Guinea pig fight

[Waffle-Muffin]

So my 2 male guinea pigs have been absolutely fine so far they are coming up to 5 months. This afternoon we were sat in the kitchen and all of a sudden heard a huge scuffle coming from their cage. They are in a 5x2 cage. They both have 2 of everything 1 on the food bowls had been tipped and food everywhere! All we could hear was loud teeth chattering and both waffle and muffin both had hairs on end! Muffin was chasing after waffle still teeth chattering. I noticed their was hair in the cage which belonged to muffin who is the most dominant guinea! We tried to distract them but still they carried on trying to fight. In the end my husband used the wire grids from the oven to separate them until things have calmed down and to give us some piece! We have now taken the grids down to see what happens but after a bit more teeth chattering everything has settled down!
But what do we do now? I obviously do want to separate them unless I need to but really don’t want them to hurt each other! What do I do tonight?

 

[Piggies&buns]

As long as it wasn’t a full on, injury causing fight, then leave them to sort things out and see how things go but be prepared
As babies they are just desperate for company so are usually fine together. It’s when they get to four months onwards, they enter their teens and hormones start raging. This is the time which is going to test their ability to have a bond. If the submissive piggy is trying to take over and the dominant does not like it and is not prepared to back down, then this is when trouble will occur.

It’s absolutely fine to give them a few days apart to let a hormone spike settle but what you don’t want to do is get into a situation where you are repeatedly separating and reintroducing.
If you do need to give them a time out, then that’s fine - a few days apart and then reintroduce on neutral territory (best not to divide a cage and then simply remove the divider as if each piggy wanders into the other half of the cage, then that can be seen as a territory invasion and cause a fight). This gives them the chance to make their own decision - if things deteriorate again, then it’s likely their bond is not going to survive.

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

 

[Waffle-Muffin]

So if I need to separate them for a few days how do I do that as I only have 1 cage. I don’t understand what’s happened this afternoon!
Watching them behave like this is so hard and I obviously don’t want to see them hurt each other!

 

[Piggies&buns]

So if I need to separate them for a few days how do I do that as I only have 1 cage. I don’t understand what’s happened this afternoon!
Watching them behave like this is so hard and I obviously don’t want to see them hurt each other!

Not necessarily anything happened in particular - they are going to get an increasing amount of hormones plus hormone spikes which can cause these spats. But if there are underlying incompatibilities, then this is when things can go downhill.

Do all your hides have two exits?
Ensure you respect their hierarchy - ie always handle the dominant first
Try not to clean out the whole cage in one go. Do half one day and then the other half the next. This way the cage (or at least part of it) will still smell of them and this can help ensure they still see it as their territory At all times

If they need to be separated temporarily while you figure out whether there bond is functional, then you can divide the cage as you have done today. It’s a good idea to keep extra grids on hand so you can put them between them. If there hasn’t been a full on fight then you can try to reintroduce on neutral territory (such as a kitchen or bathroom floor) so they can decide if they want to be together. You can’t repeatedly do this though - if there are continuing problems, then you need to make the decision (or rather follow their decision) to permanently separate. It’s important to be clear on whether you are seeing increasing levels of teenage dominance or an actual breakdown in their relationship
If there is a full on fight or their bond is clearly failing, they need to be permanently separated. you will either need another cage or to make your current cage bigger so they can live permanently divided by side by side. In that case, each piggy will need a 4x2 to themselves (so either a 8x2 cage divided in half, of a 4x4 cage and then split that along the long edge)

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

I can't add to @Piggies&buns very comprehensive answer. Please take the time to read the guides so you can understand better what is going on and what you can do and need to look out for.