Do my pigs need to be separated?

[Bethan2]

We rescued two boy piggies about four months ago.
Generally they were fine until about a week ago where one of them (Troy) now is always rumble strutting and chasing the other (Atlas). He then mounts his head and potentially starts chewing his ears, although it’s hard to tell because Atlas ears were already chewed up from his mother when we rescued him.
There’s been no blood drawn as far as we can tell, but Atlas always squeaks and tries to run away, or lunges and they try to/pretend to bite each other.
They are both still eating and drinking normally.
Do they need separating? Is there anything further we can do to manage the behaviour? Is this normal for boys? Any advice appreciated!

 

[Siikibam]

May I first ask how old they are? It sounds like the rumbling is normal dominance behaviour. The squeaking is possibly submissive behaviour. Has Atlas allowed himself to be mounted? How often has he lunged at Troy?

Have a look at the levels of dominance behaviour below. Separation can sometimes be helpful if it’s incessant but you have to be careful as you can’t use it repeatedly.

The things to do are to make sure they have two of everything and all hides have two exits so no pig is trapped.


Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

It doesn’t sound like they need to be separated. It sounds like normal dominance behaviours.

How big is their cage? Boars need plenty of room
Do all hides have two exits?
Do you have multiple of every item in the cage.

 

[Bethan2]

Welcome to the forum

It doesn’t sound like they need to be separated. It sounds like normal dominance behaviours.

How big is their cage? Boars need plenty of room
Do all hides have two exits?
Do you have multiple of every item in the cage.

Their cage is 150cm x 60cm. We might try and extend it to give them some more space if that would help.
There’s some hides that are little tents that don’t have two exits so potentially we could remove those and buy some more with two exits in.
We currently have two bowls- one for nuggets and one for vegetables. Plus we only have one hay bag. Would it be worth getting double of these?

 

[Bethan2]

May I first ask how old they are? It sounds like the rumbling is normal dominance behaviour. The squeaking is possibly submissive behaviour. Has Atlas allowed himself to be mounted? How often has he lunged at Troy?

Have a look at the levels of dominance behaviour below. Separation can sometimes be helpful if it’s incessant but you have to be careful as you can’t use it repeatedly.

The things to do are to make sure they have two of everything and all hides have two exits so no pig is trapped.


Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

They were roughly 11 weeks when we got them in February, so they’re about seven months old now.
Yes I was hoping it was dominant submissive behaviour, but my fear was Atlas wasn’t always accepting it because he runs away or nips at Troy. I know you are not meant to intervene with the dominant behaviour but I was afraid Troy was biting his ears and didn’t want them to be hurting each other.
In terms of lunging it really depends. I reckon it’s maybe 1/3 nipping or biting, and 2/3 accepting being mounted for a few seconds before squealing and running away.
Thank you for that resource on behaviours, I think perhaps Atlas has been doing the submissive squeals, but I had been mistaking them for squeals of pain.
I think we should change the hides we have as at the moment we have a various tunnels, a little house with no roof that they use the doorway or hop in and out of, and two tent/sack hides. We might change the latter few to some with two exits.

 

[Piggies&buns]

At 7 months they are right in their teens.
Nipping is a gesture of power but it does not break the skin. It won’t hurt him but you may hear the submissive squeaks.
It doesn’t sound like there is anything concerning here. A full fight, wounds or obvious bullying (important not to confuse this with dominance) are the only real reasons you worry about their bond.

150x60cm is the smallest cage two boars should be in. If you can extend it to the recommended to be 180x60cm the it would really benefit them.

I use bendy log bridges for my boar pair (I have four boars - a bonded 5 year old pair. I also have two almost 9 month old boars who were a pair but their bond broke down with an almighty fight). It means no dead ends are created in the cage.

Definitely add in extra items. You need one for each piggy.
So more places for hay would be advisable.
Actually I’d ditch the hay bags altogether and just throw hay in loose on the cage floor (or if you would rather it was contained then use litter trays lined with something absorbent). It’s lovely for them to be able to get right inside big piles of hay to run in, curl up and sleep in, and be able to freely forage through. Hay is enrichment as well as food.

I personally would also get rid of the bowls altogether. I don’t use bowls at all. Just throw the veg and the one tablespoon of pellets each into hay piles. They then have to forage for them.
Eating from a bowl is quite a mindless thing whereas providing their food in a way which encourages their natural foraging abilities is more natural and entertaining for them.
It also goes to prevent food hogging - the dominant can present the submissive from standing at the bowl.
If you wish to use bowls then you will need two for pellets and two for veg. All bowls should be at least one body length apart so the piggies can stand away from each other.