Guinea pig bonding

[Katie Jones]

Hi, I have two male guinea pigs, one is 4 and the other is 9months, the bonding of both has been brilliant up until now, they had their first fight yesterday where blood was drawn, the younger guinea pig has been left with a nasty cut on his nose. What do i do with the bonding of the pair now? Both have been separated for now.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum
I’m sorry to hear this

Sadly, once a full fight causing injuries has occurred, the piggies will not be able to go Back together.
Fights occur when there is an incompatibility - they don’t actually like each other or cannot agree on the hierarchy (not agreeing or not being able to finalise the fine details of bonding can happen within the first two weeks after bonding day), perhaps they were initially ok but the younger one tried to take over the hierarchy (if theyve been together for longer than two weeks. This can happen at any point but particularly as your youngster is now right in one of the hormone spikes) and the older wasn’t going to allow it to happen; they can also occur as tensions rise through other triggers such as the cage not being big enough, if there are single exits hides in the cage or not quite enough resources.

Their bond has sadly been broken by the fight and they will need to live in separate but side by side cages. Being side by side provides interaction and companionship without them having to have a functioning hierarchy or share territory.

Ensure each piggy has a minimum of 120x60cm of cage space each (150x60cm each is best if possible).

Do see a vet for any deep injury.

One of my boar pairs have to live side by side due to a fight almost four years ago.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated Bonding Dynamics and Behaviours