Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

Status
Not open for further replies.
how do you start a new thread cuz i have just posted a comment about my pigs asking a question
 
Hi, we've had our 4 beautiful boys since June 2013. Just over the last two days 2 of them have been fighting. They are 4 mnths old now. This thread has helped a lot Thank you!

Just a couple of questions though, how long do you put up with any bickering/ fighting before separating them? And does castrating help with behaviour? ie would calm them down. Considering I have 4 and I wanted them to live together, casration &/or separation are expensive options.

Thank you.
 
Castrating does NOT help with behaviour in guinea pigs. It’s a myth that it does, it doesn’t have the same effect as with cats and dogs.

I adopted 4 boys and found that in themselves they made 2 groups, ie. two got on with each other better than the others. And the only way to help them leave a happy life was to separate them into two groups so they didn’t have the stress of fighting for dominance.

It is very rare that males in a group of 3 or more work out, as it’s not natural for them to live like that, as in the wild you usually have single males, this is why pairs have to be so carefully selected during the bonding process.

Hope that helps.
 
Hi there,
We've had our beautiful boys since June 13. They are now 4 months old. Just recently 2 of them have started fighting. I've read through this post but just a couple of questions:
How long should I leave it before perhaps separating them? Does castration help with this behaviour? Considering there are 4 of them, both these options are expensive plud I got them together to keep each other company.
Some help appreciated. Thank you!
 
I would say your best option would be find if you have two that get on better in the group than the other, see if they naturally prefer being in 2 groups and then separate them into two sets as soon as possible to avoid any serious fighting that could cause injury.

Obviously you must ensure that both pairs live in at least a 120cm cage, preferably more for boys as they need the extra space. As mentioned before castration doesn't help.
 
Sorry double post. It disappeared.

I thought I'd read somewhere that it's a myth. 3 of mine seem to stay together. One sleeps outside bedding area, but one of the 3 picks on him. I don't want him to live a lonely life if I take him out.
 
Try a pair with the guinea that picks on the other guinea pig with one of the pigs he gets on with and then the other guinea pig from the 3 that get on with the pig that gets picked on. And see how it gets on :) A Trio of boars rarely get past the teenage phase.
 
I have a question... my boy Oni, who is about 2 months younger than Skruffy, seems to be going through that teen phase so what I really want to know is how long can this last? It's been 3 days with agressive behavior and 2 times i have separated them from extensive chasing and nips. Also, while they are chittering (teeth clatter) they squeak too. Is that normal? Sometimes the squeaks are louder than the chittering so I think thats an ok sign but if one of them moves, the other stops squeaking and chitters louder.
I've given them times for "time out" but I really dont know who starts the dispute. I assume it would be Oni but at times its really hard to tell.

Right now I have them in their normal cage with LOTS of hand made hay toys (toilet paper rolls stuffed with hay)
and whenever they chitter, they eventually just go to chewing the hay. Which I'm glad to see!
Oni is about 4 months now and Skruffy is about 6 months by the way.

Oh and I haven't mentioned how helpful this post was. I'm constantly refering back to it to make sure my piggies dont go into the 'danger zone'. But I have noticed a lot of yellow signs like the loud chitter and puffed up fur and even yawning from Skruffy. I didnt realize the yawning was a bad sign till i read this. So thank you very much! And I would love some help on trying to calm down the tension between the two. hopefully in a way I wouldn't have to spend much money on items like the DAP (never seen it in stores so I'd have to get it online and Petsmart can get expensive here.)
 
Hello! This post has proved really useful, so thank you. I have three lovely little gents, all approx. 4 months old and I've had them for 2 months. From your list it seems their behaviour is all fairly normal dominance stuff - rumblestrutting, mounting, etc - but there's the very occassional teeth chatter that is fairly loud and lasts for about 5 seconds or so from one of them; the first time I heard it was the other day and was followed by some brief but pretty loud squeaking, so maybe there was a brief fight?

Given there age does this just seem like a teenage thing and they'll grow out of it or should I do something else?

Thank you! :)
 
Just keep an eye on the situation for the next few months! Offer lots of space, hidey, food bowl and water bottle well spaced apart (at least a bit more than body length) to prevent possessiveness (see our boar guide). Make sure that you have an emergency pen in case things suddenly blow up.
Unfortunately, baby boar trios are extremely prone to outsider situations (fights or bullying), so keep weighing all your boys once weekly and have a plan B. you have to take it from there. The hormones hit in spikes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top