Guinea pigs fighting help

[Meg19]

My piggies are fighting i have two boys called lockie and oscar, the other day i watched them have a massive fight which left lockie with a cut on his nose. I seperated them for a while to let them chill out and i have come home today to lockie having another cut on his nose i have no clue what to do because I dont want him to get hurt but I'm just confused because they have been getting along great until two days ago. Should i seprate them, make the cage bigger ? Please help me

 

[Piggies&buns]

How big is their cage?
How old are they?
How long have they been together?

Unfortunately once piggies have a full on blood drawing fight it is often the case that they will never be able to live together again.

 

[Wiebke]

My piggies are fighting i have two boys called lockie and oscar, the other day i watched them have a massive fight which left lockie with a cut on his nose. I seperated them for a while to let them chill out and i have come home today to lockie having another cut on his nose i have no clue what to do because I dont want him to get hurt but I'm just confused because they have been getting along great until two days ago. Should i seprate them, make the cage bigger ? Please help me

Hi!

How old are your boys? If they have hit the teenage months and are not getting on, then there is little you can do. Enlarging the cage at this stage has to be done very carefully as any change to the territory can trigger a renewed hierarchy sort-out and end up in a real fight with serious deep bites.

Please take the time to read our boar and our teenage guides. they will take you through all aspects in this complex situation in which there is no easy quick fix:
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[Meg19]

Okay thank you for your advice ! And they have just turned 1, so I'm not sure when the teenage months are for piggies ! I'm just slightly worried because i have to go to work and i really dont want to come back to something even worse

 

[Meg19]

They are only little but still concerning

 

[Piggies&buns]

They are still in their teenage months but getting towards the end (around 14/15 months).

How big is their cage? Boys need at least 150cm x 60cm and anything less than that can lead to fall outs.

 

[Meg19]

How big is their cage?
How old are they?
How long have they been together?

Unfortunately once piggies have a full on blood drawing fight it is often the case that they will never be able to live together again.

They have 140cm by 60cm cage they are 1 years old the both of them and they have lived together since they were babies, ohhh no so shall i have seperate cages for them now ? And have a look at the photos i uploaded, i think they are bad

 

[Meg19]

They are still in their teenage months but getting towards the end (around 14/15 months).

How big is their cage? Boys need at least 150cm x 60cm and anything less than that can lead to fall outs.

Okie dokie thank you hmmm maybe they do need more space, however i dont want to create a bigger fight like you said

 

[Piggies&buns]

Once a fight has happened often no amount of more space is going to solve their problems. If they can’t live together then a permanent separation is your only option. It isn’t ideal, but they can live in adjoining cages so they have some companionship and stimulation through the bars.

 

[Swissgreys]

In the short term to keep everyone safe you can always divide their cage down the middle.
It isn't enough space for them to live in long term, but in an emergency you can cable tie soemthing like a wire cooling rack or old fridge shelf across the middle so they both have a seperate area and can't hurt each other.

 

[Meg19]

In the short term to keep everyone safe you can always divide their cage down the middle.
It isn't enough space for them to live in long term, but in an emergency you can cable tie soemthing like a wire cooling rack or old fridge shelf across the middle so they both have a seperate area and can't hurt each other.

Yeahh i will do that for now so hopefully they settle down ! Its annoyin because i did it before and they were biting at the cage to be with each other haha weird piggies

 

[Wiebke]

Okay thank you for your advice ! And they have just turned 1, so I'm not sure when the teenage months are for piggies ! I'm just slightly worried because i have to go to work and i really dont want to come back to something even worse

Your boys are still very much in the teenage months and they are typical for those pairs that have sailed rather calmly through the normal tricky months but then get in trouble towards the later part of the period.

Please take the time to read the two guide links. It has taken me several days to write each guide.
I can't repeat the whole information that helps you to understand exactly what is happening during the teenage months, judge where your boys stand, where to go from here and work out what your own individual options are. You can also find lists of dos and don'ts for boars so you can avoid making the situation inadvertently worse. Surely that is worth reading through?

 

[Meg19]

Your boys are still very much in the teenage months and they are typical for those pairs that have sailed rather calmly through the normal tricky months but then get in trouble towards the later part of the period.

Please take the time to read the two guide links. It has taken me several days to write each guide.
I can't repeat the whole information that helps you to understand exactly what is happening during the teenage months, judge where your boys stand, where to go from here and work out what your own individual options are. You can also find lists of dos and don'ts for boars so you can avoid making the situation inadvertently worse. Surely that is worth reading through?

Thank you soo much ! Ill have a read now I'm back from work ! I hope it works out for them

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you soo much ! Ill have a read now I'm back from work ! I hope it works out for them

It is very difficult to say; often it won't. Please don't hang everything on the boys doing what you want them to do but on doing what is best for them.

 

[Meg19]

Once a fight has happened often no amount of more space is going to solve their problems. If they can’t live together then a permanent separation is your only option. It isn’t ideal, but they can live in adjoining cages so they have some companionship and stimulation through the bars.

They are seperated right now but I'm going to buy some more c&c grids because the ones i brought were 30x30 and my piggie would jump over it so i need 35x35 it will be okay

 

[Siikibam]

Make sure they’re each in a space meeting the minimum for two sows (140cm+). Anything smaller is cruel. Sorry it didn’t work out. But they can still keep each other company and like happily side by side. How are they behaving now?

 

[Meg19]

Yeah i know i always make sure they have enough space my room is pig proof so i basically leave it open 24/7 , i have seperated them as of last night, and ive let them out so they are still interacting i just put them in seperate cages when i go to work or to bed, so i know they wont hurt each other. I'm just waiting on the new c&c grids to come then i can make a better cage thats suits them and that way i can observe them and if they do continue to fight then i can just place the grids in the middle.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yeah i know i always make sure they have enough space my room is pig proof so i basically leave it open 24/7 , i have seperated them as of last night, and ive let them out so they are still interacting i just put them in seperate cages when i go to work or to bed, so i know they wont hurt each other. I'm just waiting on the new c&c grids to come then i can make a better cage thats suits them and that way i can observe them and if they do continue to fight then i can just place the grids in the middle.

Do you mean you are letting them play together when you are there and then separating them again? Be aware that separating them and them letting them play together, then putting them back in separate cages will be stressful for them. Guinea pigs don’t do playtime, they either need to be permanently together or permanently apart. To them Each meeting is a bonding session, to then be pulled apart again disrupts everything.
If their bond is dysfunctional and breaking down, then they need to be permanently separated with no time together at all.

 

[Siikibam]

If you’re going to try introducing them again, then you need to do the neutral ground thing and thoroughly clean their cage. But you really do need to up the space.

When they fought, was it a rolling ball of fur? And was either of them acting submissively?