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Bullying or mites?

  • Thread starter Thread starter hollive
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hollive

I'm new here and having stumbled accross this forum I thought it looked ace so I joined! :)
I hope someone can help me out.
I have two male guinea pigs, Carl and Lenny. I got them around June time so they are I guess around 9 months old? They live together in a large cage indoors. Recently I've noticed that Lenny had some scabs on his back. They were from below the neck down, so I think that's a reachable area for him to do it himself.
They were living with me at my parents house for a week over christmas, and were outside in a shed for this short period of time. They were in the same cage as they have at my house, but with a better sheltered part for warmth. They seemed fine in there and were handled and played with for a long period of time each day. However, during this week there were quite a few cuts on Lenny's back, and towards the end of the week he started to get thinning hair on the middle of his back. The two pigs began to scratch quite frequently. This concerned me so as soon as I could I took him to the vets. They treated both pigs for mites with an injection, but also suggested we seperate them at least for a week to see if the problem solves.
I took them home and used a mite-repellent hutch cleaner on the current cage and used an old cage to separate the two. However I'm really unhappy about separating them. I can't help but feel they'd be much happier together.. however I'm afraid that Lenny is being bullied.
The unusual thing is, whenever we got them out to play over christmas, if they were running or walking around on the floor, Carl would follow Lenny. And Lenny would also try and hump Carl, as if it's Lenny who is the domineering one. However on occasion I witness Carl nibbling Lenny's ears. It's very hard to tell who is the more dominated pig, so therefore very difficult to tell if these bites and hair loss are down to mites or down to bullying from Carl.

I'm really concerned for them because I don't want them to be lonely or unhappy! I just want whats best for them because I love them so much..
Sorry for the long post.. I really hope someone can help!
Thank you :)
x
 
Hi
It does sound like mites & i wouldn't separate them because they may not live together again & there is no need to separate because of mites.  I have had piggies sharing a cage & one has had mites with the cage-mate(s) unaffected.

The humping is Lenny being dominant & being a boy.  Make sure you have 2 of everything, 2 hideys, 2 bowls, 2 bottles, this lessens the chance of them fighting over anything. 

Teeth chattering, facing one another with bums swaying or wide open mouths are all signs of a poss fight brewing, tho' they do sometimes chatter at one another or have tiffs. 
Bullying can also be if one piggy is not allowing another to eat or not allowing them to sleep in a certain place. 

Hope this helps  :)
 
does sound like mites to me too
 
Agree with Nikki, if you seperate them you may not be able to reintroduce them. It does sound like mites.
I have 8 boars in 4 pairs and they sometimes hump eachother and rumble a lot but they all get on fine, its normal boar behaviour!
 
I agree too. I had three boars happily living together then on the advice on my vet I seperated Cuzzy when he got mites, he never lived with my other two again. Cuzzy had three injections for his mites. Twinkle always mounts Sunshine as LJ said it is normal behaviour.

Good luck with them and welcome to the forum,

Louise
:)
 
Thanks for all the advice it's very helpful..
Are the cuts a result of Lenny biting himself from itching then?
 
Yep, they bite and scratch themselves causing sores to develop. I would email Chrissy at gorgeousguineas and if possible, attach a photo of the affected areas. She is fab and will advise if a melt/shampoo are necessary. Her products are amazing :)
 
Ah excellent thanks.. I'll do that.
I'll probably try to put them back in their cage together tonight.. they have two food bowls, but one water bottle and one bed. I might go to the pet shop and buy another bed for them to try and prevent fighting. I really don't want to separate them.
 
Awwww hope they all get better from the mites :P horrid things mites are and good luck in rebonding as separating them will just get worse later on when you put them back O0
 
hi, another option if they seem to continue to hump etc could be to neutuer them, would stop those pesky hormones racing around! check with your vet they are happy to do this though if you decide to, you may need to find a guinea savvy vet to do the deed. O0 x jess
 
I've never known castration to mellow boars and would only do it if they were going with sows :) And as Buttons says, be choosy about your vet :)
 
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