Do fleece hideys need 2 exits for boars?

[BryonyGuinea]

Hello,

We’ve just adopted our first guinea pigs, two 2 year old boars called Teddy and Pip. They’ve been having some dominance tussles since we brought them home a week ago, including a few fights with no blood shed, which thankfully have calmed down since we extended their cage to 6x2 and put in a second large hay area.

My question is about some hideys I’m sewing, do they need to have 2 exits so no one can get trapped? I’m halfway through sewing the first one, and it just occurred to me, but I think I can amend the pattern to put another hole in the side. I’ve attached a picture of the hidey to show the shape of it.

Currently they have 2 temporary cardboard hideys with big hole on 2 sides so I don’t want to take those out and cause an issue with these new ones.

Thank you!
Bryony

 

[Bill & Ted]

Ideally yes, so no pig is trapped if there is the odd confrontation. These spats can end in bites if a piggie feel trapped by the other and cannot get away. If they have the perfect relationship with each other and have lived for years together than they are probably fine, it tends to be teenage boars which play out their dominance with their companion

 

[Lorcan]

I'd add another doorway. It might be more awkward, but for boars I'd call it a necessity especially if you've got some dominance issues already.

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to forum. I have two boars called Pebble and Patrick. I would say two exits is essential for boars. I also have two hay piles at opposite ends of the cage and that definitely helps to keep things calmer. Good luck with your boars. Feel free to post photos of them if you’d like as we love photos on here.

 

[BryonyGuinea]

Thank you everyone for your advice, I’ll add an extra exit

They currently have a 2x1 hay area at one end and a litter tray, but that gets used a lot less, so I was considering putting in another 2x1 hay tray thing made of correx at the other end too. Is that better than having a 2x1 hay tray in the middle? Just to save on how much hay I’d be cleaning out, I think I already know the answer but just checking!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

It takes around two weeks for them to reestablish their bond in a new environment so the dominance you are seeing is normal.

It’s a good idea to provide as many resources as there are piggies - so two hay areas are best.
And yes two exits are always needed on hides - you don’t want to risk one piggy being caught inside one by the other

 

[sam1]

We usually have two entranced hides but that’s mainly because our two boars prefer it that way.