Hostile boar

thepiggies

thepiggies

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Hello, my herd of four has been introduced for about a month now, and they had been fine. I have my guinea pigs in my bedroom so this morning I woke up to very loud squeaking, some squeaks shrill. I got up to check on them and Bunny - the (neutered) boar and leader - was chasing my three girls around. The oldest girl is 1 year, the other two are almost 4 months. He was mainly focused on the oldest, Athena. He kept mounting her and it looked like he bit her, she was very nervous. I took her out of the cage and checked thoroughly for any blood but didn’t see any. Most of her fur is very dark so it’s a bit hard to tell. Bunny kept his behavior up, he’s never done anything like this even at their introduction, so I separated him from the girls to calm down. Is this normal leader behavior?
 
Also, I’ve heard of leaders getting stressed and things like this happening, could that be it?
 
Hi,
This is normal dominance behaviour (rumbling, mounting, nipping - not drawing blood). As long as they don't hurt each other (draw blood), then you should let them work out the hierarchy by themselves, which can take a couple of weeks before they settle down 👍

This thread may be helpful:
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
 
How old is he?
Could one/some of the girls be in season?

There is no need to separate them for normal behaviours (Mounting and chasing isn’t hostility)
 
Last edited:
I just thought the same, could one of the ladies be in season etc.
My Jasper and Cleo are the loveliest little pair and very rarely bicker, but last week Cleo had a very strong season and it sounded like someone was being murdered as Cleo bolted around the cage away from him! The next morning happy families again!
It was the same with my very happy pair Jess and Rupert (my avatar piggies), they were together 6 years but I knew there were lots of hormones flying around as they’d be the same! Then relaxed quiet piglets snuggling in beds together the next day! 🙄😆
 
As others have said, could one or more of the girls be in season? I have a neutered boar and 3 sows and it gets lively when they’re in season. Mounting and chasing is normal dominant behaviour
 
Hope they settle down soon. It can be quite scary when they start chasing and squeaking. Keep an eye on them.
 
Thank you all, I didn’t even think of that. I believe Athena is, that’s most likely why. Bunny has been giving her space, and hasn’t been doing what he was this morning. He’s young, about 9 months
 
thepiggies said:
Thank you all, I didn’t even think of that. I believe Athena is, that’s most likely why. Bunny has been giving her space, and hasn’t been doing what he was this morning. He’s young, about 9 months
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Glad he’s calmed down now and the girls are getting a rest! :)
My piggy Luigi lives with Aliona, who’s been spayed so no longer has seasons, but he’s still set off by Cleo in the pair across the room at times (normally the strong seasons like last week) and gets her! 🙄 Cheeky boars! 🙈
 
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