Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

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Hi everyone,

Just looking for a bit of advice, as I've never had two guinea pigs before, my past ones have been on their own.

I bought one guinea pig (bubbles) a week ago, and thought he looked lonely, so yesterday I bought him a friend, who came from the same cage at the pet shop (and was there in the cage when i bought bubbles).
I introduced them in the run in the garden, and on my lap and they seemed to get along fine, I also completely cleaned, sprayed and rearranged bubbles's cage.
However, in the cage, bubbles is launching himself at the new piggy and wont let him drink or eat, and my new piggy is crying out everytime bubbles goes near him, its distressing me to watch!
there are two houses in the cage, but bubbles keeps going into his house and shoving him out, and chasing him around. I dont know if he is biting him, but he keeps FLYING at him, jumping on him, and my poor new piggy is making awful distressed sounds! I think I saw him show his teeth too.

Do i need to separate them?!
Appreciate any advice!
 
I really appreciate the post. My two boys kept chasing each other and squeeking. It did not look violent and they were not biting, but you expect the worst.
 
thanks

i just wanted to say a big thank * for the info here. just had my 2 boys running around with me and was really worried that somehow my experience boyfriend had somehow made a mistake, because Alfie, was as i saw it trying it on with Charlie. These are my first Guinea pigs and I'm loving getting to know them they are so sweet and was worried i was gonna have 2 take one of them back, but yet again its just a case of mummy over reacting, because they seem 2 have stopped now and gone back to munching on their fresh food leftovers. i love the forum so useful, it not that i dont trust my boyfriends knoweledge its just nice 2 have reassurance. I'm one of lifes worriers lol
 
Help! Boy guinea pigs not getting on

Hello! This is my first post, and I'm afraid it's a problem orientated one:

I had 2 male guinea pigs for several years (brothers) but a few months ago one of them sadly died. I had read it is unfair to keep them alone, so I bought Gordon 2 new "friends" - both a few weeks old. I was unable to find litter mates locally, so I think this may be part of the problem. They all seemed to settle quite nicely, with Chicco being dominant and Pedro less so. However, I have 2 problems. Firstly, Pedro is almost impossible to handle - he is extremely friendly in his hutch or run, but can't bear to be picked up and cuddled, despite daily attempts. The vet thought he may not have been handled as a baby, and I had hoped it would settle, but 2 months on he is still unhappy being touched or held.

Second problem is the dominance seems to have shifted and now Pedro is more dominant. The other day he attacked Chicco, and I have had to remove Chicco from the hutch while his wounds recovered. Pedro and Gordon seem OK together, but I have tried to reintroduce Chicco with each of them on their own and also together. Pedro became aggressive with him again, and Chicco became aggressive with poor old Gordon. Both Pedro and Chicco do a lot of "scenting" and actually both have strong odours when they do. I now have 3 guinea pigs who don't live happily together, and I was just trying to make things right for Gordon. I can seperate Chicco permanently, but then I'm back to square one - a lone guinea pig which I thought was unkind. I have kept several male guinea pigs before and never had this problem.

The vet adviced neutering, but I have since read it doesn't make a difference - any advice from experience boar keepers out there?! Thank you so much!
 
Hi! I am sorry that you are having problems. Neutering won't solve behavioural problems, and once bites have happened it is pretty impossible to reintroduce two boars. Litter mates actually is just another myth, a big difference in ages works often better; character compatibility if far more crucial for success. Your two younger boys sound like they are in the middle of the big hormones, am I right the they are between 6-12 months old?

I would ask to please start your own thread in order to get more answers specific to your problem. When you go to the behaviour section, you can find the "new thread" button on the top left. This is primarily an information thread. The more concise your title is, the more interest from "specialists" you will get.
 
Thank you - I was struggling to find new thread - new to all of this. Will post again later! Thanks.
 
boureki said:
Thanks Louise! I hope so - there's so much mis-information about boars I thought it may help some people figure them out rather than just think that's the end of the road, they've fallen out because there's a bit of chasing and mounting or teeth chattering. I hope it will help.
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Outstanding post. Our boars had gone through what I thought was a bit of squabbling last week, but this evening they've really turned the dial up to 11.

They've been doing precisely what you describe above, i.e., chasing, mounting & teeth chattering. There's also been a bit of what I think is either a "keep away" or an "ooh la la" murmuring. Due to the mounting I suspect it's the former rather than the latter...or perhaps a bit of both, one form each piggie.

Bill is the older and larger pig...about 10-12 months old. Eric is the smaller pig, about 10-11 weeks old. Bill is clearly the aggressor and is chasing Eric all 'round the cage.

