So I have two boars (Fluffy, who is pure white (not albino), and way more confident, I would consider the boss) and Cookie (black and white, fluffy and a lot more skittish generally), both from the same litter so both the same age. They are about 6 months old now and were bonded when I got them a few months ago as babies. They have had zero issues, doing what boars do. Pretty happy together.
The cage they are in is a bit on the smaller side so to counteract that (until I can upgrade them to a bigger one), I let them out to run around inside twice a day for at least an hour, most of the time it's 2-3 hours so they get a decent time running around exploring.
Yesterday, when they were running around I noticed that there was a LOT more rumble strutting going on, mounting from both guinea pigs, pushing the other piggies nose up from below, chasing (this started off with play I believe as they were chasing, then pop corning before the issues began.) It became a pattern of chasing, mounting, the other doing the same in return, then teeth chattering started when they got annoyed, more chasing which was almost unrelentless. This went on for like 10-15 minutes before I noticed Fluffy (the non-fluffy white one, who I would consider more dominant) nip a couple of times towards Cookie, which didn't deter him.
I started keeping a closer eye on them but didn't separate as I know chasing can simply be a stronger dominance behaviour. The chasing got more intense, with more teeth chattering. They briefly both laid down to catch their breath then started up chasing each other again. It became circles and circles of each guinea pig trying to mount the other into submission. During this whole thing, there was only a couple of warning nips from Fluffy to Cookie. One of them was squealing a bit which I presume was Cookie, the more submissive one.
After another 5-10 minutes of this, it was getting even more intense and Fluffy was starting to face lunge towards Cookie, the teeth chattering was now very loud so I could tell they weren't happy with each other, so I watched them very closely to see if I needed to intervene. They started squaring off in the middle of the open area and did jump at each other to air tackle the other guinea pig. I immediately clapped my hands to break it up and stop them fighting, separated them to calm them down (they were both teeth chattering still the entire time I was handling them, very angry piggies). It was late by this stage so I temporarily housed them overnight separately. They didn't seem that happy with the arrangement as I had to put one cage on top of the other.
I did notice this morning that Fluffy had a tiny bit of blood on his underside but it was on the tip of his fur so didn't look like it came from him, plus a tiny nip on the tip of his nose. I checked Cookie but I couldn't see any bites (he is very furry and it's harder to look through his fur).
I let them back out this morning to run around as usual, because they seemed to have got on well enough and like each other before the spat, which I'm hoping it is, because I would prefer if they stayed together (if not, I will house them separately but so they can still see and smell each other). There was a small bit of mounting and climbing but generally they seemed content and nothing got out of hand, they are still running around as I'm typing this and it's been about 2-3 hours now.
I'm looking for advice with this behaviour, is it something I need to watch in the near future as their hormones are probably at an all time high. Is it likely to occur again or just a once off? Is the likelihood that they will be okay living together or is it just as likely they will decide they don't get along and will need separate enclosures? I plan to increase the herd side in the future when I have more space and introduce at least 2-3 females, would this affect the bond the boars have?
The cage they are in is a bit on the smaller side so to counteract that (until I can upgrade them to a bigger one), I let them out to run around inside twice a day for at least an hour, most of the time it's 2-3 hours so they get a decent time running around exploring.
Yesterday, when they were running around I noticed that there was a LOT more rumble strutting going on, mounting from both guinea pigs, pushing the other piggies nose up from below, chasing (this started off with play I believe as they were chasing, then pop corning before the issues began.) It became a pattern of chasing, mounting, the other doing the same in return, then teeth chattering started when they got annoyed, more chasing which was almost unrelentless. This went on for like 10-15 minutes before I noticed Fluffy (the non-fluffy white one, who I would consider more dominant) nip a couple of times towards Cookie, which didn't deter him.
I started keeping a closer eye on them but didn't separate as I know chasing can simply be a stronger dominance behaviour. The chasing got more intense, with more teeth chattering. They briefly both laid down to catch their breath then started up chasing each other again. It became circles and circles of each guinea pig trying to mount the other into submission. During this whole thing, there was only a couple of warning nips from Fluffy to Cookie. One of them was squealing a bit which I presume was Cookie, the more submissive one.
After another 5-10 minutes of this, it was getting even more intense and Fluffy was starting to face lunge towards Cookie, the teeth chattering was now very loud so I could tell they weren't happy with each other, so I watched them very closely to see if I needed to intervene. They started squaring off in the middle of the open area and did jump at each other to air tackle the other guinea pig. I immediately clapped my hands to break it up and stop them fighting, separated them to calm them down (they were both teeth chattering still the entire time I was handling them, very angry piggies). It was late by this stage so I temporarily housed them overnight separately. They didn't seem that happy with the arrangement as I had to put one cage on top of the other.
I did notice this morning that Fluffy had a tiny bit of blood on his underside but it was on the tip of his fur so didn't look like it came from him, plus a tiny nip on the tip of his nose. I checked Cookie but I couldn't see any bites (he is very furry and it's harder to look through his fur).
I let them back out this morning to run around as usual, because they seemed to have got on well enough and like each other before the spat, which I'm hoping it is, because I would prefer if they stayed together (if not, I will house them separately but so they can still see and smell each other). There was a small bit of mounting and climbing but generally they seemed content and nothing got out of hand, they are still running around as I'm typing this and it's been about 2-3 hours now.
I'm looking for advice with this behaviour, is it something I need to watch in the near future as their hormones are probably at an all time high. Is it likely to occur again or just a once off? Is the likelihood that they will be okay living together or is it just as likely they will decide they don't get along and will need separate enclosures? I plan to increase the herd side in the future when I have more space and introduce at least 2-3 females, would this affect the bond the boars have?
