Maddykins
Junior Guinea Pig
Me and my partner recently adopted a pair of neutered boars from a local reputable rescue. They have always been together and are believed to be from the same litter and they estimate that they're probably a little under a year old, 10 months or so. The fosterer told me they get on well but Nelson is the dominant one because he will be a little more aggressive to Martin at meal times in particular and will steal food and sit on food so Martin can't get to it.
We've had them about a week now and we've noticed they have little 'tiffs' sometimes. This is usually when Martin gets in Nelson's way (although the cage is bigger than minimum standard they both tend to like being or running into the space under the loft because it's cosy I guess), or when Martin has been licking Nelson for awhile and Nelson gets fed up. This is usually just Nelson like 'growling' and shoving his head at Martin and Martin makes some squeeky noises and backs off and then they've forgotten about it a minute later and will lay down next to each other again or go off to eat some hay separately or whatever they were previously doing.
Today however Nelson actively looked to continue the disagreement even after Martin had ran away making squeaky noises. He went after him growling and looked like he went to bite Martin's bum but I put my hand in the way and made a noise so he got a bit of a fright and then walked off and forgot about it. About half an hour later a similar thing happened - basically they were having floor time (only for the second day) and today Martin was very, very distressed and nervous. When he gets very nervous he tends to run up to Nelson and follow him around but he gets in Nelsons way who then gets annoyed. Again this time Nelson seemed to go to bite Martin and I stayed out of this time to watch but they had a little tussle and I broke it up again.
After putting them back in their cages about ten minutes later they are both just tired out from running around the floor and have both just been laying down (near each other) and sleeping without any problems.
Am I right to worry or is this totally normal? This is the only time they've really 'fought' normally it's just Nelson kinda telling Martin to stop and that's the end of it. Usually they get on well, they often eat together and Martin follows Nelson around when he's nervous, and they usually sleep very near other (not cuddled up but in close proximity) and so on. It's not really a problem when me or my partner are here to watch them I just worry because obviously we're not permanently present.
Is there anything I can do to help the situation? It seems to mostly be a problem when Martin is particularly nervous as he gets in Nelsons way more then because he's trying to stay close to him to feel safe - it's so sad I feel so bad for him! So I figure the less distressed Martin is the less they will fight so with time he should settle in and calm down more and this shouldn't continue? He is making some positive steps but out of the two Nelson is pretty much right at home here apart from not liking being carried and when we are holding him he tries to escape at first but then will settle down and enjoys some strokes whereas Martin won't let you touch him and runs away or makes scared noises.
Sorry for such a long post, it's just because we're both new to keeping them and we love them and we wouldn't be able to afford to have another cage probably or even have the space anyway if we needed to separate them we'd probably have to give one up which would be terrible
We've had them about a week now and we've noticed they have little 'tiffs' sometimes. This is usually when Martin gets in Nelson's way (although the cage is bigger than minimum standard they both tend to like being or running into the space under the loft because it's cosy I guess), or when Martin has been licking Nelson for awhile and Nelson gets fed up. This is usually just Nelson like 'growling' and shoving his head at Martin and Martin makes some squeeky noises and backs off and then they've forgotten about it a minute later and will lay down next to each other again or go off to eat some hay separately or whatever they were previously doing.
Today however Nelson actively looked to continue the disagreement even after Martin had ran away making squeaky noises. He went after him growling and looked like he went to bite Martin's bum but I put my hand in the way and made a noise so he got a bit of a fright and then walked off and forgot about it. About half an hour later a similar thing happened - basically they were having floor time (only for the second day) and today Martin was very, very distressed and nervous. When he gets very nervous he tends to run up to Nelson and follow him around but he gets in Nelsons way who then gets annoyed. Again this time Nelson seemed to go to bite Martin and I stayed out of this time to watch but they had a little tussle and I broke it up again.
After putting them back in their cages about ten minutes later they are both just tired out from running around the floor and have both just been laying down (near each other) and sleeping without any problems.
Am I right to worry or is this totally normal? This is the only time they've really 'fought' normally it's just Nelson kinda telling Martin to stop and that's the end of it. Usually they get on well, they often eat together and Martin follows Nelson around when he's nervous, and they usually sleep very near other (not cuddled up but in close proximity) and so on. It's not really a problem when me or my partner are here to watch them I just worry because obviously we're not permanently present.
Is there anything I can do to help the situation? It seems to mostly be a problem when Martin is particularly nervous as he gets in Nelsons way more then because he's trying to stay close to him to feel safe - it's so sad I feel so bad for him! So I figure the less distressed Martin is the less they will fight so with time he should settle in and calm down more and this shouldn't continue? He is making some positive steps but out of the two Nelson is pretty much right at home here apart from not liking being carried and when we are holding him he tries to escape at first but then will settle down and enjoys some strokes whereas Martin won't let you touch him and runs away or makes scared noises.
Sorry for such a long post, it's just because we're both new to keeping them and we love them and we wouldn't be able to afford to have another cage probably or even have the space anyway if we needed to separate them we'd probably have to give one up which would be terrible
