fighting(?), and what to do?

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Deleted member 149086

So, it has almost been a week since I took in Coca, my new guinea pig for my first piggie, Mocha. Although they fight for food sometimes (especially Mocha), today was a bit different. By the way, Coca is younger than Mocha. Mocha is turning one this year and Coca is turning one next year.

Today, I had to clean their fleece, and I didn't have an extra so I kept them in the playpen until it was dry. They were using towels as hides, and sleeping, chilling. I set up the cage again, and they both go in. A few minutes later, Coca, the youngest, chatters his teeth, and then when he gets close to Mocha, Mocha runs away. Their running steps are so loud, and they're hitting every corner of the cage, so it makes loud crashing noises too. Coca also ripped 2 small chunks of fur from Mocha. That's when I started getting really concerned. However, they're not mounting on top of each other, and Mocha just seems to be scared of him and just goes into his hide. My mom made me take out his hide because she thinks he's going to stay in there forever. So when I took it out, he just seemed really confused, and when Coca saw, he came closer to Mocha, and then Mocha freaks out and tries to run away from him. Like, Mocha runs really fast. I checked Mocha a few times, just making sure he isn't bleeding, injured, etc., and he was fine.
My mom also made me put Coca in the playpen to "quarantine" him for an hour or so, and when I put him back, a few minutes later, Coca chases Mocha. I have NO idea what's happening and WHY this is happening. And also what should I do?
 
update: theyre ok, a little calmer than before, and mocha is making annoyed sounds to keep coca away.
 
update 2: Coca bothered Mocha again and Coca pulled out mocha's fur again :(. fortunately there's no bleeding nor injuries
 
It takes two weeks for them to fully form their relationship and as it hasn’t even been a week yet, changing their fleece out has probably been what has caused this dominance.

For boars, when you clean out their cage it is best to leave some soiled bedding in the cage so the cage still smells of them and doesn’t feel like new territory to them. It seems you only have one big fleece so this might be a problem. It may be best to have several smaller pieces so you can remove half from the cage to wash but still keep the other soiled half in the cage. Then you can change out the soiled half a day or two later.

You are also dealing with teenage boars - you say one turns a year old this year and the other turning a year next year but it would help greatly if you could tell us exactly how old they are right now - so hormones are going to be in play

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
 
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:agr:Sounds like 2 hormonal boars sorting out their dominance. When you remove them from their cage, clean the cage and rearrange it, you are in effect creating a new environment and this can lead to need to re-establish dominance, so as @Piggies&buns says, it’s a good idea to leave in something that they have already scented.
 
It is also important hat they have enough space - how big is their cage?
And they need at least 2 of everything (bottles, hides, food bowls, etc).
Do all of their hides have 2 doors to prevent one piggy getting trapped?
 
Swissgreys said:
It is also important hat they have enough space - how big is their cage?
And they need at least 2 of everything (bottles, hides, food bowls, etc).
Do all of their hides have 2 doors to prevent one piggy getting trapp
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ah i see. they both have their own hides, and they do share well with their water bottle.
 
Piggies&buns said:
It takes two weeks for them to fully form their relationship and as it hasn’t even been a week yet, changing their fleece out has probably been what has caused this dominance.

For boars, when you clean out their cage it is best to leave some soiled bedding in the cage so the cage still smells of them and doesn’t feel like new territory to them. It seems you only have one big fleece so this might be a problem. It may be best to have several smaller pieces so you can remove half from the cage to wash but still keep the other soiled half in the cage. Then you can change out the soiled half a day or two later.

You are also dealing with teenage boars - you say one turns a year old this year and the other turning a year next year but it would help greatly if you could tell us exactly how old they are right now - so hormones are going to be in play

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Click to expand...
I have NO idea what month, or what day they were born. All I know is what year they're turning soon. Also, thank you for the advice. :). It's very helpful.
 
mocha_coca said:
ah i see. they both have their own hides, and they do share well with their water bottle.
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How big is their cage? This really is the most important factor in making sure they can continue to live together happily.
Sadly what many people are sold as a 'large' cage is often way too small for even 1 guinea pig, never mind 2!
 
Swissgreys said:
How big is their cage? This really is the most important factor in making sure they can continue to live together happily.
Sadly what many people are sold as a 'large' cage is often way too small for even 1 guinea pig, never mind 2!
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So i posted it a week ago or 2 to ask people abt if my cage was big enough for 2 piggies. People said they were big enough, I dont know the exact measurements, sorry.
 
Ok so this was the size I'm using for 2 guinez pigs atm.
 

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As you don’t know the month they were born, then we can only give very general age related advice in that between 4 and 14 months of age, they are teenagers and during that time there are going to be hormone spikes (6 and 10 months of age being the biggest). The new bonding may have coincided with one such hormone spike and could produce extra dominance - we can only guess.

You said in your first post two weeks ago that you have had one of them for four months. Assuming you got him from a pet shop then we can assume he was around 6-8 weeks at that point. You’ve had him for four months so at a best guess, he could be around 6 months of age. If so, then this is the time of highest hormone output and the hardest time for bonding a boar/time you are going to see a lot od dominance and hormonal behaviours exacerbated by the fact they are in the two week bonding period

Your cage is a 4x3 c&c and is big enough for two boars. A 4x3 measures roughly 150x115cm

I would also add in extra hides. It’s great they have got one each and that they are sharing. I prefer to have at least one hide per piggy with boars. Also ensure all hides have two exits
 
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Piggies&buns said:
As you don’t know the month they were born, then we can only give very general age related advice in that between 4 and 14 months of age, they are teenagers and during that time there are going to be hormone spikes (6 and 10 months of age being the biggest). The new bonding may have coincided with one such hormone spike and could produce extra dominance - we can only guess.

You said in your first post two weeks ago that you have had one of them for four months. Assuming you got him from a pet shop then we can assume he was around 6-8 weeks at that point. You’ve had him for four months so at a best guess, he could be around 6 months of age. If so, then this is the time of highest hormone output and the hardest time for bonding a boar/time you are going to see a lot od dominance and hormonal behaviours exacerbated by the fact they are in the two week bonding period

Your cage is a 4x3 c&c and is big enough for two boars. A 4x3 measures roughly 150x115cm

I would also add in extra hides. It’s great they have got one each and that they are sharing. I prefer to have at least one hide per piggy with boars. Also ensure all hides have two exits
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ohh ok. Btw, what should I do about the fur pulling? The fur is pretty much almost everywhere, and my mom thinks of selling Coca if he doesn't calm down any sooner.
 
If depends on what is going on between them.

If this is just normal dominance, then you do nothing and you just leave them to sort things out.
You have got two teenage boars so seeing a lot of dominance is to be expected dominance. If this is normal dominance then ’calming down‘ won’t happen while they are in the two week bonding period as they would be trying to sort out their hierarchy plus they are teenagers until 14 months of age so seeing dominance behaviours until then is going to happen.

If they are actually fighting and viciously pulling out hair out, then the the bond might be failing, then they would need to be separated permanently

What you cannot do is separate and reintroduce repeatedly

You need to read the guides to ascertain what is happening between them, where their behaviours sit on the scale etc. We only have your written description to go by so its very difficult for us to know what is actually happening.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Bonds In Trouble
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
 
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