I've scooped Eric out and set him in his pigloo outside the cage, but Bill is tearing the cage apart as if he's looking for him.

Also, despite their cage being cleaned out only yesterday, there's a strong smell coming from the cage which I've never noticed before. We clean the cage every three days...

I've taken a video of the action which I'll try to post a link to. I don't want to separate too early, and yet I don't want to really wait for blood to be drawn before I act.
 
Update:

Here is a link to the video I captured.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQTdVQx8WFc[/ame]

It's also worth noting that when Eric dashed into a hide to get away from Bill, and I put a wadded towel in the doorway to prevent Bill following, Bill paid no attention to the fact I was there and kept trying to get past the towel to get to Eric.

This is an interesting point because we've only had the piggies for just over 2.5 weeks (three weeks on Saturday) and they're still quite timid around us. Bill couldn't have cared less how close he was getting to my hands...so long as he could get to Eric. Very unusual behaviour for our new piggies.
 
I have just joined this forum today and thought I would have a browse to see if i could put my mind at rest! I got two boars about two years ago, and they were fighting so badly - one was biting huge chunks out of the other - that I had to separate them. I recently got another two boars after losing one of the others. They are housed separately from my other boar, but I have been concerned as they are constantly winding each other up. I have been reassured as they are nowhere near as violent as my other two were, and haven't actually hurt each other, but was still worried that their behaviour now means that they will just get worse. Everything you described under the first heading is exactly what my two are doing. I am keeping a close eye on them, but am so happy to hear that it's normal, especially at their age (4 months). Thank you so much for the reassurance!
 
great info!

Thank you so much for this, glad to know my boys are just exhibiting "normal" male behaviour! :(|)
 
I'm worried about my two 3year olds. They are rescues that have been with me for 3 months, but have always lived together. The bigger one (Harry) has been so dominant for the last few days, i'm worried the smaller one (Ron) is getting worn out from it.
From your description, it sounds like normal dominance, but it is almost non stop this week. I took Harry out for 15 minutes tonight, to give Ron a break, but it started as soon as they went back into together.
Don't want to rush out and buy another cage yet, but i don't want Ron to get injured.
How much chasing and attempted mounting is ok and normal?
I know it's been a full moon this week, and i know that can affect animals.
Any advice gratefully received..xx
 
Serious aggression/fighting

If guineas have reached the "Serious aggression/fighting" stage on more than one occasion, is there any hope of a re-introduction?
 
Just bumping this important thread up for new members, its very useful for those of you with boars! :)
 
Guinea pigs <3 said:
Just bumping this important thread up for new members, its very useful for those of you with boars! :)
Click to expand...

It is a permanent thread at the top of the behaviour section, but worth reading by everybody who has boars or wants to bond piggies of any gender.
 
Wiebke said:
It is a permanent thread at the top of the behaviour section, but worth reading by everybody who has boars or wants to bond piggies of any gender.
Click to expand...

malletheadmallethead

I guess it will appear at the top for those who only click on the new posts though!
 
My two having a right go at each other tonight, lots of noises - won't even try to come up with a name for it. They seem to have quietened down now.

Hope this isn't a bad sign... But will keep a wee eye on them anyway.
 
I thought I would pop in to describe the brothers' behaviour, because it really is quite funny to watch and doesn't require any worry at all.

Background: Bubble & Squeak are nearly 20 months old and have lived together all their lives. I took them two months ago, from a family who had seven dogs and ten cats, plus four horses (one of which was giving birth any day) and a large fish tank. They were rehoming the brothers because they didn't feel they could devote enough time to them. I will discuss care elsewhere, since it's not really pertinent here except to note that they were living in a large pet store cage, about 3 feet long and 18 inches wide.

Squeak is the larger of the two, by about 100 grams, but that doesn't seem to matter much; they are very evenly matched.

What typically happens is someone starts rumblestrutting. Then they both start chattering their teeth and will come very close to smell each other's noses. One of them usually runs away and then comes back - this happens a few times. Then they do the nose competition, but since they are really the same size, nobody actually wins that contest. One of them will then take a little leap at the other, who responds by leaping back, they never actually connect and instead fly past each other and continue with whatever they were doing beforehand. I've also seen them yawn at each other, and nothing ever comes of it.

They have been doing this sort of thing since I brought them home, so it's not merely because Batman is now in their lives (I observe quarantine). They are also still doing it now, in their lovely new 3x3 C&C cage.

So my experience is that sometimes even the more extreme posturing is just that: posturing.

