Out of sudden one of my boars is a big bully

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I have two guinea pigs (3 years and 20 months). The younger one has started to bully the older one to the point of not letting him rest or eat. He did that months ago when he was hormonal but I had though this has passed as he's well past puberty.

He would kick him out of every hidey just because (he doesn't go in afterwards), keeps humping him and sometimes he actually kicks him with his back legs LOL. The older one is very submissive and just wheeks and doesn't fight back, just tries to run away. I separated them and the bully is trying to get to the other one, I had to cover the bars as he was constantly chewing them, he spends half time resting and other time trashing the cage, chewing bowls, liner. But the bullied one seems to prefer it this way and seems to be enjoying being separated, not interested in the other pig at all.

They've always had two waters bottles, two bowls and multiple hideys with two holes.

Any advice please? It's not a long term solution to have them live separately because I can't provide enough splace for both, now they live in a separated 2 x 5 cage.
 
It’s good that underpig was squealing in submission. But if he seems happier living separately then I’m afraid it’s not a functional bond. You have to go by how the underpig behaves. Top pig will want to be with him hence the bar biting etc.

You say bullying. How long did these periods go on for, and what was happening exactly? Bullying is a long term thing which is every day and rads to a withdrawn piggy that’s also losing weight. You have to be careful not to mistake it with dominance behaviour - chasing, mounting, rumbling, humping. And as top pig he has the ‘right’ to whichever hide he wants, even if he doesn’t go in once he’s chased the other piggy out.

As for hormones, they can still get spikes past their teenage years. Have a read of the guides below and see.

With regards the cage, could you get more grids and build an L shape so they each have at least a 2x3? Otherwise the alternative is to get them to a rescue where they can both be paired up with another boar. Then they could live in a stacked cage. If you are okay with four piggies then that’s doable. If not and you can only manage two, then you would either have them just living side by side or surrender one to a rescue and pair one with another boar.

Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Moody Guinea Pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour
 
You need to determine whether it is in fact bullying and a dysfunctional bond but I do agree - if the underpig is happier when they are separated then that is usually the sign you are looking for to say that their bond is dysfunctional and that the separation does need to be permanent one.

Or, neuter them, have the six week wait to become infertile and bond them with a sow each

As well as the guides linked in above, this one also may help Bonds In Trouble
 
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The bullying has been going on for about a month. Before that they got along fine except the occasional mounting.

Now it has got to the point where the under pig was not able to eat despite there being multiple sources of hay etc, his teeth were too long and he had to have a dental surgery. He's much more active and has a bigger appetite when alone. He lost 200g in the past month but now finally started to gain weight. When together he barely moves all day, does not drink or eat. The top pig sits by/blocks wherever the underpig decides to sit.
 
Pigs are eating machines. My old sow was found flopped out one morning, dead as a doornail (probably heart attack), but with half-eaten hay still sticking out of her mouth! If your boar wasn't eating and was losing weight he must have been really miserable because they want to eat virtually all the time. This isn't something that will 'settle down' and unfortunately I think you need to separate for the sake of your older lad as even when he's not being actively bullied he'll just be waiting for it. If you can come up with a way to have them as neighbours who can interact through bars they should both feel a lot happier in their own space. I kept 2 boys this way until one passed and then the remaining boy was neutered and paired with a sow.

My boys fell out because the dominant one became unwell (vet said a growth in his brain) and the underpig then challenged him - but as Harvey couldn't keep his balance properly even the gentlest shove knocked him right over and he got upset by the whole thing. As neighbours they were both more settled and spent a lot of time hanging out together at the bars... any chance you can convert to C&C to give them the space they need? Maybe as 2 interlocking Ls if there is no room for 2 rectangles?
 
I agree that sounds like a dysfunctional bond. I’m sorry it turned out that way. If you can make the cages big enough (remember you can do an L shape) then they can live side by side.
 
They are currently in a C&C cage 2x5, separated in the middle, so each pig has 2x2.5, but the top pig is not taking it well and spends most of the day trying to chew bars (unsuccessfully, they are covered with thinner bars he can't chew), trying to jump/climb over (it's too high so he won't) chewing his bowl, chewing fleece liner. I obscured his vision with a piece of correx in between two grids so he does not see him, which has helped a little. On the other hand, the underpig completely ignores him and perked up noticeably. It's been a few days and he's as relentless as on the first day, trying to get to the other pig to bother him. :(

Will he eventually give up? I feel like he has separation anxiety or something.
 
He should hopefully calm down. In the meantime keep the correx divider up. Once he’s calmer you can remove it and see how he goes.
 
Yes he should calm down.
His reaction is normal - he may simply want to be back with him only to bully him more and given the other piggy has perked up, then rest assured you’ve done the right thing
 
I am going through the same thing at the moment. In the beginning I covered the divider with corex but removed it for 2 or 3 short sessions during the day to let them see each other, hoping things would settle down. This wasn't working, it just seemed to wind the dominant one up even more so we have now covered the grids with perspex. They can see each other and 'chat' but the dominant one can't bite the bars. The underpig now walks up to the divider and turns his back on his old 'enemy' as if to say 'ha can't bully me now'!. I was very reluctant to seperate but knew I had done the right thing as soon as I did it, the atmosphere was suddenly much calmer, I hadn't realised how tense we had all become. The bullied piggie had lost nearly 100gm in weight over about a month, he is now slowly regaining the weight. Good luck with your boars, I hope things settle down for you soon.
 
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