Boy pigs arguing

Fozzy44

Fozzy44

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone!

I got my 2 boy piggies Loki and Frodo, about 2 weeks ago. I got them from the the pet centre at my local garden centre (I know people say you should adopt 🙈) I don’t know if they’re related or not but they were hanging around with each other in the pen so I picked the 2 of them. Anyways, my pigs are outside because my landlord has a strict no animal policy and comes around to do inspections every month or 2.
They’ve got a large 2 story hutch with a snuggle cover and a waterproof cover and it’s located in a sheltered part of the yard so they don’t get the brunt of the wind and rain.
They seem quite happy in their hutch. I’m out there several times a day talking to them and trying to get them use to me and giving them a few veggies by hand in between their proper meal times. One of them is quite brave and a bit nosy (Loki) and he’ll go upstairs and sleeps in the proper “bedroom” part of the hutch. The other (Frodo) refuses to use the ramp (I replaced the original one with a better one) and sleeps in a little cardboard house downstairs. The food and water is downstairs because there’s more space and I don’t want Frodo to go hungry.
My problem is that when they’re both downstairs and Loki tries to go into the house Frodo makes a very unhappy grumble noise at him and chases him away. When I’ve put them both upstairs and covered the ramp to clean downstairs, Frodo has also jumped at Loki. I’m worried that they aren’t getting on and that Loki is getting a bit bullied by Frodo. I think he only started going upstairs because he kept getting thrown out the house/bed. Is this normal behaviour? Are they just establishing who’s dominant or should I be concerned? I’ve had piggies before they were girls and it was a long time ago.

Any help/advice would be appreciated!
 
Whether they are related is not relevant to whether they will get on. Equally, the fact that they were together when you got them does not mean they will get on. You don’t say how old they are, but I’m guessing not all that old. Once boys get to around 3 months old and continuing until around 14 months of age they are in their hormonal teenage times and this is when they are most likely to fall out. It is important that you read the guides on this site about boar behaviour so you can keep an eye on what is normal dominance and be able to spot if things turn sour.

It is because Frodo is getting territorial about the bed and he is now guarding it. This is something you should try to avoid so my advice would be to have multiple beds on each level and multiple feeding areas in the hutch. That way, no one piggy can guard any particular item thus reducing the risk of fall outs.

I have two teenage boys in a two tier hutch. They have four hideys (two upstairs in the bedroom area and two downstairs and a food bowl, hay rack and water bottle on each floor.

You need to just make sure that they have no reason to fall out and beds and food as well as general lack of space (ie too small a cage/hutch) can be a flash point.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Whether they are related is not relevant to whether they will get on. Equally, the fact that they were together when you got them does not mean they will get on. You don’t say how old they are, but I’m guessing not all that old. Once boys get to around 3 months old and continuing until around 14 months of age they are in their hormonal teenage times and this is when they are most likely to fall out. It is important that you read the guides on this site about boar behaviour so you can keep an eye on what is normal dominance and be able to spot if things turn sour.

It is because Frodo is getting territorial about the bed and he is now guarding it. This is something you should try to avoid so my advice would be to have multiple beds on each level and multiple feeding areas in the hutch. That way, no one piggy can guard any particular item thus reducing the risk of fall outs.

I have two teenage boys in a two tier hutch. They have four hideys (two upstairs in the bedroom area and two downstairs and a food bowl, hay rack and water bottle on each floor.

You need to just make sure that they have no reason to fall out and beds and food as well as general lack of space (ie too small a cage/hutch) can be a flash point.
Click to expand...

I was told that they were about 13 weeks old and I’ve had them for 2 weeks.
The hutch is 6ft wide, 4ft high and 2 storeys so I don’t think there’s a lack of space. There’s a house hidey and a tunnel downstairs and the same upstairs. There’s now 2 food bowls and 2 hay racks, one on each level. I only have 1 water bottle at the moment but I can get another one in a few days. Frodo won’t go upstairs at all. I’ve tried to tempt him up with a bit of brocolli (his fave treat) but he goes half way up and turns around again. They’re fine eating from the same hay rack/food bowl, there’s no grumpy noises or naughty behaviour. It’s only when Loki goes into the hidey house on the bottom floor and even then it’s not all the time
 
Your hutch is a good size (the second level doesn’t count as extra space though - only the ground level counts as their living space - so your hutch is 12 square feet which is perfect for two boys) . At their age they are just coming into their teenage months and you are going to see dominance behaviours from now on.
Piggies aren’t climbers so ramps can be scary for them. Covering them with a tunnel (so they don’t feel like they can fall off the slides) or putting up a solid rail along the side , and ensuring they aren’t too steep can help but some piggies just won’t use ramps!
That is what it probably is though - if he can’t/won’t go upstairs then to him that house downstairs is his.

I only ever use these log tunnels in my hutch so that each piggy can run straight through (no cornering), all four of them are identical and two sit side by side (two upstairs and two downstairs) so that when each pig is in one, then they can’t see the other pig in the one next door.
 

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Piggies&buns said:
Your hutch is a good size (the second level doesn’t count as extra space though - only the ground level counts as their living space - so your hutch is 12 square feet which is perfect for two boys) . At their age they are just coming into their teenage months and you are going to see dominance behaviours from now on.
Piggies aren’t climbers so ramps can be scary for them. Covering them with a tunnel (so they don’t feel like they can fall off the slides) or putting up a solid rail along the side , and ensuring they aren’t too steep can help but some piggies just won’t use ramps!
That is what it probably is though - if he can’t/won’t go upstairs then to him that house downstairs is his.

I only ever use these log tunnels in my hutch so that each piggy can run straight through (no cornering), all four of them are identical and two sit side by side (two upstairs and two downstairs) so that when each pig is in one, then they can’t see the other pig in the one next door.
Click to expand...

The ramp that was in the hutch was rubbish, too steep, nothing to grip onto, and it ended at the wall so they had to jump from the ramp to the floor level. I got a longer one that has sides and has little steps so they can grip. And I’ve added a platform at the top so that they can get up and down easier. Loki loves it and dashes up and down no problem. Frodo just refuses to go more than half way up.
I’ve got one of those log tunnels and a hay/cardboard hidey house on each level.
My girls I use to have (Dilly and Sammy) got on brilliantly which no troubles, I’ve never had boys so when they behave differently I worry there’s something wrong when really at the moment it’s just teenage boys being teenage boys
 
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This is similar to the houses I have in my hutch at the moment. I cut an extra entrance into the side so that they can escape if they argue. And they’ve chewed the main entrance door so much it’s now twice as wide haha!
 
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