Guinea Pig Fighting

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5littlepigs

5littlepigs

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I've been trying to introduce my girls to each other (3 in one cage, 2 in the other) but they always get extremely angry and it gets to the point where they are up on their hind legs fighting and biting and chattering their teeth. I have tried several times to introduce but have separated them. I'd also rather not introduce them now as Scruff is very very old and frail now, and she got knocked over by Peep while she was jumping over her in some crazy dominance thing. Should I wait until I feel Scruff is stable enough to fend for herself? Or would it be okay to introduce her? I'm just so worried she'll get injured and hurt and I'm not sure how long she's got left. But if anyone knows of ways I can introduce them without getting anyone severely damaged please do tell as that would be great, thanks.

- 5littlepigs
 
Are you introducing them in a neutral place?
 
Yes, I introduce them out in the garden. It's totally secure so they don't need to be in runs and it's a huge area with many places for them to hide away in.
 
Hi,

This may be a silly question but if they are already happy with being a group of 2 girls and 3 girls is they any reason that you particularly want to join the groups together.

Its a bit like combining 2 different families. It is often hard work and does not always work out.
 
Hi Caron's Cavies. Not a silly question at all.
I just don't have a lot of space and would like to have 1 big C&C cage. I am also rescuing another pair of guinea pigs soon and I'm a bit worried that there won't be enough grass for them to eat since they eat it so fast so would like to have them all in the same run!
 
So will they be girls as well?

Are they all different ages? Which means like humans you are going to have the younger stroppy, hormonal girls with the 'I now want a quiet life' older ladies !

Not sure that even works well in humans let alone piggies :doh:
I can see your logic but how big exactly will the cage be as 7 girls in one cage sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen :lol!:
 
Yes, they will be girls.
Pecan and Perky (who are 1 pair) are around 3, Peep and Cookie are around 3 too, and Scruff is 6 but I'm not sure she's going to last another month... :'( The ones we're adopting are 2.
The only pigs that seem to get feisty are Peep and Perky, but predominantly Peep.
 
Oh poor Scruff. I certainly would not want to be stressing her out at her age bless her.

So none of the girls are actually young which is often easier to introduce them to older girls.

I had a pair of girls who were around 15 months when we introduced another 2 girls who were only about 8 weeks old. There was a bit of chasing and rumbling from the older 'boss lady' but the babies just kept out of her way until she decided they knew who was the boss and now they all get along just fine.

Every once in a while there are some tantrums when someone is in season but it soon dies down.

I am really not sure what to suggest because of Scruff. Can you leave her with her friends for now and introduce the new girls to the others and then later on introduce them to the other girls?

If you are definitely wanting to put them altogether just now then others who come along may be able to give you further help and advice.

There are also threads in the behaviour and bonding section that may help.

Hope you can get this sorted to allow everyone to be happy :nod: Good luck xx
 
Yes, I would wait until she was passed or healthy enough but I doubt she's going to get any better so just trying to make her feel as content as possible at the moment. :(

I'm not really a pro with introducing guineas and I tend to panic when they start rumbling and fighting. But would it be best just to leave them to do that? I just really don't want any of them to get injured badly.

Thank you for the good luck. :)
 
Yes as long as they are not drawing blood then I would let them get on with it.

I tend to think a lot of it is just normal bickering and fighting that they will eventually sort out among themselves.

Obviously if that changes you will need to re-look at the situation.
 
Okay, thanks. How severe does the fighting have to be to draw blood? Will fighting on hind legs or charging at each other draw blood? Or anything like that?
 
Normally to draw blood they would have to bite quite hard and you will see blood. I had one boy who bit the ear of my other boy and it was bleeding so hence he has never been able to be with the boys since. I had him neutered and he is now in with the girls and very happy.

Think about it like humans. I have 2 teenage sons who are at the age where they constantly (well that's what it feels like to me :lol!:) bicker and argue etc. So when they do this I generally leave them to sort themselves out. However if it starts to escalate then I try to intervene by splitting them up and talking to them and that might solve the issue. So with the piggies you could try taking out the one that seems annoyed and giving them a cuddle and talk to them and calm them down and then try putting them back in. Perhaps do this also with the other guilty party and by the time they are both back in together they will hopefully forget about whatever the issue was.

Also if fighting I find food is a good distraction as well. Please make sure that they have plenty of space to be able to be away from each other if needed and that they have separate houses, food bowls, hay racks etc.

To be honest you can only keep trying and again like humans they will either get over it and get on or not.
 
Funny creatures aren't they, I have one who absolutely loves her companion, never a cross word, but will not tolerate another one anywhere near her! She is of course, my Bluebell! Interestingly she is also a very big guinea - but not sure if that is a factor, I do think her companion is actually her daughter, but I don't know that for certain - just a feeling I have!
 
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