Fighting Males

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Francesca13.04

Francesca13.04

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Hi,
So I have 3 male Guinea pigs two of them were from the same litter and I got the third a month later.
They were all getting along fine until the two brothers started being aggressive toward each other about a week ago which I kept an eye on and when I came home one day the one had bitten the others ear twice.. It was quite bad but all healed now no other scratches or bites.
I took them to the vets at first they said to neuter them as they're in their adolescent stage however when I went back for this appointment they told me to just separate them which has now left me confused.
I have two cages now and the two that fight are separated however they all have 'floor time together' and occasionally the two older ones row... The youngest doesn't fight with either of them.
I have seen two storey cages and was wondering if this was a good idea to help stop them fighting rather than separate them completely?
Help pleaseee
 
Neutering males unfortunately doesn't take away their dominance urge ;) You can try expanding the cage, it would help them to have more space from each other. Since they don't fight during floor time, maybe they just need a bit more space? :nod:This is one of the more common reasons for fighting.
 
Francesca13.04 said:
Hi,
So I have 3 male Guinea pigs two of them were from the same litter and I got the third a month later.
They were all getting along fine until the two brothers started being aggressive toward each other about a week ago which I kept an eye on and when I came home one day the one had bitten the others ear twice.. It was quite bad but all healed now no other scratches or bites.
I took them to the vets at first they said to neuter them as they're in their adolescent stage however when I went back for this appointment they told me to just separate them which has now left me confused.
I have two cages now and the two that fight are separated however they all have 'floor time together' and occasionally the two older ones row... The youngest doesn't fight with either of them.
I have seen two storey cages and was wondering if this was a good idea to help stop them fighting rather than separate them completely?
Help pleaseee
Click to expand...

You may find this thread here informative. Sadly, being litter mates and neutering doesn't prevent any fall-outs, as it is the combination of characters that determines whether boars make it through the big hormones or not.
Boars: Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

That said, 3 baby boars is unfortunately a recipe for disaster; the vast majority end up with a fall-out and separation (you have about 10% chance of it working out). Getting a trio right is not easy at the best times; if you throw the teenage hormones into the mix, it is usually too much to keep the rather delicate balance of personalities. If you are lucky, you end up with a stable pair and a single and if you are unlucky, you have three single boars by the end of it. With couples, you are more likely to make it to a hormonally settled adulthood than not.

Once you have separated, please either re-bond formally, starting from scratch on neutral ground etc. or leave them separated. For guinea pigs, play time is not play time, they are forced to restart the whole bonding protocol each time you stick them together, and it is upsetting and disruptive for them. Once there have been full-out fights and serious bites, boars will not go back together.
 
I have seen three boars work out, not often but it does work sometimes. If you keep trying to reintroduce them, they may sort it out. ;) If not, that's just the way it is.
 
Boar trios are often unstable and as they mature and hit puberty the hormones rage. I agree with @Wiebke whose advice is spot on here - if you are going to try to reintroduce you should do it formally and not simply let them out at floor time as otherwise the hierarchy needs sorting each time. Sadly once a big fight has happened there may be no going back. Neutering will not help I'm afraid.
 
I once had three females and two didn't get on at all. The bully was removed and she had a place by herself for a couple of years. When I tried to reintroduce them she was so pleased to finally have company that she wanted to be friends with the others again. I know that females can be different, but I think that it can work.
 
You can try a DAP (Adaptil) diffuser to try and reduce the agression , but I agree with the above that boar pairs work better than trios unfortunately :(
 
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