Hi. I'm hoping someone here can help me. I am a bit baffled by a situation that occurred. I have 2 male guinea pigs who had been living side by side after some aggressive behavior when they were younger.
I upgraded and expanded the cage to provide more space for them.
The reintroduction went well and after about an hour or so they ended up lying down next to each other. They remained in the bonding space (a playpen) for 24 hrs. During the 24 hrs there was normal dominance behaviors, like chasing, humping and rumblestrutting, but no major warning signs. After that time I moved them into the new cage. After about 20 minutes in the new cage there was a fight. There was no blood, but they were definitely going after each other. At that point I put a divider in the cage because I didn't want them to get into it overnight.
Why would they have been fine together for so long in a much smaller area and now they aren't? What do you think is my best option at this point?
I upgraded and expanded the cage to provide more space for them.
The reintroduction went well and after about an hour or so they ended up lying down next to each other. They remained in the bonding space (a playpen) for 24 hrs. During the 24 hrs there was normal dominance behaviors, like chasing, humping and rumblestrutting, but no major warning signs. After that time I moved them into the new cage. After about 20 minutes in the new cage there was a fight. There was no blood, but they were definitely going after each other. At that point I put a divider in the cage because I didn't want them to get into it overnight.
Why would they have been fine together for so long in a much smaller area and now they aren't? What do you think is my best option at this point?
