Mating

[Ace_and _Bailey]

Hello,
I have two male guinea pigs (Ace and Bailey). Ace sometimes chases Bailey and wants to mate. I have made an appointment to neuter them but the doctor's away right now so it has to be in a month. Until then, is there anything I can do to stop Ace from trying to mate with Bailey? When Ace tries. Bailey will let out a little scream and try to hide or run away.

 

[DMS260820]

Neutering won't make any difference atall, it doesn't change behaviour in male guinea pigs, what you are seeing is dominance behaviour I believe. So save your money

 

[Rivervixen]

It’s normal dominance behaviour in piggies, my two boys do it too

 

[Betsy]

The squealing you are hearing from Bailey is submissive squealing and is quite normal. Some piggies are quite dramatic about this. He is saying to Ace "OK I know you're the boss". Guinea pigs Iive in a very hierarchical society with one pig as The Boss Pig. (My Rainbow Piggy Velvet was DA BOSS and cue music from the shower scene from Psycho). Sows mount other too showing dominance over each other. As @SkyPipDotBernie has said neutering won't change this mounting behaviour. It just takes away the ability to make baby piggies.

 

[Lady Kelly]

This is normal dominance behaviour and will continue even after neutering. They are simply establishing a hierarchy and, if young, it may get worse during the teenage hormones.

How long have you had them? Have you double checked the gender of both? (We always recommend checking the gender especially if they have come from pet shops or breeders where these things often go wrong).

Other things that can cause these tensions in cages that you can look at to ease things are cage size - the minimum guidance is 120cm BUT this is widely accepted as not big enough for two boars. Go as big as you can fit. Absolute minimum 140 x 60 cm cage but ideally a 150 or 160cm cage. Hideys should have two entrances so more like tunnels or cardboard boxes you can add extra entrances too so no pig can get cornered

 

[piggieminder]

Behaviour, Bonding & Bereavement Guides

Have a read through the behaviour guides in this thread, particularly the ones relating to boars. I think you will find them useful and interesting.

 

[Ace_and _Bailey]

Thank you all so much!