I need help

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

jenn_and_gareth

Joined
Jan 31, 2007
Messages
178
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this or not but I really need help! I have five boys, two in one cage, and three in the other.
Sausage is the most dominant one, and everytime charcoal jumps down from the igloo sausage chases him, teeth chattering and all. He has to jump back up on top of the igloo again. I am getting worried, as I don't think he will be getting enough food or water. But he does not do this to the other piggy in the same cage.
Yesterday I tried introducing him to the piggies in the other cage and he started to show his teeth to one of them and pulled some hair out. I really don't know what to do so any suggestions would be great.
 
sounds to me that you really need to save poor charcoal from sausage he may not as you thought be getting to the food or water as sausage is stopping him by showing his dominance, naughty boy, was it sausage or charcoal you put in other cage if charcoal he was probably scared after what hes been put through and thought i'll get in before they do it to me type thing if it was sausage he obviously wants to dominate, is any of the other 3 laid back more then the others he might not be affected by sausages dominace, or it might be sausage needs a youngster to allow him to be boss peacefully how old is charcoal and sausage? have they been together long? need a bit more info really, my Harvey is a very dominant boy but put with the most laid back boy I had he was fine he had no reason to prove his being boss yet artie is a sod to others and will likely be on his own much as i dislike doing that on occasions it has to be that way although he can reach through the bars to the others,
 
it was charcoal I put in the other cage. I took my other boy smokey out, as he was getting biten really bad by sausage, now his attention has turned to bullying charcoal. Sausage is around about a year old, charcoal is about 6 months. They have been together about 4 months. Sausage was fine with all of the other piggies until around a week ago. Do you think I should try introducing charcoal to smokey and hamlet again or put sausage on his own? This is really getting me down, I don't want any of them to be unhappy.
 
Are you sure all the guinea pigs are boars? There's no way that Sausage is defending a female GP, right?
 
i'm pretty sure they are all boars, but I will double and triple check!!could you tell me what the gestation period is for a g.p?
 
jenn_and_gareth said:
i'm pretty sure they are all boars, but I will double and triple check!!could you tell me what the gestation period is for a g.p?
Click to expand...
Just to help you out with sexing, you could try to look here: How to Sex Guinea Pigs

And here: Sexing Guinea Pigs -- For this one, scroll down a bit and they give more information.

Guinea Lynx says that the gestation period is anywhere from 59 - 73 days.
 
I have checked and truffle is definately a boy (phew) . I've spent all day cleaning their cage from top to bottom, giving them baths and lots of attention in order to try and stop fighting. I don't know if I have done the right thing, but I have removed all houses from their cage. just given them food water and hay. Their has not been as much fighting but they still chase each other and charcoal sits in the corner on his own. Does anyone have any other ideas or should I just split them up? Thanks for your help so far
 
If the animals are in a situation where they could get hurt, I'd separate them. If you see them getting too rowdy or any of the guinea's hurting each other, they may need to live in separate hutches.
 
If your cages are the same size swap the pigs over - a new house might break the behaviour pattern a bit. I wouldn't septerate a peacefully bonded group of 3 boys though. I would say that neutering may help mr bossy. Although this takes away any hormone driven aggression - it won't take away natural aggresion.
 
If they keep fighting and he's always the odd man out, there are two options that I see, but you may not like either. The one I'm pretty sure you'll automatically say no to is to find him another home, which may need to be done if he's continually bullied. The other suggestion is to possibly get a third cage and a sixth guinea pig, but that can be expensive and I don't know how much room you have. Sorry I couldn't be of more help though!

Kimmie
 
I was reading somewhere about a way to bond guinea pigs, especially if they're fighting, is to bathe them together. It's supposed to be such a shock and they start to bond from going through such "trauma" lol. I don't know if this actually works though and I have never tried it.
 
I have just "traumatised" them both by bathing them again but to no avail. They even started fighting when they were in the bath. So, I have two options, neutering or separation. What do you think is my best option?
 
I would try separating and maybe getting him a buddy. If you neuter him then it will take away any hormonal aggression, but not any natural aggression, and it's also a health risk, as they might not come out of anesthesia (awful to say, but it's true). Good luck though!

Kimmie
 
Today they seem to be getting on a better, so I'm hoping this is a turning point, but I wont hold me breath! Thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top