lovepiggies!
Junior Guinea Pig
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2020
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 10
- Points
- 70
Hi there, we are new to the forums and are seeking some advice! Sorry for the long post, we just wanted to include everything to give a better understanding of what's happening.
We have 2 male guinea pigs aged around 10months who we have had since they were 9 weeks. They live in a 160cm x 120cm indoor custom built house and have access to an equal sized run attached to their main house. They have 2 of everything and get lots of attention from us. They have never been 'best friends' they generally just seem to tolerate one another. Arlo is the dominant pig, he always wants to know what's going on whereas Otto is quite happy pottering around doing his own thing. Over the past few months there has been mild teeth chattering, Arlo chasing and rumble strutting at Otto but Arlo always let's Otto eat and drink in peace and leaves him alone when he's sleeping.
On Tuesday they had a major scuffle, I went over as soon as I heard all the commotion, they were both very loudly teeth chattering and I saw that Otto's foot was bleeding and he was limping. I called the vet who made me an appointment for the afternoon. I kept Otto apart from Arlo for about half an hour and monitored them until we took Otto to the vets. There was mild chattering but otherwise they were sharing their main house with no problems. The vet checked Otto over and he had 2 cuts on his foot one of which she said was definitely a bite mark. He's on medication for a week now and I asked whether to separate them, the vet said to keep an eye on them as Otto needed to rest his foot but separate if Arlo kept chasing Otto around. Otto has been completely back to his usual self however they have been baring their teeth at each other the last few days with occasional chasing, and a lot of chattering. This is happening multiple times a day. Arlo also seems to be the one to back down when they are chattering at each other. We're not sure if they are trying to work out their heirarchy again?
However, today as I was cleaning out their main house (they were in the attached pen) they went flying at each other and were pinning each other to the floor. I managed to safely get between them and Otto went into the main house while Arlo stayed in the pen. We closed off the pen for about half an hour so they could cool down, Arlo wasn't happy and was trying to get to Otto but Otto was quite happy being on his own. They are together at the moment and have had a couple of moments of loud chattering at each other.
We are both back to work soon (been furloughed the last 2 months) and are concerned about another falling out happening and us coming home from work to another injury! Whereas the last 2 months we have been at home and able to keep a close eye on them.
We are changing their bedding to fleece this weekend (they are currently on woodshavings), which we are concerned may affect their behaviour as well as it will be a change for them.
We've read through the forum and the guides but still seem a bit lost as to what to do. We're not sure if this is usual teenage arguments but it all seems quite angry and they just seem to irritate each other. We have the space to divide their house and still have ample space for each of them. They would be able to see/smell/hear each other through the bars. We don't want to break them up if we don't need to, their relationship is causing us a lot of worry and stress as we just want what's best for them.
Please if any one has any advice we would be most grateful!
We have 2 male guinea pigs aged around 10months who we have had since they were 9 weeks. They live in a 160cm x 120cm indoor custom built house and have access to an equal sized run attached to their main house. They have 2 of everything and get lots of attention from us. They have never been 'best friends' they generally just seem to tolerate one another. Arlo is the dominant pig, he always wants to know what's going on whereas Otto is quite happy pottering around doing his own thing. Over the past few months there has been mild teeth chattering, Arlo chasing and rumble strutting at Otto but Arlo always let's Otto eat and drink in peace and leaves him alone when he's sleeping.
On Tuesday they had a major scuffle, I went over as soon as I heard all the commotion, they were both very loudly teeth chattering and I saw that Otto's foot was bleeding and he was limping. I called the vet who made me an appointment for the afternoon. I kept Otto apart from Arlo for about half an hour and monitored them until we took Otto to the vets. There was mild chattering but otherwise they were sharing their main house with no problems. The vet checked Otto over and he had 2 cuts on his foot one of which she said was definitely a bite mark. He's on medication for a week now and I asked whether to separate them, the vet said to keep an eye on them as Otto needed to rest his foot but separate if Arlo kept chasing Otto around. Otto has been completely back to his usual self however they have been baring their teeth at each other the last few days with occasional chasing, and a lot of chattering. This is happening multiple times a day. Arlo also seems to be the one to back down when they are chattering at each other. We're not sure if they are trying to work out their heirarchy again?
However, today as I was cleaning out their main house (they were in the attached pen) they went flying at each other and were pinning each other to the floor. I managed to safely get between them and Otto went into the main house while Arlo stayed in the pen. We closed off the pen for about half an hour so they could cool down, Arlo wasn't happy and was trying to get to Otto but Otto was quite happy being on his own. They are together at the moment and have had a couple of moments of loud chattering at each other.
We are both back to work soon (been furloughed the last 2 months) and are concerned about another falling out happening and us coming home from work to another injury! Whereas the last 2 months we have been at home and able to keep a close eye on them.
We are changing their bedding to fleece this weekend (they are currently on woodshavings), which we are concerned may affect their behaviour as well as it will be a change for them.
We've read through the forum and the guides but still seem a bit lost as to what to do. We're not sure if this is usual teenage arguments but it all seems quite angry and they just seem to irritate each other. We have the space to divide their house and still have ample space for each of them. They would be able to see/smell/hear each other through the bars. We don't want to break them up if we don't need to, their relationship is causing us a lot of worry and stress as we just want what's best for them.
Please if any one has any advice we would be most grateful!
they even steal each other’s lettuce through the metal grids
