Sudden aggressive behaviour?

[Emmamarie123]

My two boys Pickle and Twiglet have suddenly started acting quite hostile to each other. Pickle is a year old and Twiglet is almost a year. Last night there was teeth chattering from both- which I haven’t heard before even during bonding. There was also chasing and one case of Pickle lunging at Twiglet.They are in my room so I have kept them together as I can seperate if needed. They seem fine for a while and then they will begin chattering at each other again.

Any ideas why?

 

[eileen]

Hi,your boys are maybe having a hormone spike of testosterone, it can happen at any stage,but more likely in young piggies.maybe if it persists you could divide the cage for a 12/24 hour period.i would monitor your boys closely.it may die down or esculate.other thing is to be aware sometimes if one of the piggies has any health problems it can lead to one fighting for leadership,whilst the unwell guinea pig is weakened.both boys are displaying normal dominance behaviour,but if the lunges esculate to a lock on furball fight,blood drawn this is a failed bonding.i hope things settle down,always a nerve racking time !

 

[Wiebke]

My two boys Pickle and Twiglet have suddenly started acting quite hostile to each other. Pickle is a year old and Twiglet is almost a year. Last night there was teeth chattering from both- which I haven’t heard before even during bonding. There was also chasing and one case of Pickle lunging at Twiglet.They are in my room so I have kept them together as I can seperate if needed. They seem fine for a while and then they will begin chattering at each other again.

Any ideas why?

Hi!

Your boys are still in the teenage months and are obviously experiencing one of the hormone spikes. Please put a divider in the cage and re-introduce on neutral ground after two days when the spike has died down again. With luck, your boys will go back together as if nothing untoward has happened.
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[Emmamarie123]

Hi everyone unfortunately everything is not fine again Twiglet and Pickle suddenly teeth chatter at each other during the night and chase each other. The teeth chattering is scary but neither pig has been hurt so far. I tried a trial separation and Twiglet became miserable and was constantly squeeking for him so I reintroduced after 24hrs. Was this too soon? They are in a 120cm cage with a large play pen attached that they have constant access too.
I believe Pickle wants to be the dominant pig but Twiglet is very hyper and constantly jumpin on him when he is asleep or resting. Which begins the loud teeth chattering and chasing. Both boys are fine when eating hay (will sit side by side). I really don’t know what to do as I don’t want to permanently seperate as I know there is definitely a bond there. My hope is that when Twiglet calms down and matures things will get better.

 

[Siikibam]

Are they able to get away from each other - maybe one is in the cage and the other in the play pen? Do you have two of everything - bowl, bottle etc?

If no blood is drawn then leave them. Teeth chattering, chasing, mounting and humping is all part of the dominance behaviour. They will get hormonal spikes every now and then so this behaviour could happen again. Is Pickle still eating well etc? How was he when you separated them? I’d persist. It looks more brutal than it is. Keep an eye on them and make sure that pickle isn't being bullied - weight loss, not eating as much etc.