Bond not working/should we separate?

[Bettyb26]

Hi all,

In may we decided to get a baby to join our Eddie who was lonely after falling out with his brother. We know a baby/adult match doesn’t always work out but it was the quickest and easiest solution at the time. Baby Hank is now about 6 months old and it is clear he wants to be the boss, to the point that it is verging on bullying. It started with some on and off humping (but humping poor eddie’s head) which over the past couple of days has become incessant and this morning he wasn’t allowing Eddie to eat. They have four food bowls between them so this shouldn’t be an issue but he was chasing Eddie away every time he tried to get something to eat. They still lay next to each other and eat hay together but Hank is nearly always chasing him or rumble strutting (I took eddie out for a cuddle earlier and Hank was still rumbling even though Eddie wasn’t there) and I’m just really not sure what to do. There haven’t been any injuries that we can see but I feel awful for Eddie, and he’s really quiet and sweet and not particularly fighting back so I don’t know why Hank is still being so aggressive. I don’t know whether to put a couple of grids between them tonight and see how they are tomorrow, or if that will make them worse. We could possibly try Hank with our other piggy eugene but whenever they have met through the bars during floor time, Hank incessantly rumbles at him too. Eugene is more feisty and probably wouldn’t take any of hank’s sh*t but I wouldn’t want either of them to get hurt. If we have to rehome Hank I think we’d be ok with that but I don’t want Eddie to be alone again. I know I will probably get criticised for this but they are in a 4x2 and we categorically do not have space for even one more grid, and if we wanted to do boar dating or adopt from a shelter they always have a minimum 5x2 requirement. I am really at a loss for what to do because one day they seem ok and then the next it is constant humping and I don’t want Eddie to become withdrawn or to have any injuries. Thank you

 

[Siikibam]

Boars do have a hormone surge at several points throughout their teen years. At this time, it is more likely for there to be rumbling, chasing, mounting and humping.

How long has the rumbling etc been going on for, at its ‘worst’? And what does Eddie do - does he let himself be mounted and humped? How has his weight been, is it steady or is he losing? Does he hide, or is showing signs of withdrawing? Is he allowed to eat hay? When Hank chases him from the bowls, does he then eat or he’s just chasing him from one to another? Are the bowls at least one guinea pig length apart? You could just get rid of the bowls and scatter feed the veg. Perhaps hand feed them one thing first (taking into account the hierarchy) and then scatter feed the rest of the veg on two separate piles of hay. Do all hides have two exits so no pig can be trapped? And is there teo

Sorry for so many questions. The issue with separating is you can only do it so many times before it becomes detrimental to their bond. You could try a trial separation with a grid in between, and would have to do bonding on neutral ground again. If you do so, you will have to watch Eddie’s behaviour rather than Hank’s.

It does look a lot worse to us than it sometimes is. I’ll link to some guides for you below. Have a read and then decide how you can move forward. As for bonding with Eugene, behaviour through the grid doesn’t really give a good indication of what could happen during bonding.

I will say that unfortunately a 4x2 is going to be too small an area for each pig were you to put a grid in for separation.

Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

Bonds In Trouble

Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

 

[Piggies&buns]

I agree with Siikibam.

At 6 months he is at the height of hormone output.

You won’t be criticised but a 4x2 for a boar pair is considered minimum - some pairs are ok with it but for others, and where a teen is involved, it’s not always going go to work. You also cannot separate a 4x2 in half for a permanent separation (in an emergency/fight situation then it would have to be to be able to get them apart but you wouldn’t want it to be for any longer than a day or two) - the smallest cage size for a single piggy is a 3x2.

If it tips over into actually bullying and affects Eddie’s well-being, weight etc then there doesn’t need to be a fight for you to call the bond a failure and make a permanent separation

Do read the guides Siikibam has linked in, particularly the ‘bonds in trouble’ guide as that explains the signs of a dysfunctional bond and what to do, when to call it etc.

 

[Bettyb26]

Boars do have a hormone surge at several points throughout their teen years. At this time, it is more likely for there to be rumbling, chasing, mounting and humping.

How long has the rumbling etc been going on for, at its ‘worst’? And what does Eddie do - does he let himself be mounted and humped? How has his weight been, is it steady or is he losing? Does he hide, or is showing signs of withdrawing? Is he allowed to eat hay? When Hank chases him from the bowls, does he then eat or he’s just chasing him from one to another? Are the bowls at least one guinea pig length apart? You could just get rid of the bowls and scatter feed the veg. Perhaps hand feed them one thing first (taking into account the hierarchy) and then scatter feed the rest of the veg on two separate piles of hay. Do all hides have two exits so no pig can be trapped? And is there teo

Sorry for so many questions. The issue with separating is you can only do it so many times before it becomes detrimental to their bond. You could try a trial separation with a grid in between, and would have to do bonding on neutral ground again. If you do so, you will have to watch Eddie’s behaviour rather than Hank’s.

It does look a lot worse to us than it sometimes is. I’ll link to some guides for you below. Have a read and then decide how you can move forward. As for bonding with Eugene, behaviour through the grid doesn’t really give a good indication of what could happen during bonding.

I will say that unfortunately a 4x2 is going to be too small an area for each pig were you to put a grid in for separation.

Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

Bonds In Trouble

Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

Thank you for your reply. The behaviour has kind of been on and off but for the past week I’d say it’s been happening more often than not. Eddie normally shakes him off and he does kind of warn him to back off but he’s never tried to hump him back or anything. His weight is steady and he is eating hay as usual. The bowls are far apart, the food guarding only happened for the first time yesterday and I ended up taking Hank out of the cage for a bit so eddie could eat, but I will scatter their food today to see if that makes a difference. All the hides have 2 exits and Eddie has just been going into one of them to get away from Hank I think.

I know that they wouldn’t be able to permanently stay in the divided cage, I would only want to do it in an emergency situation until we could figure something out. Thank you for your help, it’s really appreciated