morumotto
Junior Guinea Pig
Hello! I'm having trouble with my two girls and would love some advice. I read through several threads on this forum, but they seemed to mostly address problems between young or newly introduced piggies...
Some history: I've owned guinea pigs before, but this is the first time I've ever owned two at the same time (it wasn't until after many years of ownership that I realized that guinea pigs should be kept in pairs at the very least) so I'm pretty unknowledgeable about group dynamics.
I've had my two girls (Rose and Praline) in the same cage for about 2 1/2 years now (and they are roughly about 2 1/2 years old). I keep them in a 2 x 4 C&C cage. Growing up they had some fusses with each other, but overall they got along just fine. Earlier this year they started to get a little bit more aggressive with each other, usually rumble strutting and some mounting (both of them do this, but usually Rose is the instigator and is a bigger pig in general). I read up on this and the most common advice I saw was to let them sort it out but keep an eye on them.
In the past couple of weeks they have become even more so aggressive with each other, now lunging at each other and teeth chattering. Fortunately they have not drawn blood yet, but I'm fearful that this behavior is only going to get worse. Right now I have a divider in their cage to keep them separated (I just did this today after I saw them lunge at each other again).
What should I do? I'm worried that because they're already over 2 1/2 years old that they're past the "waiting it out" phase. I live in an apartment currently and the one 2 x 4 cage is the biggest cage I can have without obstructing walkways. I'm worried that they'll have to be permanently separated, but I won't have room for them to each have their own cage. I've tried getting them separate food bowls, and I thought it helped, but they keep lunging at each other anyways. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!
Some history: I've owned guinea pigs before, but this is the first time I've ever owned two at the same time (it wasn't until after many years of ownership that I realized that guinea pigs should be kept in pairs at the very least) so I'm pretty unknowledgeable about group dynamics.
I've had my two girls (Rose and Praline) in the same cage for about 2 1/2 years now (and they are roughly about 2 1/2 years old). I keep them in a 2 x 4 C&C cage. Growing up they had some fusses with each other, but overall they got along just fine. Earlier this year they started to get a little bit more aggressive with each other, usually rumble strutting and some mounting (both of them do this, but usually Rose is the instigator and is a bigger pig in general). I read up on this and the most common advice I saw was to let them sort it out but keep an eye on them.
In the past couple of weeks they have become even more so aggressive with each other, now lunging at each other and teeth chattering. Fortunately they have not drawn blood yet, but I'm fearful that this behavior is only going to get worse. Right now I have a divider in their cage to keep them separated (I just did this today after I saw them lunge at each other again).
What should I do? I'm worried that because they're already over 2 1/2 years old that they're past the "waiting it out" phase. I live in an apartment currently and the one 2 x 4 cage is the biggest cage I can have without obstructing walkways. I'm worried that they'll have to be permanently separated, but I won't have room for them to each have their own cage. I've tried getting them separate food bowls, and I thought it helped, but they keep lunging at each other anyways. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!
