Failed Bond?

[Elle's Pigs]

I have two boars about 1.5 years, they are litter brothers and when I first adopted them I had one large cage for them. They had always shown normal hierarchy behaviour with my Tomato being dominant over Kelpie, the smaller guinea pig. However I noticed bullying and fighting between the two brothers. I changed their big cage for two separate smaller cages and hoped that things will cool down between them and they can get along again. But even with their separation and in neutral ground, they fight violently and I believe they can't be together at least for a while. Tomato seems to be okay with the separation, he has even seemed to perk up since going solo, but Kelpie has been acting very depressed and showing a lot of boredom even with the same enrichments he's always had (toys, forage, exploration time). I think he's lonely but of course I'm not at home for half of the day to socialize with him. I have been thinking of adopting a companion for Kelpie, or alternatively rehoming him and keeping only Tomato(which would break my heart). He is very social but Tomato and him just don't get along at all.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear of their fall out.
Once a fight occurs it shows that they are not compatible and sadly the bond is broken.

Are their cages side by side?
They will get interaction with each other through the bars which is usually enough.
However, occasionally a piggy will find it hard not having another piggy in the cage with them.
In that case, and if kelpie is struggling, then Kelpie will need a new friend.
You would need to make sure his cage is big enough for two boars - that is that his cage would need to be back to 180x60cm before he has a new friend.

If you were to rehome Kelpie, then that would mean you would still have to get another guinea pig to bond with Tomato. You cannot keep tomato totally alone with no other guinea pig with or next to him. That would be very unfair on him and would then cause him loneliness.

 

[Elle's Pigs]

Thank you, there is an older boar at my local shelter that I am going to see about adopting. Their cages are beside eachother currently, and I would get a bigger one to put both Kelpie and the potential new pig.