Guinea pigs drew blood

[Benayoung]

I have had a trio of male Guinea pigs who have been together for around 1 year now. One of them is 3 years old and the others are both 1 and a half. In the last few weeks the 3 year old(Charlie) has been fighting a little bit with one of the others called Casper. Strangely it all started after we gave Charlie a hair cut so I'm not sure if this caused it but ever since Casper has been acting aggressively towards him and Charlie didn't respond well. but last night I heard one of them squeak and i saw Casper sitting in the corner looking very scared and Charlie was on the other side chattering his teeth . After we checked Casper we found a cut on the top of his mouth but luckily it isn't to bad. If anyone can give me any advice on what to do with them and if they will ever get along again it will be much appreciated

 

[anyar.dris]

You need to separate them quickly. If they already drew blood, that means they won't get along. Please have a read on this.

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

 

[Siikibam]

I’ve seen it mentioned that the failure rate for trio boars is quite high. It seems Casper challenging the hierarchy was what brought about the problem seeing as they were happily together for a year. Was there no challenge from the younger two during their teenage years then?
Just have the lone boar in a cage next to the other two and they should be fine.

 

[Wiebke]

I have had a trio of male Guinea pigs who have been together for around 1 year now. One of them is 3 years old and the others are both 1 and a half. In the last few weeks the 3 year old(Charlie) has been fighting a little bit with one of the others called Casper. Strangely it all started after we gave Charlie a hair cut so I'm not sure if this caused it but ever since Casper has been acting aggressively towards him and Charlie didn't respond well. but last night I heard one of them squeak and i saw Casper sitting in the corner looking very scared and Charlie was on the other side chattering his teeth . After we checked Casper we found a cut on the top of his mouth but luckily it isn't to bad. If anyone can give me any advice on what to do with them and if they will ever get along again it will be much appreciated

Hi! You can try a short trial separation with a divider, seeing that your boys are (just) post-teenage in order to see whether that is calming down tempers, but if problems persist it is best to consider a permanent separation.

How much space have your boys to get away from each other and have you go everything in threes with all hideys having two exits?

Trios are unfortunately the most difficult constellation to get right in any form as they are very prone to outsider problems in some form or other. 3 is all too often 2 against 1 or 1 against 2. Even as young adults, boars can still experience the odd strong hormone spike and can react badly to any changes.

You will find the links in @anyar.dris ' post hopefully helpful.

 

[Benayoung]

I’ve seen it mentioned that the failure rate for trio boars is quite high. It seems Casper challenging the hierarchy was what brought about the problem seeing as they were happily together for a year. Was there no challenge from the younger two during their teenage years then?
Just have the lone boar in a cage next to the other two and they should be fine.

They never really had much of a fight apart from the odd little arguments before until now and I split them up as soon as i saw the injury

 

[Benayoung]

Hi! You can try a short trial separation with a divider, seeing that your boys are (just) post-teenage in order to see whether that is calming down tempers, but if problems persist it is best to consider a permanent separation.

How much space have your boys to get away from each other and have you go everything in threes with all hideys having two exits?

Trios are unfortunately the most difficult constellation to get right in any form as they are very prone to outsider problems in some form or other. 3 is all too often 2 against 1 or 1 against 2. Even as young adults, boars can still experience the odd strong hormone spike and can react badly to any changes.

You will find the links in @anyar.dris ' post hopefully helpful.

They live in a 150cm by 60cm hutch with two levels and I have a run attached so they can go outside so they have a lot of space to get away from each other .

 

[Wiebke]

They live in a 150cm by 60cm hutch with two levels and I have a run attached so they can go outside so they have a lot of space to get away from each other .

Follow the tips for a re-introduction on neutral ground in our teenage guide. If it was just a tiff, your boys should go back together again.

 

[Benayoung]

Thank you for all your replies I will split Casper up from the other two for now with a divider so they can still see each other . It's quite a suprise really as they have all been getting along really well but I bit torn about wether I should keep cheeko(the other Guinea pig) with Casper or Charlie as he still gets along with both of them fine

 

[Reenie]

I've had a few scares with my boar trio, and I once came home to Chicco with a small cut on his face, but whatever had happened had blown over, so all is not quite lost. I've also had to separate them temporarily, although only with a divider for an hour or so. It's the risk we take with three boys though, and despite our best efforts, they may ultimately decide that they don't want to live together. I hope it works out for you x.