My piggie needs an ASBO! :(

[suzieq]

OK so we got 4 boys for our daughters at Christmas. They were 6 weeks old then so 6 months old now.

One piggie (George) has, in the last few weeks, started to show very dominant behaviour. Trying to hump his cage mates, although that has died down, but the fighting has stepped up a notch and we don't know what to do. Two of the piggies are very placid, and they just run away from George. The other one has no issue with them, but he (Ozzie) is the one that George always picks a fight with, and they end up heavy chattering and rolling around the cage in a blur of fur. It really upsets my daughters. Ozzie came away with a cut foot after the last fight, although their claws were due for a trim then.

I understand this can happen during the teenage stage, but I don't know at what point it goes beyond 'normal' behaviour.

Any help or advice much appreciated!

 

[Swissgreys]

Welcome to the Forum


Sadly it is highly unlikely that 4 boars will ever be able to live together happily, and it certainly sounds like their current behavior has gone well outside of 'normal'.

Now is the time to separate them into 2 pairs before one of them is seriously injured, and hopefully you will have 2 'obvious' pairs you can start with.

Boars need lots of space and a pair of boars will require a cage that is at least 120cm long x 70 cm wide but bigger is always much better.

A good place to start is here:
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

If you can let us know roughly where you are based and what your current cage set up is I am sure people will offer lots of advice and ideas.

 

[Wiebke]

OK so we got 4 boys for our daughters at Christmas. They were 6 weeks old then so 6 months old now.

One piggie (George) has, in the last few weeks, started to show very dominant behaviour. Trying to hump his cage mates, although that has died down, but the fighting has stepped up a notch and we don't know what to do. Two of the piggies are very placid, and they just run away from George. The other one has no issue with them, but he (Ozzie) is the one that George always picks a fight with, and they end up heavy chattering and rolling around the cage in a blur of fur. It really upsets my daughters. Ozzie came away with a cut foot after the last fight, although their claws were due for a trim then.

I understand this can happen during the teenage stage, but I don't know at what point it goes beyond 'normal' behaviour.

Any help or advice much appreciated!

Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry that you are yet another victim of guinea pig sellers that have no idea of social an biological requirements of the species they sell and are just out of the money and repeat custom.

The behaviour is normal for a strong testosterone spike at this age. You can put in a divider for a short term separation, but please be aware that this is just a stop-gap measure and that it won't address the underlying problem you have.

Boar quartets have near 100% fail rate during the teenage months; they are by far the most unstable of all boar combinations, closely followed by baby boar trios. I
n our long term experience the majority of baby quartets end up with one stable pair and two singles unless the quartet is not separated into two compatible pairs before the hormones really hit the fan, but we have also been contacted by people with four boars, none of which would go back with any of the others.

Your boys are now right in the thick of the teenage months; 6 months is the classic time for fights and falls-out as testosterone output is at an all time high.
Unfortunately boar neutering in guinea pigs is only a solution if you pair up your boys with a sow each in four separate groups. It does not change personality and social interactive behaviour of which mounting is one.

Please take the time to carefully read these two guides here, so you can make any sustainable long term plans; your dream of a single boar group is unfortunately just that - a dream.
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[suzieq]

Thank you both so much for your helpful replies I will read the pages with my husband tonight & we will make a plan.

The current cage is 2 storey, 2m x 1m approx. I imagine it would be best to pair George with the second least aggressive piggy, & see how that goes. The most placid one would be bullied I think.

I bought from an apparently reputable & experienced pet shop in Bognor (I’m in Portsmouth) so I’ll definitely be giving them my feedback!

Do I need to do a slow introduction to the new cage? And I guess they can still socialise together? My girls get the pigs out pretty much every day & they never fight when outside the cage.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you both so much for your helpful replies I will read the pages with my husband tonight & we will make a plan.

The current cage is 2 storey, 2m x 1m approx. I imagine it would be best to pair George with the second least aggressive piggy, & see how that goes. The most placid one would be bullied I think.

I bought from an apparently reputable & experienced pet shop in Bognor (I’m in Portsmouth) so I’ll definitely be giving them my feedback!

Do I need to do a slow introduction to the new cage? And I guess they can still socialise together? My girls get the pigs out pretty much every day & they never fight when outside the cage.

You will find the answers to how to best move boars into a new space in the boar guide.

Guinea pigs don't do play dates; every meeting is a full-on bonding/re-bonding session for them with all the attendant dominance manoeuvring, so it is a BIG NO NO! Once you have separated, they will have to stay in their pairs and can only meet through the bars.

For sale breeders are often very blase about boars and often still cling to the long and by now thousands of times debunked myth that brothers or same piggies won't fall out when they are exactly the combination with the highest risk as they hit all the teenage spikes at the same time, putting any bond under even more stress.
Sadly reputable shop and clean indoors doesn't necessarily equate with good knowledge about the species they sell as the many threads by new owners on this forum is testament for...

 

[Bill & Ted]

That sounds like a good plan with pairing up to me. If you have a double decker cage can you take the ramp out and place a large piece of Lino across the top cage base (it’s easy to cut to size) so it makes two separate cages and see how that goes x

 

[Swissgreys]

Please do feedback t the store - you may also want to mention the need for additional supplies now the boys are being split and that you are quite cross about this added expense less than 6 months later. You never know - they might offer you some bits for free.

I would also love details of the cage you have, as a 2 story 2m x 1m sounds incredible!