Guinea pigs not getting along

[Chaz161]

Hi. I have two female piggies their names are Skittles and Rosie, they are 18 months old and they have always lived together. We have recently brought them to live inside because of the winter coming and I have noticed they are pretty much never happy if they're close to eachother, always rumblesrtutting and earlier Skittles lunged for Rosie to bite and Rosie ran away to hide. A couple of weeks ago it was Rosie chasing and biting Skittles. I'm not really sure what's going on there's no blood or stand offs but they can't go near eachother without rumblesrtutting I can't work out which one is the dominant piggy I change my mind every week! They are in a c+c cage 5x2 (moved them in on Friday) so I'm pretty sure it's not the space that's the issue. They were popcorning around when they moved in. Is it something that will settle down? I'm obviously keeping a close eye because I don't want either of them to get hurt. Any advice will be appreciated thank you

 

[Wiebke]

Hi. I have two female piggies their names are Skittles and Rosie, they are 18 months old and they have always lived together. We have recently brought them to live inside because of the winter coming and I have noticed they are pretty much never happy if they're close to eachother, always rumblesrtutting and earlier Skittles lunged for Rosie to bite and Rosie ran away to hide. A couple of weeks ago it was Rosie chasing and biting Skittles. I'm not really sure what's going on there's no blood or stand offs but they can't go near eachother without rumblesrtutting I can't work out which one is the dominant piggy I change my mind every week! They are in a c+c cage 5x2 (moved them in on Friday) so I'm pretty sure it's not the space that's the issue. They were popcorning around when they moved in. Is it something that will settle down? I'm obviously keeping a close eye because I don't want either of them to get hurt. Any advice will be appreciated thank you

Hi and welcome!

How large is your indoors cage?

Guinea pigs coming into new surroundings need to re-establish their group and their hierarchy. If that ranking is a bit contested in the first place, this can become more obvious during that time, as do any already underlying rifts in a relationship.

Please be aware that sows don't bite; they generally nip, which is a controlled gesture of power. Lunging is a strongly worded defensive 'stay away from me. Rumblestrutting is a mild dominance behaviour.
More about typical sow behaviours: Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
" Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)

If you are worrying about them not getting on then please follow the information on testing the state of the relationship via a short temporary separation and then re-intro on neutral ground. While sows generally don't fight, they can fall-out even after years of having lived with a litter sister. This is not as common as badly matched teenage boars, but it does happen. I have got several sow pairs that have ended up being happier with another partner of their choice.
Bonds In Trouble

Please take the time to read the information in the green links; you will find it very helpful.

 

[Chaz161]

Thank you for the reply! It was very helpful. I apologise for the very late reply from me. I believe it was due to them settling in to their new home as they have been happily living together and are now 3 years old x

 

[Bill & Ted]

Thank you for the update, good to hear they are getting on so well x