cannot house guinea pogs together after a long seperation due to operation

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chewie & oddsock

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My two guinea pigs chewie and oddsock have been seperated for 2 months due to an operation on oddsock. The problem now is that they can not even be together on neutraul territory let alone the cage. i wish to re couple them (both male) in their cage but have to be seperated because of hard fights which have been incredibly scary! They are 2 years old now and chutter their teeth at even the smell of the other Gpig and so do not know how to deal with the dis settlement. Does anyone know how to get the pigs back together in the same cage without fighting as they are now on diffrent levels of the DIY hut. please help :(
 
I’m afraid if they don’t like each other then nothing you can do will get them together. When you put them side by side what happens? They really do need that interaction even if they can’t live together.

If they’re bar biting and trying to get to each other and showing some aggression then perhaps you can try putting a cardboard divider between them until they’ve calmed down some.

When you reintroduced was it clean area and no smells of either of them? And was it the vet who suggested you separate them when one had the op?
 
the vet recemended the seperation as they had shown agression towards eachother before. And unfortunatley yes, i have tried when in the garden in a run with a metal bar fencing across the middle. They evn tried jumping over the fence and took about half an hour to calm down when we covered the fence so they could not see eachother. do you recemend doing this as a more usual activity for them to socialise under supervision but still seperated?
 
chewie & oddsock said:
the vet recemended the seperation as they had shown agression towards eachother before. And unfortunatley yes, i have tried when in the garden in a run with a metal bar fencing across the middle. They evn tried jumping over the fence and took about half an hour to calm down when we covered the fence so they could not see eachother. do you recemend doing this as a more usual activity for them to socialise under supervision but still seperated?
Click to expand...
oh and yes, completely neutral area in the garden.
 
No, because it’s causing them stress. Now they’re separated you can’t put them together at all, even if under close supervision. They don’t get on (and seems they may have had a fraught relationship previously anyway). I would keep them separated for now as it seems they’re just not suited. Once it’s calmed down some then you can try having them side by side.
 
Give them a week perhaps. You say the cage is diy. Is there any way to put the top level down so they’re next to each other?
 
Even when they can’t live together, it’s recommended that they live side by side. They still need the interaction, which goes beyond just sound and sight. But at the moment they’re too riled up so think about housing like that for now. But in future you will either have to consider getting them a friend each or putting side by side once they’ve calmed down to not try getting to each other.
 
Behaviour, Bonding & Bereavement Guides

There's lots of information in the guides in the above link you may find useful. You may find they will eventually settle down and live side by side but they don't sound like it's likely they will live together again. When I had a similar situation mine did eventually live side by side. To achieve this I blocked their view of each other through the bars with a length of spare corex, letting them see each other for longer each day until I could let them see each other all the time with no repercussions. I think I started at just a few minutes twice a day, it took about 2 weeks to achieve the aim of getting them to be able to live with the sight of each other.
 
Ah, I see. thankyou very much for your help and time it is greatly apreciated i will try to do the best i can for them and contact my vet about the concern. once again thankyou!
 
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