Agression from partner caused a fall

[Laura M.]

(Please ignor any poor spellings or grammar, I am writing thia at 3.30 in the morning)
I own two bonded boars, both are dominant. They were being agressive for no reason tonight, so my mum and I decided to separate them within the same cage using a barrier. I was jerked awake at 2am by one of my posters falling onto my face, and checked my guinea pig cam. I found Pixie in Muddy's section, trying to mount him. I rushed outside to go and separate them, and found Muddy was stuck inside the barrier. He must have jumped in. He had only been there for 8 minutes max, but he looked dazed. He is now in a pet carrier in my bedroom, and has nibbled some pellets and some of the fresh cucumber I just gave him, but he is not moving very much. He does not seem to be in pain, and he has very little space to move around in. Pixie is still in the barn and now seems to be looking for Muddy, who needs time on his own to recover. I am keeping them separated overnight, and in the morning, I will put Muddy in a grassy playpen to see how he walks and eats. If all is fine, I will work on reintroducing Pixie. If not, I will take him to the vets, of course.

Now here are my questions:

After a misjudged jump, what damage might Muddy have sustained?
How should I reintroduce them?
What might have caused their sudden aggression?
Are there any errors in my plan on going forward?
Is there anything I can do to help Pixie, who is looking for Muddy?
Is separating them the right thing?

 

[Piggies&buns]

How old are they?
how long have they been together?
how big is their cage?
do all hides have two exits?
You say they were being aggressive prior to separation (if they were then there absolutely would be a reason for it), what were they actually doing?

You say they are both dominant. If that is actually the case, then the bond will not be successful. One must be dominant and the other submissive. You could try to reintroduce them but if they both truly are trying to be dominant, then were never going to be able to and willl never be able to stay together. In this case separation is the right thing.
However, sometimes it’s hard for us to tell who is dominant though but the piggies will actually know.
That doesn’t mean to say things can’t change. Occasionally the submissive can try to take over which the dominant will not take kindly to and then that is also when a bond breaks down.

Yes, there could be injuries from a jump over a barrier - sprains from bad landings etc. Please do have him checked by a vet if you have any concerns

If you are going to reintroduce then you must do so on neutral territory and carry out a proper rebonding. The guides below the process and what you are looking for. Do not just put them back in their normal cage together as that could cause further issues.
You need to put them somewhere they don’t normally go, and allow the piggies to make up their mind about whether they want to be together. If thry go back together happily, theh that is great but do still keep an eye on things in case it turns again (in which case they should be kept apart from then on).
If they don’t successfully go back together, then their separation needs to be permanent. They will need to live in a divided cage and each half needs to be a minimum of 8 square feet. Make sure the divider is high so he can’t jump through again.

It’s important to remember that if their bond is broken and they cannot go back together but you see ‘looking for each other’ behaviours between the cage divider, then thats not always a positive thing. If their bond really is broken and they sit at the divider, chew bars etc, then that is territory marking and not a desire to be back together.

Bonds In Trouble
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

 

[weepweeps]

I hope Muddy is ok this morning.