Need advice on separating 4 male guinea pigs after aggression

[CaviaEkko]

I have 4 male guinea pigs and I’m trying to figure out the safest setup for them.

Three of them have been living together, but one of them has started repeatedly attacking the oldest one over the past few days. He lunges at him, tries to bite him, chases him, and chatters his teeth, and the oldest has become scared and hides a lot. I’m thinking of separating the oldest from the aggressive one rather than letting them keep fighting.

I’d like to keep the oldest next to our newest guinea pig which is currently in his own cage next to theirs because they seem to really like each other and enjoy watching each other through the bars. The other two are a sick piggie and the cage mate(the one attacking the oldest) he is already close with.

I’m considering having the sick guinea pig + his companion in a 2×4 cage, the oldest in a 2×3, and the new guinea pig in a 2×2, with all three cages next to each other so they can still see and smell one another. I know the measurements would be needed to know if these cages are appropriate. But I’m mostly wondering if it’s worth separating the oldest from the sick piggie and attacking one and try to bond him with the new piggie through their cages. Also wanna know if I should let them all still see each other through the cages (separated) or if I should move the oldest and newest somewhere else in the room where they will still of course be separate.

Does this sound like a good arrangement, or would you recommend changing the setup?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this. Unfortunately keeping three boars together is known to be problematic

Your aim of separating is to keep two together who still get on.

Any single piggy requires a 2x3 c&c cage. So you will need two 2x3 cages (one for the oldest and one for the newest piggy).
A 2x2 cage is not suitable as it is too small and doesn’t meet even minimum space requirements.

Any single piggy must be kept in a cage directly beside another piggy(s). They must have interaction between the bars so they don’t become lonely.
So in your case the oldest and the new piggy must be side by side with each other.
The pair do not need to be side by side with anybody else as they have each other but it is also absolutely fine for them to be beside other piggies.

 

[CaviaEkko]

I’m sorry to hear this. Unfortunately keeping three boars together is known to be problematic

Your aim of separating is to keep two together who still get on.

Any single piggy requires a 2x3 c&c cage. So you will need two 2x3 cages (one for the oldest and one for the newest piggy).
A 2x2 cage is not suitable as it is too small and doesn’t meet even minimum space requirements.

Any single piggy must be kept in a cage directly beside another piggy(s). They must have interaction between the bars so they don’t become lonely.
So in your case the oldest and the new piggy must be side by side with each other.
The pair do not need to be side by side with anybody else as they have each other but it is also absolutely fine for them to be beside other piggies.

Thank you so much for the advice!

I understand that it’s a complicated situation. I had the oldest separated for a while, but he kept wanting to go and see the other two, and then Jace became very sick, so I wanted him to have as much space as possible while we keep him comfortable. That’s why I ended up putting them together again.

I’ll try to arrange the cages so they can all still see and interact with each other through the bars, so that when Jace eventually passes, they’re already used to seeing one another and hopefully the transition will be easier. I’m going to see if I have enough C&C grids to make two 2×3 cages and one 2×4 cage.

Thank you again for your advice and help!