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Piff12

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I have 2 guinea pigs that we have had for almost 2 years. They have gotten along fine fir the most part. There has always been chattering, circling and mounting by one, but it has never amounted to anything. I've noticed my one boy is being extra aggressive. I came home and the aggressor had a scratch on his mouth. I then checked the other over and he has a small piece missing from his ear and a few healing scratches on his back. I've never seen them bite one another, but obviously something is happening. They are currently caged in a 6 x 2 CC cage with 2 waters, 2 feeders and plenty of hideys. They don't fight or act aggressive all the time. I will set up a vet appt, but we don't really have a specialist here, so it takes a while to get appts and the emergency vets here won't see guinea pigs. Any advice is appreciated.
 
Has anything changed?
Usually if something has changed in their environment (new hidey houses, different cage setup, etc.) would lead to a change in their hierarchy - i.e. there will be a lot of fights in order for them to find out who is in charge.
It can be a little tricky keeping 2 boars peacefully living together as you have to be careful when introducing new things!
 
Zorro1 said:
Has anything changed?
Usually if something has changed in their environment (new hidey houses, different cage setup, etc.) would lead to a change in their hierarchy - i.e. there will be a lot of fights in order for them to find out who is in charge.
It can be a little tricky keeping 2 boars peacefully living together as you have to be careful when introducing new things!
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Nothings changed. I decided to put a wire fence between then because I checked out my other boy and he had two wounds on his back and has two chunks of ear missing 😒. The aggressor doesn't care they are apart, but my sweet victim is desperately trying to bite through the divider to get with him 😭.
 
But I can't leave them together with that kind of wound, right? My other boy "the aggressor" has a cut on his lip as well. Should I put them back together?
 
Now both are trying to get through. I'm so overwhelmed and am losing sleep over this.
 
It sounds like it would be too dangerous to put the two back together. A wound on the back is a clear sign that the aggressor has attempted to harm the other piggy as the spine is very delicate.
Very good call to separate them. Unfortunately, I haven't got a lot of experience with this sort of thing and can't advise what you should do but keep them separated. Hopefully someone who knows what to do in such a situation with reply soon.
 
I don't really know if this will help, but if the piggies are getting really stressed while looking at each other through the divider, maybe replace the divider with something that they can't see through. Hopefully they will forget about each other. As I said before, I don't know weather this will help or just make them more stressed.
 
Sorry for the rapid fire posts. I'm figuring things as I go. I put them back together and they circled and mounted and stuff, but no fights. I think I realized what was wrong. A few days ago I noticed my one boys paw looked red. I was terrified it was bumble foot, so I'd take him out daily to check. I think he was getting super stressed because he'd get more frantic with mounting after. My son says they don't really fight when he's in there. So, I think I stressed him out and when I walk in he stresses. I'm going to see if I leave them alone and let my son do the care for a bit, if that helps the issue. Like I said, until this week we'd have small dominance things, but no fighting.
 
If everyone advises against, I can separate again. I just felt so badly because they were both frantic to get together. I did remove all the hideys with only one exit.
 
Bites and wounds are usually a sign there is a problem, particularly if they are both getting wounded, you need to keep a close eye on them
Biting and chewing bars to get back together also is not necessarily a sign that they want to be together or can stay together, so don’t take it as a given that all will definitely be ok. Behaviour between the bars when separated is often a territorial behaviour and not a friendly one.

Is the one with the sore foot the dominant or submissive piggy?
Its important to respect their hierarchy and always do everything for the dominant piggy first. So if your submissive is the one with the sore foot, then make sure you pick the dominant up give him a fuss first, and then get the submissive to check his foot.
If it is the dominant with the sore foot, then obviously he can be checked first.
Some boars really react to being separated (even for a short time such as a health check and this is why you need to respect their hierarchy each time you handle them) and feel the need to assert their dominance much more greatly when they are put back together.

If you find fresh injuries on either of them then it would be a good idea to give them a longer separation. Put the bars up between them and leave them separated for a few days to let things settle. You can then try a reintroduction but it must be on neutral territory - don’t just remove the divider. After a few days separated each piggy would have set up their own territory in each half of the cage and if you just remove a divider and allow them to wander back together if can immediately set off a territorial fight. So reintroduce outside of the cage in a space they don’t see as their own territory, and allow them to make up their minds about whether they want to be together - it’s usually obviously fairly quickly in that kind of situation - if they do, then they can go back to a full cage together. If not, separation would need to be made permanent.
 
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Just to add, bar biting isn’t always about wanting to be together. It can also be part of the power game that is going on and they are trying to wind upthe other one.

