Is he being bullied?

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ukheather

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I recently got 2 male guinea pigs that were raised together.

One is 6 weeks old and the other is 12 weeks old and is bigger than the younger one.

The bigger one keeps going over to the little one and tries to climb on him I think?

They both keep making noises. The older one is making a deep purring noise and the little one is making squeaking noises.

Is he bullying him? Should I separate them?
 
No, he is probably trying to hump him, perfectly normal behaviour for boars, And as for the Brrrr my male has had both a baby boar and girlies for friends, he has did this too both :)). Aslong as the wee one does not lose weight and can eat and act normally they are fine :).

Do you weight your piggies, this can normally show a problem if the piggie loses weight :).

Do separate if blood is drawn!
 
I think you are having the normal display of dominance read the sticky on boars and dominance in the behaviour thread. Does he stop the younger one from eating or into a house? Weigh them regular as a loss in weight can be an indication of bullying also keep a keen eye out for bite marks.
 
I haven't weighed them yet as I am trying to let them get used to the house seeing they are new here but I will do.

Sometimes the bigger ones chases the little one when he tries to eat, but 10 mins later they are both eating happily.

I haven't seen him bite him yet, but it is all so quick once he goes over to him.

They knew each other previously so I thought they would have been ok.
 
How big is your cage? boars need alot of space! It is good that you are aware and keeping a close eye on their relationship! where did you get them from? Weighing them is all part of my piggies weekly health check.
 
I had previous problems with piggies being bullied and infair they can be quite sly... My pig began not letting the other out the cage... there was an atmosphere between the pigs.. There were wounds appearing ....

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=40358&highlight=possible+mites

Space is a big thing for boars they need loads but still doesn't always stop them falling out!

I weigh mine weekly too lovely I find it very important for piggies to indicate problems, aslong as the piggies seems happy enough, don't worry to much but keep a close eye on the situation!

Please note if you reed my thread in the end there were wounds so do not jump to the conclusion you should separate now :)... but it does give an idea of piggie bullying... there did used to be a website that was good but it nolonger exists :(!
 
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After chasing each other round the cage quickly, they both seem to start popcorning.

Are they just play fighting then? Would they popcorn after a chase if they hated each other?

I still haven't seen biting going on, although the older one keeps sniffing the younger ones bottom and the doesn't seem to like that. Sometimes I think the little one may try to nip at the bigger one when he is rumbling at him but no blood has been drawn and they are both eating food.
 
They sound fine, please do start weighing them it is very important when it comes to illness etc..

They will still have to work out who's boss... chasing is perfectly normal my boar does that to his girls all the time along with his rumble struts!
 
I will be weighing them tonight and giving them a good check up to see if there is any signs on biting etc :)

I have a sheet that I will be using to record their weights too :)
 
Excellent I weigh mine weekly always good to have for the vets etc!

Rump, side and behind the ears... are all were my boars bite wounds were but also face!
 
I put them a bed each in this morning and the poor little guy goes in one and the larger one will follow him in grumbling. At the moment they are both in the same bed.
I was hoping they would use a bed each.

When I checked them last night I didn't see any cuts, but I have definetly seen the smaller one take a nip when he is being bothered.

I know they say don't separate them until blood is drawn or they have a proper fight, but I feel so sorry for the little guy as he just can't relax without being bothered.

When the first arrived the little one backed down when he was being chased or rumbled at, but now he is standing up for himself so neither ever seem to back down. They just seem to get bored and stop.

Will this ever stop or could he just be a big bully? I can't see them being able to live together if this carries on.
 
How long have they been together? It usually swings from one boy taking the the lead and displaying all the dominance to the underpig standing up for himself and telling the top boy how far he allows himself to be pushed.

So you are either nearly at the end of the dominance sort out or you have to think of separating in the long term.
 
They were brought up together in the same cage. They are 6 and 12 weeks old. I asked the lady who I got them from if they lived together and she said yes but neither were domanant as there were 3 other piggies in the cage too.

Yes the one that was originally the target for all this dominance is standing up for himself.
 
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I don't know what to do! I have three guineas and the two bully the other one and bite his ears and fight! I have split them up but what can I do!
 
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