Pics of my boys' faces:


Bubble face by JannaLou, on Flickr. Doesn't he look soooo innocent?


Squeak face by JannaLou, on Flickr. Poor Squeak, I think he looks rather surprised! :)

I will have to see if I can get some video of them doing their little displays, as it really is quite funny. A few days ago, Squeak was even pawing at the hay before he did the lunging bit!
 
I am the new owner of 2 boars. They are young, one smaller than the other. The bigger one rumble struts around the smaller quit a bit and chases him sometimes. I noticed a couple of nips out of the smaller pig's ear but have never seen blood nor heard any real fighting. I am hoping that it won't come to that. They have only been home here together for about a week. I got the smaller one first (Max ) and felt badly that he had no friend so went back and upgraded my cage to a larger one (Webster) and bought another boar that had been in the same cage with Max at the store. Even though they have the occasional tiff they snuggle together in the same house and have started popcorning together as well.

I have 2 pigloos in the cage but have not put in 2 water bottles or 2 food bowls, maybe I should do this. I want to try and keep the peace as much as possible especially through the hormonal months! Any other suggestions? Also what does loud teeth clattering sound like? I heard something that sounded like an electrical short almost (but wasn't), could that be what I heard? I'm just a little concerned for Maxi! Thanks.
 
This is great to read and very helpful. My boys are fighting of and on i was going to split them up but will just keep an eye on them and see. :)
 
Can I please ask people to please start their own thread in the behaviour section if they want to get advice on their own situation.
 
OMG i love you, thank you so much for this! i needed that! for my 2 boys! (because I'm planning to get them a new friend soon!)
 
OmgPiggies said:
OMG i love you, thank you so much for this! i needed that! for my 2 boys! (because I'm planning to get them a new friend soon!)
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Not a good idea to add a third boy to an established couple, especially if all of them are sub-adult. A surefire recipe for fall outs and bullying!
 
Thanks for this,i was just coming on here to ask these very same questions :D Am VERY relieved to know that all is ok with our "guys" Thanks:<>
 
Thanks for putting this together, its really helped me recognize the normal dominance behavior between my three 8 month old boars. xx>>>
 
Many thanks for this informative advice :)

Skeet (the larger but more shy one) has been going after Sooty all evening, trying to mount him etc. They were bum rubbing and friendly earlier and have been since I have had them. Always nose to tailing and happy so I was pleased to see this post and realise that their behaviour is normal for 6 month old boars.

I'll keep an eye on them but they are now happily sleeping together :)

Cheers,

Jon :)

I reckon Skeet will be even happier as he isn't going to get his nuts chopped off... Yet ;) I'm lucky enough to have a piggie specialist vet locally :)
 
I have just decided to get a friend for my boar Vinny and am so happy you have this thread on here! It will be very helpful since I have not introduced piggies before, but don't worry I am doing plenty of research beforehand so I am prepared as much as possible. Thank you so much!:<>
 
New piggie owner!

i recently got a guinea pig for the first time ever! hes adorable and very big, i got him last week, and i felt he was kind of lonely so i got him a friend today, the new guinea pig is a lot smaller, and looks terrified of the big one! Ombré keeps humping him! and chasing him like crazy, it was scaring me so i put them apart, and after an hour or 2 i put him back, he started doing it again! he wont stop and the little one is just whining, finally after separating them again and letting them both out in big space Ombré kind of stopped, he randomly does it but hes not constantly at it, i'm wondering if this is okay, i just feel like the little one is terrified! :( and i'm very concerned... i don't want him to end up really depressed or something, he is just hiding under the ramp of the cage.... please help! I'm so confused!
 
OmgPiggies said:
OMG i love you, thank you so much for this! i needed that! for my 2 boys! (because I'm planning to get them a new friend soon!)
Click to expand...

I tried that about a year ago. Two of my boars were two years old and at first when we added Billy everything seemed fine. But when he grew up and was fully grown he attacked them. Giving one of my boars, Whizz, a wound that meant lots of antibiotics and even an operation.

I really wouldn't suggest giving them a new friend.

It could all seem fine at first. Billy gave no sign that he was about to turn aggressive but one morning we came out to see Whizz crouched in the corner, puss and blood covering one side...

It was something I never wanted to see.
 
Hi i'm have two male guinea pigs and have had to split them up because they drew blood but we can't bear to get rid off one so was wondering what we could do they are 1 year and 1 month old

p.s. this is the cage the have http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/rabbit_cage/100_cm_cages/137457
pp.s for the moment we have propped the ramp up with a tube 9 would this be ok) but we know that can't be long term so what do you think.
 
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