Fighting Boars :(

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Lenny&henry

Lenny&henry

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After 6 months of living happily together my boars are beginning to fight :( I have only ever seen a proper fight once, but everyday my Lenny appears to have a new scratch on his nose. After much shifting about and improvisation they are separated while I go out today. Is there any chance they will ever live happily now? If not I may have to rehome one, hopefully to a family member! Advice please!
 
If you do decide to keep them separated you can put two cages side by side so that they can still have interactions but they aren't sharing space. It would be unfair to re home one and they both end up alone.
 
Hi!

How old are your boys and in which country are you living? How big is their cage (can you use cm and not inches, please)?

Guinea pigs should not be kept alone. At the worst, they need a next door neighbour they can interact with for company and stimulation. If you have got a C&C cage, you may be able to adapt it into a two story affair with ramps that allows the boys to see each other via a hay loft on the other floor if you are pinched for space. in Britain, you may also have other options.

You can try a re-introduction after a bath with the same shampoo to remove any traces tosterone. Please also clean their cage (including all furnishings); boys on the rampage spray everything with testosterone laden pee. Introduce in a neutral area at first and have an oven glove at the ready in case you need to come between hostile boars.
Here are more tips: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/faq-introducing-and-re-introducing-guinea-pigs.38562/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/

Whether your two boys will go back together and whether they will make to adulthood together depends on how badly they have fallen out and how much their personalities clash or not. A scratch on the nose is not necessarily the end, unlike with bites. The big hormones generally last until your boys reach a more settled adulthood at around 15 months old.
You may also find these threads here useful:
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boars-a-guide-to-successful-companionship.76162/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/faq-companionship.37654/
 
Hi! I am in the UK! The hutch is 44cm by 90cm and the depth is 80cm (it has 2 storeys with a ramp). There is then a run attached which they have constant access to, this is 56cm width and 90cm length. They were born around January so coming up to 6 months now.

I have just reintroduced them on neutral territory - there was an immediate fight but I have since had some success. They are back in their hutch at the moment but under supervision by me. I have also rung my vet to ask her advice, she is to call back this afternoon. I wonder, would it be plausible to keep them separated at night for a while to give them space?

Thanks for all the links I have read them and found them helpful :)
 
The RSPCA minimum recommendation is 2x4 ft (60x120cm) unbroken ground space; for boars we recommend more, so they can really get away from each other.

I would keep them separated and if necessary, give them a day time out to really calm down, or you may walk right into the next fight. Please do not put them together if they fight immediately when going back together; it can flare up again at any moment.
 
Well if you include their run, which they have constant access to, it is just about that large. I have sat with them now for 3 hours and nothing has happened so I'm taking that as a good sign!
 
I have spoken to the vet and we have decided on an action plan, thanks everyone for your advice and links :) x
 
Hello I am new to this site so if I'm writing this in the wrong area I apologize... I got a male guinea pig (Mordecai) about 3 months ago and did PLENTY of research and decided to get him a friend. The friend (rigby) is much smaller than him so I would say about a few weeks old?

As I stated, I did SO MUCH research so I know I have done the right steps placing them in neutral territory, giving lots of veggies, not including any hidey houses, etc. they did all the normal things, rumble strutting, nose raising, smelling, marking territory, teeth chattering... Then mounting happened. The younger one was mounting the older one A LOT. And I was surprised because he is much much smaller. They didn't get along so great that day so I decided not to put them in the same cage just yet.

The next day I introduced them outside in the grass. Rigby was terrified but Mordecai wasn't. They rumble strutted a little but rigby was so scared so Mordecai was, what it seemed to be, comforting him and they were laying side by side calmly. I still didn't want to put them in the same cage because I feel Mordecai had a little bit of an advantage here because he's been outside multiple times while rigby has never been. So I tried again today in the bath tub. Now, Mordecai was the one mounting. Then sometimes he would back away scared as rigby approached him. Rigby would sniff his butt a lot and Mordecai did not like that and would kind of "snap" at rigby. (No biting, he just looked very angry and quickly jumped toward rigby) I just CANNOT for the life of me figure out who is or even wants to be the more dominant one. I moved them into my room because I was tired of being in the bathroom for an hour. Still not getting along. I washed our their cage entirely and put in new bedding and blankets and new everything. I tried putting them in. It's been 7 hours and they still are not getting along. At all. ---I also should mention they have been living in the same cage divided by a fence so that they could still see each other and smell each other. I'm not sure if this was the cause of the problem I am having or not--- so, did I get unlucky to get two guinea pigs who just flat out don't like each other? Am I doing something wrong? I should mention I had to leave and couldn't pay close attention so I had to put the fence up between them again and as SOON as I finished they both were popcorning. It definitely seems like they just would rather be neighbors than roommates :(
 
Hi! The little one will probably not figure out if he wants to be dominant until he gets a little older. That can be a very confusing time - but eventually he will find out. Once they have both figured it out, they may settle down. If it turns out they both want to be dominant, then perhaps it won't work so well. Either way, there is absolutely nothing wrong with their being neighbours rather than together. They are very close and can smell each other so they will not be lonely. By all means keep trying! Mine had terrible problems but they live together now - although I may well get them neutered soon. Is it a viable option to keep them separated, or is it a bit of a struggle? Are they inside or outside guinea pigs? Two inside cages side by side can work very well.
 
They are inside! It's no problem at all to keep them separated, I just wanted them to live together and happy. Thank you for replying, hopefully it is just his age! I will try again definitely when he gets a bit older. Again, thank you so much :) I was losing hope!
 
I guess sometimes we have to remember that what we think would be nice for a guinea is not necessarily what they want lol. Living side by side they will be absolutely fine. If they start to bite the bars etc to try and get to each other it may be a sign they would like to have cuddles. Just hang in there :)
 
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