boars fighting

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hi, i am new here but was looking for a little advice,,, i have had my boars (brothers from the same litter) for about 3 months now so they are approx 5 months old,, they were fine in the same hutch,(really large hutch with different hidie holes so space not a problem) until last week when i noticed they had started to bicker,,i presume this is for dominancy,, i kind of let them get on with it,, it was the usual chattering and swaggering around until they had a fight which was quite vicious,, it took a while for me to seperate them and one (the smaller quieter one)had a peice missing out of his ear,, another had a scratch to his eye,, blood had been drawn :'(

now i seperated the immediatly and had to buy 2 new hutches ::) which wasnt cheap but better than them fighting until serious injury,, the thing i am worried about is will they now get lonely,, 2 of them seem quite happy in their new cages,, spread out and relaxed,, squeek when i feed them,, come out to see me when i open the shed,, the other one seems depressed,, doesnt seem to be eating much,, has only really eaten his greens and a small amount of pellets :-\,, is very scared when you open the cage and very very jumpy when you try to handle him,, it is like having a new piggy again,, i am petting him a lot and have gave him a blanket just for him it is easier to hold him in a blanket,, was wondering what advice anyone could give me on how to make him feel better

oh btw,, their hutches are on top of one another is it best if they are facing so the can see each other,,

also,, they wont even tolerate each other in the run so was thinking of buying another run and making 3 closures out of it,, it is one that you pin the sides together,, would they be ok seeing each other throught the bars

thanks if you got this far,, i have started to ramble, but my family have limited interest in guinea pigs so dont really know who to ask
 
Hi Col,

Welcome to the forum! If you can I would put the guineas facing one another in the hutches so they can see one another. It may lift the mood of your depressed pig. I would still allow them to see one another through the bars. All isn't lost they may be ok when they are older. It's a difficult stage at 5 months, my two boars are of that age although they do get on they rumble and I think oh here we go!

Good luck with them!

Louise
:)
 
Thanks sarah,, your advice is much appreciated,,, i think i will turn one of the hutches around then so they can see each othe,, will need to rearrange the shed first ::)

their names are

fudge https://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u209/col73/100_0074.jpg

twinkle https://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u209/col73/100_0069-1.jpg

stink,,(the poor depressed one :-\) https://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u209/col73/100_0070.jpg

these were taken in happier days when they were all friends and played nicely ::)
 
Aww they are lovely. They look really big! :D I have a Twinkle too but he is black, white and grey. :)

Give it a try and see how you get on. I had to take out my Sheltie Cuzzy as he was fighting with my eldest boar Sunshine. He is happy in the living room and is so tame now. However they are better with their own kind.

Louise
:)
 
sorry louise,, why i called you sarah is anyones guess 98) i apoligise,, i must be going soft with old age ;D
 
Haha thats ok I usually get called Emma for some reason and sometimes Lucy! :)

;D
 
Totally sympathise with you on this. I'm going through something similar - have got 3 brothers, 8 months old now. They got on great but recently 2 have fallen out. I had to separate them as Harvey had been scratched badly. I've had them living side by side, a pair in one side and single in the other, then I swap them as Teddy gets on well with both. Yesterday I put them all back together but only because they've got a big new area and there's more space and it's kind of neutral territory again. I also bathed them all before putting them in to try and neutralise them all. I've always kept females so this is all new to me!

Would definitely advise putting them so they can see each other. They may try to get through to the other side though so make sure it's secure. You could try putting them on your lap together, they are less likely to fight if you're there. But it's not worth one of them getting injured. Have I read your post right - that you've got 3? If so, do 2 of them get on well? Could you keep them as a pair and then have the other one alongside. If you have one which gets on well with both you could do what I've been doing - swapping them round so they both have a turn with the 'friendly' one.

I will be getting one of mine neutered to try with my females but I'd rather not have done this.

Good luck, I know how distressing this is. You just wish you could explain to them!
 
yep jillybean i have 3,, unfortunatly i had to seperate them all as the 2 bigger ones are both being aggresive with each other and the poor one who was bit(fudge),, fudge is our fave aswell as he was the smaller of the 3 and was always last in line to be fed,, he never pushed just sat and waited until he was allowed,, he is the most friendly and will quite happily let you pick him up and handle him,,, he has stretched out on my 3 year old daughters knee once and fell asleep;; he is very contented,,,, and yet he is stuck in the middle of the other 2 fighting ::)

i will definatly try placing them facing each other,, if just to ease stinks depression,,

i did try to sit with 2 on my knee and they were just hissing and clicking at each other,, ones hair on his back stood up and even i was intimadated,, i think they really dont like each other

was thinking maybe getting them neauted so they could have a sow each for company but scared if this doesnt work i will end up with double the numbers of piggys,,
 
Could you try the smaller quiet one with one of the others as a pair and see if that works? A happy pair is better then a fighting trio! Three boars can be very tricky and doesnt always work, you may have more luck with two. If that works out, you could try bringing the one left to a rescue to let him choose a friend for himself. They are happy to let you do this and its all about piggies personalities when it comes to bonding :)
 
If you dint want them as lone you could try breeding them with another female. I'm not entirely if or how you can desex your guinea pig so its worth finding out. I would defiantly find them both a female so they are not as lone. Or if you want to play pot luck you could put in another male with 1 but they might have the same fights or they may not. Some guinea pigs just dint get along and some do. Just like people. But its not too wise buying another male because you may end up with 3 loney guinea pigs and 3 cages.
 
We don`t advocate breeding on purpose on this forum :) If he did breed, the sow could have several boars and he would be in a worse situation than he is now.
You could try pairing up two and if that works out, get the single neutered and get him a sow :)
 
Agree with both points made by Lavenderjade - try the small one with one of the others - opposites often get on well as the little one won't be a threat. Just watch them carefully. And no, breeding wouldn't be your answer - you'd end up overrun with all sorts of problems!

My 3 boys are still together. I'm keeping everything crossed that it will continue to go well. The 2 which weren't getting on are much calmer and are avoiding each other, but they've now got a huge area and have their own space. Might just be temporary calm though until hormones kick in again.

Good luck, please let us know how it's going.
 
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