Brothers fighting

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Popcorn23

New Born Pup
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Hello,
Just needing some advice really so i adopted two boars (neutered before i had them) they have been together since birth . I have had them for around 3 weeks bean has been displaying dominance behaviour and have caught them teeth chattering once before now.

Thursday night i heard them chattering loudly and chasing eachother i saw them lunge at eachother but i shouted at them in a panic which made them jump (i know i shouldnt have) and when checked them over sausage had been bitten on the nose but am unsure if he did with intent or because i made them jump.
I have had him checked out by a vet and all is fine. They had been separated in the same cage with a grid between them so they can’t touch eachother.
However i did a slow introduction as the exotics vet agreed as this fight was out of character and think were hot and bothered ( i know not advised but very out of the blue fight) They both popcorned when they saw eachother and have been supervised all day . A few small teeth chattering moments and some tense moments but both short lived as then get distracted by hay or veggies😂and for the most part have been fine with eachother, eating together and sitting near eachother . Bean does still nudge sausage out the way sometime but I'm guessing because he is boss?
Is it a good idea to keep separating them when I'm not around as dont fully trust them yet they are just so depressed when separated but i dont want sausage to get injured. I also dont want to stress them by having to reintroduce them everyday.

Thank you
Xx
 
I’m sorry to hear they had a fight.

No it’s not a good idea to keep separating them. That will be an added stress factor, will cause dominance each and every time you reintroduce and can potentially cause a bond to completely break down.

Now they are back together, leave them together. If they do have another fight, then that would be considered evidence that their bond is not a happy one.
 
Piggies&buns said:
I’m sorry to hear they had a fight.

No it’s not a good idea to keep separating them. That will be an added stress factor, will cause dominance each and every time you reintroduce and can potentially cause a bond to completely break down.

Now they are back together, leave them together. If they do have another fight, then that would be considered evidence that their bond is not a happy one.
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Okay thank you , i have been using pet remedy which i think is working as both seem calm and very relaxed I'm hoping it was just a one off as never had a fight before now i think it was over a frozen bottle i put in the cage i stupidly put one in but by the time i took it out they had wound eachother up .
Do you think they will be okay now that nothing has happened since and they have been together for 12 hours?
 
Like they are quite close together and no fighting since . A few nose to nose moments but like i said very short lived and hasnt gone any further
 

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So at 4 months is the start of the teens, hormones and therefore tensions are now rising.
Unfortunately it is also the start of the time where incompatibilities can come to light - being biological brothers does not make any difference to their ability to be ok together long term
With any luck it was a one off spat and they will be ok but do keep an eye on them as we cannot know with any certainty (more boar pairs make it together than not though)

My two youngest boys had been together since 5 weeks of age but had an almighty fight at 18 weeks very suddenly and out of the blue, and completely fell out. There has been no warning prior to it. They’re now 9 months old and have lived side by side since.

As a side note, it looks like they have rather a lot of pellets available to them. Pellets should be just one tablespoon (around 10 grams) per pig per day.
 
Piggies&buns said:
So at 4 months is the start of the teens, hormones and therefore tensions are now rising.
Unfortunately it is also the start of the time where incompatibilities can come to light - being biological brothers does not make any difference to their ability to be ok together long term
With any luck it was a one off spat and they will be ok but do keep an eye on them as we cannot know with any certainty (more boar pairs make it together than not though)

My two youngest boys had been together since 5 weeks of age but had an almighty fight at 18 weeks very suddenly and out of the blue, and completely fell out. There has been no warning prior to it. They’re now 9 months old and have lived side by side since.

As a side note, it looks like they have rather a lot of pellets available to them. Pellets should be just one tablespoon (around 10 grams) per pig per day.
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Hmmm thank you for the advice i will check them daily for any wounds . Haha I had a feeling someone would notice the pellets i added more as a one off today for rebonding together just incase, they dont normally get that much!
 
Popcorn23 said:
Hmmm thank you for the advice i will check them daily for any wounds . Haha I had a feeling someone would notice the pellets i added more as a one off today for rebonding together just incase, they dont normally get that much!
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Things like extra pellets won’t make a difference to their bonding. Actually it can be advisable to not use bowls at all and instead scatter pellets amongst hay. It can help to reduce tensions as they both have to forage for it and there is less chance bickering over a bowl. It’s also great mental stimulation.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Things like extra pellets won’t make a difference to their bonding. Actually it can be advisable to not use bowls at all and instead scatter pellets amongst hay. It can help to reduce tensions as they both have to forage for it and there is less chance bickering over a bowl. It’s also great mental stimulation.
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Oh really i never knew that although i do tend to put there veggies in hay i might try pellets in there too thank you!
 
Scatter feeding is also a form of enrichment for them and enables them to behave in a way they would if they were out in the wild. It’s fun to watch them digging around. And as said, it removes the chances of hogging.

I hope they settle back together okay and it was just a blip (hormone surge)!
 
Siikibam said:
Scatter feeding is also a form of enrichment for them and enables them to behave in a way they would if they were out in the wild. It’s fun to watch them digging around. And as said, it removes the chances of hogging.

I hope they settle back together okay and it was just a blip (hormone surge)!
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Thank you , is it normal behaviour for them to nose jab and smell bums and rumble strut as long as it goes no further? Because they do at the moment but it last seconds and then they go back to eating hay or lying down . Theres been no loud teeth chattering since early this morning but again was very short
 
Popcorn23 said:
Thank you , is it normal behaviour for them to nose jab and smell bums and rumble strut as long as it goes no further? Because they do at the moment but it last seconds and then they go back to eating hay or lying down . Theres been no loud teeth chattering since early this morning but again was very short
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Yes.
Dominance behaviours are normal and to be expected, particularly now they have hit their teens.

Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
 
Popcorn23 said:
Sorry to be annoying with all the questions. But how do i limit the dominance after a cage clean do i keep old bits of hay ?
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You’re not being annoying! We are here to help.
It can help to only clean half the cage at a time. Do one half one day, do the other half the next day.
Make sure to remove wet hay every day
 
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