Advice needed bullying 2 boars

[mls18]

Hi,
Does anyone know how to deal with a guinea pig bullying another?
My guinea pigs get along pretty well, however recently I've noticed one of my guinea pigs has been getting more skittish and scared of my other guinea pig. They're both adults and have been cagemates for about 6 months. They've always had this dynamic but recently I've noticed that the bullied guinea pig has been losing weight, while my more dominant guinea pig has been gaining a lot. They get along really well most of the time, but my guinea pig will get pushed around a lot by the other. For example, they could just be sitting next to each other peacefully eating hay, when my guinea pig would just randomly decide to scare the other. I'm not really sure what to do about this, any advice would be really helpful!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,
Does anyone know how to deal with a guinea pig bullying another?
My guinea pigs get along pretty well, however recently I've noticed one of my guinea pigs has been getting more skittish and scared of my other guinea pig. They're both adults and have been cagemates for about 6 months. They've always had this dynamic but recently I've noticed that the bullied guinea pig has been losing weight, while my more dominant guinea pig has been gaining a lot. They get along really well most of the time, but my guinea pig will get pushed around a lot by the other. For example, they could just be sitting next to each other peacefully eating hay, when my guinea pig would just randomly decide to scare the other. I'm not really sure what to do about this, any advice would be really helpful!

Hi

Please firstly make sure that there is not an underlying health or dental issue that is triggering the dominance. You always need to make sure that this is excluded before you can consider bullying. Guinea pigs have much finer senses than we humans and can pick up on things much earlier than we do. A piggy that is gradually eating less hay or is chewing more slowly because of a developing pain, dental or other health issue often means that the companion has more to eat in the same time. If needed, please feed them separately or offer your thinner boy top up feed (make sure that the companion is also getting a very little a a treat so their mouths are smelling the same).

As to testing whether a relationship is still viable or not, please conduct a 2 days trial separation with a re-intro on neutral ground outside the cage. Take the time to read this link here on what you are exactly looking out for at each step: Bonds In Trouble