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Fighting Females

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Stacey Brennan

Stacey Brennan

Junior Guinea Pig
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Need Help! I got two females back in March. They are siblings and never really got on from the get go but after a few weeks they were....... Civil and fighting stopped. One female was pregnant and under vets advice, as preg was significantly smaller and sibling was very boisterous, I separated them. Probably an awful idea in Hindsight. I've now reunited both females and babies (two) today but the Mammy is extremely aggressive! She hasn't drawn blood but bullies the bigger sibling terribly! They are only back together a couple of hours but is there a chance they will settle in time or could the aggression escalate? Do females take time to sort out the pecking order? Really don't wanna separate them again :(
 
I hope someone can shed more light on this, I have never permanently separated my two girls but they bicker a lot. No blood drawn ever but one piggy is very dramatic and will get in these moods where she just screams even if I try and come over and smooth things out. They have been together 3 yrs almost and it has always been this way, they cry more though when I split them up so I've come to an understanding that I have a bully and dramatic girl.
 
Cookies&Glitter Yes! That's exactly the way they are. Upset when separated but one is just a Grump! The same grump (Mammy Daisy) doesn't seem to be as much of a goofball either doesn't tolerate popcorning and all that "happy" stuff haha Hopefully it settles. Pinkie has a high bed that Daisy can't access so that's were she's getting a break. No issue last hour so maybe its just a dominance issue. As a side note. Pinkie is a big dopey goofball and is LOVING having two babies to be silly with, popping around and squeaking. Very gentle too :) Bonus :)
 
Did you reintroduce them all on neutral territory? Mum may feel threatened with her cagemate invading her and the babies safe home.
 
Hey Adelle, its a new cage but I put both their bedding in. With both scents (maybe a bad idea) but I will give a good clean and fresh bedding tomorrow and see how we get on. They have settled a bit. The aggressive one is tolerating longer "visits" by her sister. Hopefully it'll settle
 
Stacey Brennan said:
Hey Adelle, its a new cage but I put both their bedding in. With both scents (maybe a bad idea) but I will give a good clean and fresh bedding tomorrow and see how we get on. They have settled a bit. The aggressive one is tolerating longer "visits" by her sister. Hopefully it'll settle
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What size is the cage? Here is a link to a sticky thread- it contains info about reuniting cage mates after birth x

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/after-birth-and-baby-care.109389/
 
I'm assuming you mean cm and not inches? If its inches it will be massive haha
 
To be honest my room for cages\Accomadation is limited especially since I was expecting 2 not 4 guineas! Haha
At this point I need to make the best of what I have. I think the bookshelf with look better than a big Cage too :\ IKEA is my friend in the next couple of months :D:D
 
Hey guys, quick update. Well the girls were still fighting when I got up for the school run this morning. Still not overly aggressive but I'd say Pinkie (the victim) is fed up and exhausted as the attacks were relentless so rather than give up I decided to add a light scarf to divide the cage into two. They can both still access all the cage but cannot see each other constantly. This has worked a TREAT! We've had about 2 small fast scuffles since and even had some snuggle sleepy time together. Its given Mamma a break from babies too. Everyone is much happier, pinkie even had her usual little feeding time popcorning dance which I haven't seen since they reunited. Temp solution but may ease them back into peaceful family life :yahoo::yahoo:

IMG_20160519_183043.webp
 
Great idea. Piggies love hidey tents.
They can see each other when they want and they can also hide from each other if fed up. I have a hay pile at each end of my boys cages for this very reason. So they can be apart if they wish.
 
Yeah it's worked great, they can avoid each other even when eating, exploring etc if they want and interact when theyre feeling giddy :) The best part of all this is watching "Aunty Pinkie" enjoying the babies! She's such a clown and the cage just got so much more fun for her :)
 
My two girls who are only a few weeks old and came to our home a few days ago have started fighting. They wernt to bad at first,just little warnings and they would go their separate ways. Today we've had major chasing and fighting. They make very loud angry noises and push their faces towards each other in a threatening manner forcing each other to back off but as neither of them wants to do that they end up trying to bite each other. I don't think they have actually caused any harm but its worrying. Wondering if they will stop this behaviour at some point soon. They eventually get tired go their separate ways and calm down but I am a bit worried that the fighting might get so bad when I'm not at home to stop them and could cause damage to one another or worse. We've just come to the end of another fight and now they are resting in separate hiding places avoiding each other to get to the water bottle. One is going round one way,realising the other is blocking the way and opting to go around the long way to get the water. Could that mean they have sorted things?
 
Hi Caviemummy
Everything I've read seems to air on the side of patience. Hold off on making any big decisions regarding separation etc unless blood is drawn or one seems totally miserable. They seem to be very dominance driven and higher archy needs to be sorted out. My two girls have settled brilliantly but the smaller of the two (Daisy) still struts around and makes her threats at least once a day. Pinkie seems unphased :)):))
Hold out and maybe try what I did, give each there own space without separating them. Escape routes to let things settle.
Goodluck. Hope it settles soon :luv:
 
I think your right. They have settled down again and are sharing the biggest hiding place happily. They are even rubbing noses gently which is so cute to watch. I'm sure it's not the last of the fights but I won't separate them seeing as they can be friendly too. They have been together before we got them anyway. I'm just shocked at how much they fight as I thought it was just so the boys that did it. Thanks for the advice
 
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