Fighting boars

[giofrankenstein]

Hi everyone! I'm a new cavy owner and new to the forums. I got a baby male guinea pig a little over a month ago and last week got another young male so he could have a friend. I did the introduction process I've read about - putting them on the couch together in neutral ground to get to know each other. They fought a little bit and did some normal dominance behavior, but overall I think it went well. Afterwards I put them in a neutral, freshly cleaned cage together. That was a week ago and they have been fine ever since. I haven't seen or heard them fight and no blood has been drawn. (Although I did just find a small scab on one of my guinea pigs, so I'm worried something may have happened while I wasn't around.) From what I've seen, there has been some rumblestrutting, teeth chattering, the occasional mount during floor time, but nothing more. They have two of everything and live in a large cage. They often huddle together and seem to like each other.

But tonight they fought twice - rolling around furiously in balls. I separated them quickly during each fight, and then put them back together (watching them closely) after some time. The second fight was about two hours ago. Since then there has been alot of teeth chattering, rumble strutting, mounting, showing teeth and stand offs, but no one-on-one fighting. Now they are sitting in their separate hidey houses and seem calm. I am really worried though! Do I need to separate them? I work full-time, so I'm worried that while I'm gone at work tomorrow this fighting will continue. What should I do?

 

[Emmalouise]

Hi i had a similar problem with my boars fighting when i moved them from their hutch to their indoor cage. I would take a look at this thread if you havent already because it really did help me

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949

As to whether you should seperate them or not i really dont know but hopefully one of the more experienced members will be able to help you with that

Also, you mentioned one of your guinea pigs had a scab. I think you should take him to the vets just to be on the safe side because there are skin infections that can happen.