New Aggressive G.Pig Issues!

[gibbo0o]

Hi Guys, really in need of some helpful advice from the more seasoned owners of you out there!

I had guinea pigs when I was younger, but never owned them myself as an adult and having recently moved into my own home I decided the time was right to get two new pigs.
They are both male, born around the start of January this year and are litter mates. I picked them up at the end of March, so they were around 10/11weeks old and the breeder said she had no issues with any of the group getting along. Once i get them home i put them in their 5ft by 2.5ft indoor cage, it had 2 of everything in order to prevent resource fighting(they also have a huge wire run that they would go in every other day). The first 2/3 weeks they were fine, popcorning around their cage no issues what so ever but then, towards the back end of April I noticed one of them (Buca) chasing the other (Sam) around the cage and contantly trying to hump him. I know this is often normal behaviour for growing pigs so just left them too it keeping my eye on them. However at the start of this month I heard then really squealing at each other and so went of to the cage to find them teeth chattering and Sam having a cut on his ear! I seperated them immediately, cleaned the cage and everything out, placed sam back in the cage and set up buca in the metal run as a seperate pen. As they were still in the same room I frequently heard them communicating, there was never any rubbling or chattering just the usual squeaks and pops! So today after just under two weeks of being seperated I completely cleaned and disinfected everything, gave them both a quick wash and tried to reintroduce them on neutral ground, making the run as big as possibly using all wire pannels and just putting hides in there for them if needed...it went really badly! Immediately buca began chasing sam which resulting in more teeth chattering and rearing up so once again i have had no choice but to seperate them and now have no idea what to do going forward!

Sorry for such a long post, just trying to give as much background info as possible to try and give you guys the best idea of whats happening!
Any help at all would be super appreciated!
Thanks

 

[Betsy]

Here are the guides on bonding have a look at them and they should be able to help. Our bonding expert is off Forum for a while so will be unable to help. The guides were written by her.

Behaviour, Bonding & Bereavement Guides

 

[pig in the city]

Y

Hi Guys, really in need of some helpful advice from the more seasoned owners of you out there!

I had guinea pigs when I was younger, but never owned them myself as an adult and having recently moved into my own home I decided the time was right to get two new pigs.
They are both male, born around the start of January this year and are litter mates. I picked them up at the end of March, so they were around 10/11weeks old and the breeder said she had no issues with any of the group getting along. Once i get them home i put them in their 5ft by 2.5ft indoor cage, it had 2 of everything in order to prevent resource fighting(they also have a huge wire run that they would go in every other day). The first 2/3 weeks they were fine, popcorning around their cage no issues what so ever but then, towards the back end of April I noticed one of them (Buca) chasing the other (Sam) around the cage and contantly trying to hump him. I know this is often normal behaviour for growing pigs so just left them too it keeping my eye on them. However at the start of this month I heard then really squealing at each other and so went of to the cage to find them teeth chattering and Sam having a cut on his ear! I seperated them immediately, cleaned the cage and everything out, placed sam back in the cage and set up buca in the metal run as a seperate pen. As they were still in the same room I frequently heard them communicating, there was never any rubbling or chattering just the usual squeaks and pops! So today after just under two weeks of being seperated I completely cleaned and disinfected everything, gave them both a quick wash and tried to reintroduce them on neutral ground, making the run as big as possibly using all wire pannels and just putting hides in there for them if needed...it went really badly! Immediately buca began chasing sam which resulting in more teeth chattering and rearing up so once again i have had no choice but to seperate them and now have no idea what to do going forward!

Sorry for such a long post, just trying to give as much background info as possible to try and give you guys the best idea of whats happening!
Any help at all would be super appreciated!
Thanks

You have done everything right. It's not your fault. Male pigs just often do fall out as they mature and the hormones surge. They are entering the teenage phase and it might settle as they mature or it might not. For the time being just keep them alongside each other. Don't keep putting them together as this stresses them.
Options are to try them together again as they get older, have them living alongside long term, consider getting them neutered and finding them a girl each.
At the end of the day it's down to personality. One boar has to happily submit to the other or else fights happen.

 

[VickiA]

Y
You have done everything right. It's not your fault. Male pigs just often do fall out as they mature and the hormones surge. They are entering the teenage phase and it might settle as they mature or it might not. For the time being just keep them alongside each other. Don't keep putting them together as this stresses them.
Options are to try them together again as they get older, have them living alongside long term, consider getting them neutered and finding them a girl each.
At the end of the day it's down to personality. One boar has to happily submit to the other or else fights happen.

I agree with @pig in the city - you’ve done nothing wrong at all. And you have done the right thing in separating them, but please don’t keep reintroducing them as it won’t work at present. It is better to keep them apart (but alongside each other) until they are mature, and then see whether they can be reintroduced then. But be warned that they may never accept each other. So you may wish to consider neutering and getting them a sow wife each.

 

[G&C]

It’s the hormones, they both hit ‘teenager time’ at the same point and have had a squabble, trying to be the dominant piggy. The second introduction that you said went badly doesn’t sound that bad, chasing one another, mounting, teeth chattering are all normal behaviours, as long as there was no blood drawn or full blown fighting you could have let them get on with it. But now it’s too late, you will need to wait for probably a year before introducing them again until they are around 14-18 months old. Good luck.