues until one of the dangerous behaviours are observed, separate with a towel and try again etc.

How long had they been together before this occurred? I've heard that boars can become more aggressive if females are nearby, especially if they're in heat - do you have any other guineas housed near them?

Hopefully someone more experienced with boars will have some more advice- I've only ever had girls!

Good luck and I hope they're safely back together soon :)
 
McSophieChops said:
I wonder if the advice about bonding new guinea pigs will help here, I.e put them in a neutral area, maybe wash them both and let them sort out the dominance issues until one of the dangerous behaviours are observed, separate with a towel and try again etc.

How long had they been together before this occurred? I've heard that boars can become more aggressive if females are nearby, especially if they're in heat - do you have any other guineas housed near them?

Hopefully someone more experienced with boars will have some more advice- I've only ever had girls!

Good luck and I hope they're safely back together soon :)
Click to expand...

They have been together about 5 months now. They were bonded with absoltely no problems at all! And tonight they just randomly broke out in fight :(

I also have no more pigs, just my two boys!
 
I guess your boys are right in the middle of the teenage hormones? They can suffer major testosterone hits during that time. as they have not had a fight with serious bites, you can try a re-introduction on neutral ground after a buddy bath to wash down any excess testosterone; make sure that you thoroughly clean their cage and all furnishings. But is going to be a bit of a toss-up whether they will make it to a hormonally settled adulthood together. All you can do is just hope. make sure that you have got a plan B at the ready in case they will not settle back in together or have another blow-up down the line.

Please read these information threads carefully:
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/introducing-and-re-introducing-guinea-pigs.38562/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boars-a-guide-to-successful-companionship.76162/
 
Wiebke said:
I guess your boys are right in the middle of the teenage hormones? They can suffer major testosterone hits during that time. as they have not had a fight with serious bites, you can try a re-introduction on neutral ground after a buddy bath to wash down any excess testosterone; make sure that you thoroughly clean their cage and all furnishings. But is going to be a bit of a toss-up whether they will make it to a hormonally settled adulthood together. All you can do is just hope. make sure that you have got a plan B at the ready in case they will not settle back in together or have another blow-up down the line.

Please read these information threads carefully:
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/introducing-and-re-introducing-guinea-pigs.38562/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boars-a-guide-to-successful-companionship.76162/
Click to expand...

Bubble is about a year old now, Piglet is a few months from being a year. Ive given everything a good clean, now to give the boys a wash down too!

Bubble has always been so so calm, so I think the hormones have finally hit him tonight. Usually Piglet is the dominant boy but he was kind of just letting it happen, but he got irritated when Bubble wouldn't stop, so it all got out of hand. Thankful there is no blood though!

Thankyou for the links, I'll have a read through :)
 
The hormonal months last between 4-14 months old; adulthood starts about at 15 months of age. :(
 
Sorry to hear this Abbie! :(


Fingers crossed for them both! Let's hope they can go back together.
 
Well ive sorted the boys out and reintroduced them and it went okay. So I popped them back into the cage a little while after and they started up again but they are settled down now. I keep checking on them and they seem okay! Ive got a towel next to the cage Incase they start up and they need separating again! But fingers crossed it won't come to that!

Luckily they are in my room, so if anything starts overnight, I will hear it! I have a 120cm cage which I brought incase I ever needed a hospital cage or anything like that, so ive popped that into my room too incase I need to seperate in the night!
 
Also, is barbering related to the dominance? Once the fighting calmed down ive noticed earlier Piglets hair is very short on one side.
Could Bubble be doing it to show his dominance or could Piglet be doing it if he is stressed? Is there anything I need to do to help Piglet with it?
 
Not much you can do with barbering; it will grow out again. it can be dominance related, but is a far more complex issue than simple explanations provide.

I am glad that your two boys have settled back down again together.
 
Little terrors. I hope they stay settled. It's stressful when they fight. I will cross my fingers they stay friends.
 
They have had me really stressed out tonight! I have never seen Bubble mount before! He was really going for it:eek:

And Piglets little "leave me alone!" squeaks were so heartbreaking!
 
Hope they are ok together, and settle down again soon.
 
I hope that they will settle down again a bit better.
 
They got themselves into another fight about 2 this morning, which woke me up and I thought I was going to have to split up. Thankfully they settled down after a while and have been okay since. It's so scary when they are being stroppy :(
 
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