Help with aggressive piggies

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Jeremy DEagle

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Hi. We had a pair of piggies but unfortunately one of them died recently, leaving his friend alone. He was/is perhaps 2 years old or so.

We got two more pretty much immediately having read they get lonely. These were a pair that we adopted together, they had been living together. They were reckoned to be perhaps 9 months to a year. There was no indication that they were squabbling before they joined us.

We introduced them over a few days. Starting off with just a few minutes together. Keeping them in separate cages but in the same room etc. After a few days we moved them in together and all seemed fine.

They began trying to exert dominance after a day or two. Mounting each other and teeth chattering but nothing too bad., mainly one of the new ones trying to prove himself to our original one who didn't take it. The other newbie seemed to take everything and submitted, letting his original partner thrust on his head etc.

That seemed to settle down with a couple of days but then they started fighting quite badly. Our original piggie kept out of it but the other two were quite nasty with each other and have been separate ever since. We mix them across two cages and let them both spend time with our original piggie. We bring them out and try to let them sniff each other and mingle but they start teeth chattering and, if left to it, will start biting each other. With the one who was the original aggressor in the early days typically coming off worst and ending with a fair few nasty cuts.

This has continued for the last two weeks or so now, with us not really leaving them together to fight at all now, so all healed up. We just tried to sit them next to each other again then and stroke them all but they got aggressive quickly and both me and my daughter ended up bitten.

We're now wondering if this is why they were up for adoption in the first place...

Does anyone have any tips please? We're fairly new to this and had three piggies who all lived harmoniously together and it's now just a bit of a nightmare...

TIA.
 
Jeremy DEagle said:
Hi. We had a pair of piggies but unfortunately one of them died recently, leaving his friend alone. He was/is perhaps 2 years old or so.

We got two more pretty much immediately having read they get lonely. These were a pair that we adopted together, they had been living together. They were reckoned to be perhaps 9 months to a year. There was no indication that they were squabbling before they joined us.

We introduced them over a few days. Starting off with just a few minutes together. Keeping them in separate cages but in the same room etc. After a few days we moved them in together and all seemed fine.

They began trying to exert dominance after a day or two. Mounting each other and teeth chattering but nothing too bad., mainly one of the new ones trying to prove himself to our original one who didn't take it. The other newbie seemed to take everything and submitted, letting his original partner thrust on his head etc.

That seemed to settle down with a couple of days but then they started fighting quite badly. Our original piggie kept out of it but the other two were quite nasty with each other and have been separate ever since. We mix them across two cages and let them both spend time with our original piggie. We bring them out and try to let them sniff each other and mingle but they start teeth chattering and, if left to it, will start biting each other. With the one who was the original aggressor in the early days typically coming off worst and ending with a fair few nasty cuts.

This has continued for the last two weeks or so now, with us not really leaving them together to fight at all now, so all healed up. We just tried to sit them next to each other again then and stroke them all but they got aggressive quickly and both me and my daughter ended up bitten.

We're now wondering if this is why they were up for adoption in the first place...

Does anyone have any tips please? We're fairly new to this and had three piggies who all lived harmoniously together and it's now just a bit of a nightmare...

TIA.
Click to expand...

Hi!

I am very sorry that your good intensions have gone so badly haywire, but boars won't go back together after a serious fight.
Please leave them be and don't try again!

Unfortunately when boars are riled up and highly stressed out, they will instinctively react to the the least movement with a full-on defense bite. that is the reason why we recommend to always have oven gloves ready when bonding boars and NEVER go between them with bare hands!
" Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)

Boar trios have a high fail rate, but never more so than if there are teenagers right in the thick of it in the mix. :(
Unfortunately, you can bond guinea pigs in short meetings. Every meeting for them is a full-on frustatingly aborted bonding session, which means that they have to start right at the beginning again next time round and never get anywhere.
You can find a lot of useful information in these two guides here, which also deal with your various options after a failed bonding, acrimonious fall-out or bad fight.
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
 
Hi all. Thanks for the replies and I wish we'd thought to look on here earlier as it's clear our chances of success were incredibly low. It doesn't look like we have any real good options. We don't really have the space for another separate cage/run. It's a shame as I was actually planning on making them a bigger joint run... I suppose I could do that and the introduce a divider in the middle and perhaps get a female and the boys neutered...
 
Could you do a stacked cage and get them both a sow (or boar)? Bear in mind if you get one of them a sow, they can’t live next to the other boar.
 
Jeremy DEagle said:
Hi all. Thanks for the replies and I wish we'd thought to look on here earlier as it's clear our chances of success were incredibly low. It doesn't look like we have any real good options. We don't really have the space for another separate cage/run. It's a shame as I was actually planning on making them a bigger joint run... I suppose I could do that and the introduce a divider in the middle and perhaps get a female and the boys neutered...
Click to expand...

Can you have two cages on top of each other that do not take up more space?

Here is a picture of my own set-up with using cheap Ikea tables that fit into the ground cage spaces, just as an inspiration to get creative!
You can often surmount problems with a bit of lateral thinking.
IMG_2111_edited-1.webp
 
Hi again. Apologies for the lack of reply, I kept meaning to but lots going on! The three have been living next to each other across two cages. The one who got bitten alot has continued to be aggressive with both the others so he's been living on his own. The cages are next to each other and they chatter at each other still.

We plan to have the aggressive one neutered and then pair him with a sow. Would this be a good option do you think? I do think we have the room to put a bit of distance between the two none neutered piggies and the new pairing...

If not, is there anything else you'd suggest please?
 
Jeremy DEagle said:
Hi again. Apologies for the lack of reply, I kept meaning to but lots going on! The three have been living next to each other across two cages. The one who got bitten alot has continued to be aggressive with both the others so he's been living on his own. The cages are next to each other and they chatter at each other still.

We plan to have the aggressive one neutered and then pair him with a sow. Would this be a good option do you think? I do think we have the room to put a bit of distance between the two none neutered piggies and the new pairing...

If not, is there anything else you'd suggest please?
Click to expand...

This is a good option as long as you keep the sow at a distance, out of sight or below the boar pair - basically out of reach of pheromones.
It is the best solution for any teenage boars that are very dominant with other boys; several of my own neutered 'husboars' are or were fallen-out teenagers. My Hywel, who was another bully boy, had the best of boar lives for as the patriarch of a sow group of up to 13 sows at the largest.

Here is our detailed neutering information. Please read it! Key is finding a good vet. Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths, Facts and Post-op Care
 
I’d say stack the cages if you can, with the sow and boar pairing on the bottom. Like in @Wiebke setup above, you could use a table to sit the top cage on. Good luck.
 
Just wanted to add well done for coming up with a solution for all of your boys.
It is a nightmare when a planned pairing/group falls apart, but it sounds like you have come up with the best possible solution for everyone.
 
Only just sen your thread. Well done for coming up with a workable solution. Just remember to wait the full 6 weeks after neutering before introducing a female otherwise you risk having a further population increase to have to deal with.
 
Thanks all. The boy had his operation and seems fine a chirpy already. Will keep an eye on him and keep him separate for 6 weeks- definitely don't want little ones!
 
Bit of an update on this. Built a new C and C cage for them but he took a turn for the worse and died last night. We'd nursed him through the day and he'd been on recovery food (we took him to the vet in the morning). Very sad :(
 
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