Be cautious of labelling one an aggressor too. Someone got bitten, they could well be defensive bites because they had been winding up their mate and came out of it badly! Piggy interaction is complex and labelling with human behaviour doesn’t work well and potentially leaves you feeling resentful towards the perceived trouble maker.
 
Thank you both. All the wounds are scabbes over, but it had to have happened recently because I cut their nails recently and didn't see any issues.

The dominant one was the one with the foot issue. It seems fine. It's been about a week and nothing has come from it. I will try to get to a vet, but our exotic vet is no longer around, so hopefully I can find someone. And I'm afraid if I separate for a vet visit it will make it worse.

I just checked on them and they are curled up sleeping together.

This guinea pig thing is tough. I feel like I'm about to have a panic attack over it. Can't sleep, etc.

So, do you suggest keeping together and if I notice a fresh wound to then separate or should I separate now as a preventative?

I got the less dominant one first and he was very scared and unsure, so he really loved having the other pig because he gave him confidence and was less afraid. I'm afraid if I separate, he won't take it well being alone because he always runs to him when he is frightened.

Ugh.....this guinea thing is definitely not for me, but I made a commitment, so I'm trying my best for them.
 
Piff12 said:
Thank you both. All the wounds are scabbes over, but it had to have happened recently because I cut their nails recently and didn't see any issues.

The dominant one was the one with the foot issue. It seems fine. It's been about a week and nothing has come from it. I will try to get to a vet, but our exotic vet is no longer around, so hopefully I can find someone. And I'm afraid if I separate for a vet visit it will make it worse.

I just checked on them and they are curled up sleeping together.

This guinea pig thing is tough. I feel like I'm about to have a panic attack over it. Can't sleep, etc.

So, do you suggest keeping together and if I notice a fresh wound to then separate or should I separate now as a preventative?

I got the less dominant one first and he was very scared and unsure, so he really loved having the other pig because he gave him confidence and was less afraid. I'm afraid if I separate, he won't take it well being alone because he always runs to him when he is frightened.

Ugh.....this guinea thing is definitely not for me, but I made a commitment, so I'm trying my best for them.
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If they are ok together for now, then leave them together and keep an eye on them. If they fight or you notice more wounds, then their bond may be in trouble and you may need to revisit the idea of permanent separation . We can help if that happens but there are guides available in the behaviour section for guidance as well.

Please don’t separate them unnecessarily though, not even for something like a vet visit - if one needs the vet, then you always take them both.
 
Piggies&buns said:
If they are ok together for now, then leave them together and keep an eye on them. If they fight or you notice more wounds, then their bond may be in trouble and you may need to revisit the idea of permanent separation . We can help if that happens but there are guides available in the behaviour section for guidance as well.

Please don’t separate them unnecessarily though, not even for something like a vet visit - if one needs the vet, then you always take them both.
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Thank you. Seriously.

I read a lot last night on the links.

So, when I out them together, there was a lot of mounting (which is normal for my guys), but there was also a lot of circling each other and getting in their faces. Definitely chattering (which is also normal for mine), but the circling thing is definitely new. I'm just praying they chill out.

If I do need to separate, is a 3 x 2 enough room for each one? I have a 6 x 2 currently. I don't know if I could fit much more in my room!
 
Piff12 said:
Thank you. Seriously.

I read a lot last night on the links.

So, when I out them together, there was a lot of mounting (which is normal for my guys), but there was also a lot of circling each other and getting in their faces. Definitely chattering (which is also normal for mine), but the circling thing is definitely new. I'm just praying they chill out.

If I do need to separate, is a 3 x 2 enough room for each one? I have a 6 x 2 currently. I don't know if I could fit much more in my room!
Click to expand...

The circling may suggest there is bit of tension. All you can do is keep a watch. I’ll link in some guides below (which you may already have seen) but they are very useful and can help you gauge where things are between them.

If you do need to separate then a 3x2 is on the small side, however, it does just meet minimum sizing in terms of square feet.

Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
Bonds In Trouble
 
it my experience once boars have caused injuries that is the end of the relationship.Circling is usually a precursor for a fully blown furball lock on fight,unless you are there to break it up.ive had my fair share of boars and sows having lockon furball fights.
 
They have been getting along well this morning. It's just been the normal mounting and less dominant pig running away. But, no chattering, circling, etc. I'm very weary.

There had to have been some outside stress that caused their initial fight.

Could the scratches on the one guineas back be from the other mounting it (it's nails)? I know the ear must have been from a bite, obviously.

I think I'm just trying to rationalize what happened.
 
So, they are back to being buddies with absolutely NO aggressions besides the occasional mounting. No circling, no chattering, nothing. I do NOT know what happened to get the aggression to start or stop. Like I said, thus was the only incident in almost 2 years, so 🤷
 
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