Hello. Ok this is a little long but here it goes. I'm new here and I will like to know your opinion. I bought my son two male guinea pigs ( chewy & Chubby) One i bought in April and the other in May. Chewy was 7 weeks old when I got him in April and chubby was about 6 weeks old but Chewy is older by 3 weeks or so. They got along well., I never had a problem with them bonding. It's been 6-7 months since I had them but lately I've noticed Chubby the younger guinea started bullying Chewy. I noticed because one day I saw Chewy in a corner and Chubby was right in front of him, as if he was blocking him. Then I noticed every time Chubby got close to Chewy it was to corner him and Chewy runs away from Chubby and their's times that they do get confrontational. Last week I put them in their playpen because I wanted to see their behavior in a bigger space. I thought to myself... maybe I can get them a bigger cage. But no! Chubby did not leave chewy alone. There was 2 bowls with beggies in there and I noticed how chubby did not let chewy eat. Every time chewy was eating from one bowl chubby would go and stare him down or try to fight him him until chewy would walk away to the other bowl and again there went chubby to shoo him away. I now have them in separate cages because I don't want them fighting. I really don't want to surrender neither one of them. I fell in love with them even though chubby is my little bully. Any thoughts or recommendations? I will really appreciated! Thank you.
Guinea pigs not bonding
- Thread starter Juliah
- Start date
I'm sorry to hear this.
So they are around 8 months old now?
They will have bonded previously (that properly occurs after having been together for two weeks), but bonds can fail down the line when incompatibilities come to light and that causes a bond to break
A big space is important for boars - their cage needs to be 180x60cm ideally as anything less can really be too small for them. However, a bigger cage will not fix problems in their relationship - they wont suddenly like each other and in fact changing territories for a bigger cage will cause them to reestablish their relationship anyway. In pairs who want to remain together, this will result in nothing more than extra dominance behaviours for a short time, they will settle down and be happy again. In pairs who have underlying issues, new territories can be the thing which causes further problems
There is a hormone spike at around 9 months of age. While if a boar pair is going to fail, it usually happens around 6 months of age, they can also get towards the end of the teens and suddenly decide they dont want to be together. However, its important to ensure you are not just seeing a hormone spike and an increase in dominance rather than full on bullying.
Bullying is a sustained behaviour where one piggy isnt allowed to eat so can lose weight, is constantly chased and never allowed to rest. If this behaviour continues then it will most likely be bond breaking.
How have their weekly weight checks been? Any signs of issues?
How is Chewy behaving now they are separated?
Such a separation is a key decider as to whether they need to be permanently separated. If the underpig (chewy) is eating well again, and generally happier to be away from the other piggy, then that is usually the sign you are looking for to say their bond is no longer working and that living apart is best for them.
You can try a neutral territory reintroduction as the boys will then give you their answer on whether they want to be together - if it descends into bullying, fights again, then their bond is definitely over.
The guides below will explain behaviour a bit further and, particularly the first guide, help you identify whether a bond is working or not
Bonds In Trouble
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Moody Guinea Pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour
So they are around 8 months old now?
They will have bonded previously (that properly occurs after having been together for two weeks), but bonds can fail down the line when incompatibilities come to light and that causes a bond to break
A big space is important for boars - their cage needs to be 180x60cm ideally as anything less can really be too small for them. However, a bigger cage will not fix problems in their relationship - they wont suddenly like each other and in fact changing territories for a bigger cage will cause them to reestablish their relationship anyway. In pairs who want to remain together, this will result in nothing more than extra dominance behaviours for a short time, they will settle down and be happy again. In pairs who have underlying issues, new territories can be the thing which causes further problems
There is a hormone spike at around 9 months of age. While if a boar pair is going to fail, it usually happens around 6 months of age, they can also get towards the end of the teens and suddenly decide they dont want to be together. However, its important to ensure you are not just seeing a hormone spike and an increase in dominance rather than full on bullying.
Bullying is a sustained behaviour where one piggy isnt allowed to eat so can lose weight, is constantly chased and never allowed to rest. If this behaviour continues then it will most likely be bond breaking.
How have their weekly weight checks been? Any signs of issues?
How is Chewy behaving now they are separated?
Such a separation is a key decider as to whether they need to be permanently separated. If the underpig (chewy) is eating well again, and generally happier to be away from the other piggy, then that is usually the sign you are looking for to say their bond is no longer working and that living apart is best for them.
You can try a neutral territory reintroduction as the boys will then give you their answer on whether they want to be together - if it descends into bullying, fights again, then their bond is definitely over.
The guides below will explain behaviour a bit further and, particularly the first guide, help you identify whether a bond is working or not
Bonds In Trouble
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Moody Guinea Pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour
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I can't add to @Piggies&buns ' excellent post.
Thank you so much for replying. Yes chewy is 8 months and chubby is 3 weeks younger, so size wise he was smaller than chewy. At first chewy was the one doing most of the humping and chubby couldn't reach chewy. Weight wise chewy is doing good. I did notice he had a small scab on his nose a few weeks ago. At first I thought it was dirty but he let me touch it and it was a little hard so I figured it was a scab. When it comes to eating I give them each half of what I used to feed them when they shared the same bowl. Chewy finishes his food and so does chubby. When they were sharing cage and food I did noticed Chubby ate a lot faster than chewy. For example, when chewy was finishing with one slice of cucumber, chubby was already on the 3rd slice. When we first got chubby he was new at the pet store I got him from (3 - 4 days) he was only eating hay and pallets. When we introduced him to veggies he started growing fast and more chubby. At some point I think he looks as big as chewy. When it comes to being separated chewy started wheeking again. He wheeked when we first got him but as soon as we got chubby he stopped and chubby was doing the wheeking for food. We've tried putting chewy close to chubby by the cage door and chubby starts shattering his teeth so I prefer not to put him in there
Once again thank you for replying back. I appreciated.