Sudden aggression/separation advice.

[Nattzzz]

I’ve had my guinea pig cinnamon since December 4th and I got him a buddy named Marble on March 1st. They got along well at first and cinnamon displayed dominance. Marble respected him and they weren’t close but they lived together just fine. Now marble is becoming extremely aggressive. I can’t go a day without hearing constant chattering. And I thought I’d leave it to them to calm down but now it’s gone too far. Marble is leaving marks on cinnamon, with dried blood. I have two cages. Should I separate them? Will this put me back in stage one of cinnamon being lonely AND marble?
(Also in the picture cinnamon has fur patch taken out from the middle of his neck, his upper lip, and a huge slash on his ear)

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

I would recommend a temporary separation with a divider. It is not yet a full-on fight with deep bites, but it is definitely a serious scuffle. The bit under the chin is likely from drinking and not from the fight, by the way.

See whether they will go back together in a couple of days or not, following the tips in the link below. It is the closest you can come to allow your two boys to give their honest opinion on whether they want to be with each other or not.
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

All the best!

 

[Nattzzz]

Thanks for the advice! I’ve temporarily separated them. They’re right next to eachother and often bite the cages when they see eachother as if they want to see eachother but idk if that means anything. Also you said the patch on his neck is due to drinking? Can you further explain that, please?

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for the advice! I’ve temporarily separated them. They’re right next to eachother and often bite the cages when they see eachother as if they want to see eachother but idk if that means anything. Also you said the patch on his neck is due to drinking? Can you further explain that, please?

Having a small bald patch under the chin is not uncommon in guinea pigs. Because it is not an area that is highly visible unless you do a through check, it often goes unnoticed. What is causing it, is often a mystery. It has sometimes been linked to sloppy drinking, but it may just be genetic. It is generally not caused by skin parasites or fungal.

Unlike the other spots, it is not showing any signs of being cause by scratches.

 

[AlphaUrd13]

Sometimes piggies have these semi-serious fights becuz of small cage or them fighting over one bottle of water/food bowl/too close to each other when eating etc. That invasion of personal space can make teen piggies or dominant ones extra aggressive to the point of biting and causing injuries. Try make a food bowl for each piggie and same with water bottle, that helped my two teen females be less touchy and they fought less. Last time they had to share a bowl Koochi got so mad at Tutta she plucked her hair (No worries they're ok now that they got 2 bowls so no personal space invaded)

Here the black sow is respecting her older aunt and waits her turn for water, in case she started getting aggressive too I'll get a third water bottle

 

[Nattzzz]

That actually came to mind I separated the cage in half with the divider and gave them each their own thing. I’m about two more days I’ll open the divider and hopefully they’ll claim their food bowl and water and we’ll have no more fights. Thank you so much for all the advice!

 

[AlphaUrd13]

That actually came to mind I separated the cage in half with the divider and gave them each their own thing. I’m about two more days I’ll open the divider and hopefully they’ll claim their food bowl and water and we’ll have no more fights. Thank you so much for all the advice!

No problem, and males tend to be more protective of their space than females so it's understandable. Keeping their stuff to opposite corners of the cage rather than next to each other can also help. Good luck with your boys!