Dominance behaviour after cage cleaning

Piggiewheekwheek

Piggiewheekwheek

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi
How can I stop dominant behaviour after I clean my piggies cage?
Every time I clean their cage peanut chases and tries to bite gizmo for hours afterwards,I think he got him once today cos poor gizmo didn't half squeak poor thing,there is no blood(yetšŸ˜¢)he is relentlessly chasing him round.
They are on minimal dust shavings atm ,should I mix some of the wet bedding in with it to help with scenting etc?
I am going to probably use hay when they go in the shed.
 
This is quite normal behaviour for them when re establishing territories particularly if you are dealing with young/teenage boars (4-14 months). Making sure there is still some of their scent on their bedding can help and is definitely worth trying. I assume this behaviour settles down a while after cleaning?
 
Piggieweekweek said:
Hi
How can I stop dominant behaviour after I clean my piggies cage?
Every time I clean their cage peanut chases and tries to bite gizmo for hours afterwards,I think he got him once today cos poor gizmo didn't half squeak poor thing,there is no blood(yetšŸ˜¢)he is relentlessly chasing him round.
They are on minimal dust shavings atm ,should I mix some of the wet bedding in with it to help with scenting etc?
I am going to probably use hay when they go in the shed.
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Especially some teenage boars don't deal well with any change to their territory; that can include cage cleans for the touchiest. it should get better again once they reach adulthood.

As much as it hurts you, can you just give the cage a dusting of some used bedding (doesn't haven't to be the really badly soiled stuff, though; what they are smelling for is pheromones from the scent gland that is located just in front of the genitalia) and see whether that works? Keep an eye out for which places they do their scent marking floor wipes with their bum. ;)
 
Piggies&buns said:
This is quite normal behaviour for them when re establishing territories particularly if you are dealing with young/teenage boars (4-14 months). Making sure there is still some of their scent on their bedding can help and is definitely worth trying. I assume this behaviour settles down a while after cleaning?
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Yeah seems to settle down after a few hrs,then it's just randomly now and again.
 
Wiebke said:
Especially some teenage boars don't deal well with any change to their territory; that can include cage cleans for the touchiest. it should get better again once they reach adulthood.

As much as it hurts you, can you just give the cage a dusting of some used bedding (doesn't haven't to be the really badly soiled stuff, though; what they are smelling for is pheromones from the scent gland that is located just in front of the genitalia) and see whether that works? Keep an eye out for which places they do their scent marking floor wipes with their bum. ;)
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I will try that next time I clean them out and see if it helpsšŸ™‚
 
I always put a little old hay back in, it definitely helps. My boys can be similar with changes so I try and put everything back in the same place and try not to clean the cage too thoroughly, just a quick wipe round with a damp cloth.
 
Bill & Ted said:
I always put a little old hay back in, it definitely helps. My boys can be similar with changes so I try and put everything back in the same place and try not to clean the cage too thoroughly, just a quick wipe round with a damp cloth.
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Yeah I'm going to try that,actually I just thought....I use puppy pee pads under newspaper with shavings on top,I clean them about every 4 days but I only change the pee pad every 8 days,it seems to be worse after I change the pee pads,going to mix a few soiled shavings in with the new next cage clean.
 
The first time I fostered boars I had a slightly different issue but linked issue - I found they smelled. And the more I cleaned them, the worse the smell. Until I realised that they are obsessed with their scent and marking their territory. Once the penny dropped I started only changing half their cage at a time and they didnā€™t smell half as bad and the frantic scent marking and spraying calmed down. I realised after working this out that keeping harmony with boars also involves keeping their scent to some extent in their cage at all times.
 
I use fleece bedding, tunnels and hidies. I change the fleece on a different day to the hidies etc this seems to help with behaviour and scent marking. Although young Brillo still scent marks even when I've only done a poop pick, if it's a bit different it needs marking!
 
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Yes, they like to keep their ā€œsmellā€ I have noticed leaving a bit of old hay has stopped all that scent marking that they did before. Now they have a quick sniff around, to check it smells ok and are really chilled. I have learnt over the years they donā€™t like change, never had any problems with them in the outside run, I suppose itā€™s just smells of them or fresh grass as we tend to move it just a foot everyday
 
piggieminder said:
I use fleece bedding, tunnels and hidies. I change the fleece on a different day to the hidies etc this seems to help with behaviour and scent marking. Although young Brillo still scent marks even when I've only done a poop pick, if it's a bit different it needs marking!
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Yes I got them a hay tunnel, they never ate it just piddled in it until it went soggy ā˜¹ļø. I donā€™t change all the fleece furniture at one time either, I always leave one in.
 
So I cleaned the cage today,I took out the plastic shelf in my profile pic cos they don't really use it anymore and I mixed a little of the wet shavings in with the new...so far they are happy peaceful piggies...no chasing, nothing..they are currently both asleep pretty much next to each other lol
Thanks for the advice guys it seems to have worked.ā¤šŸ˜˜
 
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