Dilemma

[Nomsie]

Following on from my previous thread here where I wasn't sure if my 2 boars were disputing dominance as I hadn't seen / heard anything but one had what looked like a scratch on his nose. Someone suggested it may be a fungal infection instead, and I thought it could well be but was going away for the weekend so my neighbour had them and kept an eye on them.

Well I got back today and Teddy has more marks around his nose. I've put them in a cage which is neutral so that I can watch their behaviour and I've witnessed some dominance aggression. They have been sticking their noses up, teeth chattering and Piggle was yawning at Teddy. I was all ready to step in should it get out of hand when they settled down and Teddy went to sleep! So my question is what should I do? Obviously I can't stay up all night every night with them and I do work as well. As Teddy already has these marks around his nose is it just going to escalate? Is it safe to leave them together? I really really don't want to separate them unless absolutely necessary, but I could never forgive myself if they were killed or seriously injured and I could have prevented it. Please can someone with some more experience give me some advice. I've done so much reading about this kind of behaviour and I haven't witnessed any actual physical violence, but am assuming that Piggle has been nipping Teddy due to the marks on his nose

 

[first_time_piggie_mum]

Awww what a shame :...

I'm sure there will be someone on here that can help you. I'm not one of them I'm afraid as I had 1 pig and he wore the trousers in this house! |)

Hope it all works out for you and your guys.

 

[pippinskyblue]

I had this problem with 2 of my pigs, I tried seperating them but they were miserable, in the end i just divided the cage into 2 they both had a sleeping area and they could sit by the wire divider next to each other but couldnt squabble, they seemed very happy, seemed like they couldnt live together but they couldnt live totally apart either. Hope this helps

 

[CiaraPatricia]

It's hard to know what to do. When you put them in the neutral area they could just have been being aggressive because it was a new place, and when males go into a new place they seem to try to claim it as their territory . . .

But if they seem like friends in their normal cage, and you haven't seen any aggressive behaviour then I would keep them together, unless one of them gets a bite, and then I would admit defeat and separate them.

I wouldn't worry about them killing each other or getting seriously injured, this is just my experience but they seem to just get little bites, and not serious injuries. I've never heard of them killing each other or anything, but it'd be good to hear of other people's experiences of that too.

Some things you could try is to get a bigger cage, get more hidey houses (preferably with two doors in them so that they can escape if one gets cornered), more tunnels, an extra food bowl and water bottle, etc. so that they won't argue over anything and can get away from each other if they like. Or a two storey cage might be a good idea, so one can go to the other storey if they get annoyed with each other. In a new cage, there might be dominance at first but hopefully not once they settled in.

Good luck with them, I hope they stay friends

 

[Nomsie]

Thanks for the replies. It certainly seems like they are miserable when they are apart. When I take one of them out for cuddles they cry for each other! I don't think the space is an issue, we have adapted a cabinet in to a 3 storey house for them, it's got loads of space. Certainly a lot more than you get in the shop brought cages. They also have run time outside when the weather is nice and inside when it isn't. I think I will keep an eye on them and see how they go. They are happily cuddled up again now and I can't see any new marks on Teddy's nose. Fingers crossed they were just sorting it out and now that they know where they stand they can be happy. It's amazing how their personalities have developed since I've had them tho. So cute to watch x)

 

[italiana]

hello everyone , my name is Mary and I live in usa california ,I'm new in this web site and today I will like share my toughts about loss of one of my giunea pig this saturday july 9 2011, if you wanth share my loss whit me please read my message, thanks to all.