advice on splitting gps please......

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I've read a recent post about 2 females falling out after a year together. I would like to seek some advice as I have 2 boars doing the same. They have never been best friends but they seemed OK...however, tonight the less dominant one fought back. There was VB teeth chattering from both and chasing. One was almost jumping onto the other and looked like he was trying to bite the other....but there are no wounds. I've had no choice but to split them up. They then seem upset to be apart! I've basically left one in their indoor cage, on the floor, next to a run. The one in the cage is running around and sitting on top of a hide trying to look into run and the one in the run is biting the bars near the indoor cage. I didn't want to split them as didn't know if I could get them back together after but the way things were going I couldn't risk going to bed tonight and finding one injured in the morning. Has anyone any advice (I'm worried I haven't got the space to split them indefinitely as at present they are taking up all of my dinning room) - I feel quite desperate.....
 
Has anything changed to make them fight? How big is the cage they are in? with boars space is important, more space the better and sometimes multiple food bowls etc can be needed. You could try bathing them together tomorrow supposed to help them bond, it has worked with friction before for me as puts them both in same situation and bonds them as scared.
 
Thank you for replying. I can't see that anything has changed. Their indoor cage is 120cm and they get out everyday into a larger run. I have bathed them before but did them desperately so I will try them together. We've just put them back together in their run and I'll monitor them today. Any further thoughts gratefully received.
 
Have you read the stickies at the top of this section?
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?28949-Boars!-Simple-Dominance-Displays-or-Fighting
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?76162-Boars-A-guide-to-successful-companionship

The one jumping on top of the other couldn't have just been mounting/humping him, could he? :)) My pigs do what you've described every now and then and it's just a dominance squabble because they've found something to argue over. I've never had any proper fighting as a result, it usually descends into popcorning.
 
Thanks I've read it before but it was good to go over it again - thanks. It seemed to be the less dominant one trying to mount the dominant one - which was obviously annoying him and there was lots of chasing. But the less d one was jumping on boxes, waiting for the other to pass and then it looked like he was trying to reach for the neck but it could have been trying to get on top. They are in the same run past present, in different boxes and v quiet and subdued. I will bath them and see if that helps - I really want them to settle down again as we think the world of them both. Thanks for the support.
 
It sounds to me like one of the sows had a hormonal spike/strong season, which triggered some dominance. Re-introduce them on neutral ground before putting them back in their cage. You will hopefully find that things have calmed down again.
If you can, arrange for two different hideys, so the girls can get away from each other. Even a little towel or hankie pegged to a corner works!

Bathing with sows is usually not necessary. Boars tend to spray everything with their testosterone laden pee, so it makes sense to wash off the offending male reek before re-intros.

If the problems with rather aggressive behaviour persist, I would have the problem girl checked for ovarian cyst/hormonal issues.
http://www.guinealynx.info/ovarian_cysts.html
 
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They are boars :) How old are they? Not sure you said. It could be hormonal. I don't think a bath will harm then then reintroduce them outside of the cage and keep an eye on them. Males always hump and you do hear teeth chattering but it should stop there no fighting.
 
Sorry, I thought they were sows. Boars tend to get into fights more often when they hit the big hormones between 4-14 months old. In that case, by all means give them a bath!
You may find our boar guide at the top of the behaviour section helpful: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?76162-Boars-A-guide-to-successful-companionship

Try to have everything in twos (hideys, bowls water bottles, well apart from each other) and as much space as could can provide to jep get them through the iffy time!
 
Thanks again for your support. They are boars and 1 is about 13 months old - the other 12 months. They have been very quiet since there bust up. The first night we seperated them but put them next to each other...the following day we put them in a run together outide and they didn't come out of their hiding places the whole time. I think they had had a very stressful night not together. Since then we have put their cage in the indoor run so they can interact but have a lot more space to do it. They are still quiet but seem OK. We have bathed them so fingers crossed. I don't think they will ever be best mates but it was strange how distressed they seemed to be when they weren't in the same area...even though they were next to each other.
We already have 2 of everything from previous advice from yourselves when we first brought them home last year and they always have at least 2 hiding places if not more...
I will keep everything crossed as we think the world of them both.
Thanks again, it is so helpful to feel there are people to turn to when you are not quite sure what you should do....
 
Just thought I would do a quick update as I found reading through past threads helpful. They are both back to normal! I don't know what happened to make them fall out as they did - I was really worried about them....but now its like nothing happened. I realise it could happen again and will keep an eye on things though.
 
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