Guinea pig Injury

[Joseph Riley]

Hi. So I’m new but I have 4 guinea pigs and all are males. We never have had a problem with them fighting or anything until tonight. 2 of our piggy’s got into a fight. We didn’t see the fight but separated when we seen blood on my little buddy named Arrow. They have all been together for awhile now. Arrow has a bad gash on his nose, it’s not actively bleeding but did get drops of a paper towel when I was lightly dabbing the wound. It has stopped bleeding and may look worse than it actually is. Should vet care be needed in this situation and what should I do? Pics of Arrow are in comments of Facebook post below

 

[Joseph Riley]

https://www.facebook.com/100001885267576/posts/5185873294818795

 

[Piggies&buns]

As we can’t see it, we have no idea how bad or deep it is. All we can suggest is that you see a vet to ensure it doesn’t get infected. Cleaning with a saline (salt and water) solution.

How old are they? If they are young, then often they are fine as babies but once they hit 16 weeks of age and become teenagers is mostly when it goes wrong. there is never a very big chance of a boar quartet making it to adulthood together.
Do be aware that more than two boars together has a huge chance of failure. Its difficult to get the character match right in more than two boars, plus the space required to keep four boars together is huge - their cage wojld need to be 4 metres by 1 metre so if allows for one square metre per boar of territory. Anything less and they simply don’t have enough room each.
Now they have had a fight, then they will need to be kept separate permanently. Pairs of boars are best so if you can make two functioning boar pairs then thats good. A pair needs a cage of 180x60cm. Unfortunately when attempting a boar quartet what often happens after a fight is you end up with a functioning pair and two singles

The guides below will help further

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

 

[Joseph Riley]

Pics of Arrow.

 

[Joseph Riley]

As we can’t see it, we have no idea how bad or deep it is. All we can suggest is that you see a vet to ensure it doesn’t get infected. Cleaning with a saline (salt and water) solution.

How old are they? If they are young, then often they are fine as babies but once they hit 16 weeks of age and become teenagers is mostly when it goes wrong. there is never a very big chance of a boar quartet making it to adulthood together.
Do be aware that more than two boars together has a huge chance of failure. Its difficult to get the character match right in more than two boars, plus the space required to keep four boars together is huge - their cage wojld need to be 4 metres by 1 metre so if allows for one square metre per boar of territory. Anything less and they simply don’t have enough room each.
Now they have had a fight, then they will need to be kept separate permanently. Pairs of boars are best so if you can make two functioning boar pairs then thats good. A pair needs a cage of 180x60cm. Unfortunately when attempting a boar quartet what often happens after a fight is you end up with a functioning pair and two singles

The guides below will help further

Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

Pics of arrow are below that I just posted.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Your pictures and my post crossed.
Is that extract from Facebook yours? If so, then you say in that that it was ‘bleeding out’, ‘losing a lot of blood’., i would definitely have it checked by a vet if that is the case

 

[GPTV]

Ohh dear poor boy! Yes I would definitely recommend a vet visit, he will probably need antibiotics to stop infection, pain killers to help him reduce pain & inflammation (more likely to eat normally if not in pain too).

You will definitely need to separate him from the other boar he fought with & see if you can split them into 2 pairs of compatible characters/personalities, but it might be better to separate him whilst he is injured to reduce dominance issues, just have him next to the one he gets on best with until his face is more healed.
That looks a nasty bite he has there

Good luck & healing vibes to your handsome little man xx

 

[Siikibam]

Ooh that does look sore! Hope he’s sorted very soon.

When holding them, please support their bottoms as well. We look forward to photos of your other three. I hope the pairing goes well

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Oh gosh, poor little guy. I very much agree with what's been said above. Hope you can get him to a vet.

I must say (again, in agreement with what has been said above), that with several boars of my own, I have found from experience that they work much better in bonded pairs and not a group. Even despite lots of space, I still think 3 or more boars are likely to have some huge personality clashes. My boar pairs can interact with other pairs through the bars (though even this can be tricky when introducing a new pair) and are quite settled and happy with that.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

I am very sorry but this needs to be seen and assessed by a vet in case the deep bite has also caused deeper damage in the mouth. Since guinea pig mouths always have a fair amount of gunk in them, your boy may need an antibiotic in order to prevent an infection/abscess. You can disinfect the wound with saline solution (which you can make at home) until you can see a vet.
First Aid Kit: Easily available non-medication support products for an emergency

Please be aware that sub-adult boar quartets have a fall-out rate of nearly 100%; in most cases you end up with a working pair and two singles in our long term forum experience but we have also come across cases whether people have ended up with four singles once the big teenage hormone spikes hit. If you are VERY lucky, you end up with two pairs in the wake of a really bad fight like this.
How big is your cage? Cage Size Guide
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

 

[Merab]

Poor you and poor boys.
Hope that you can see a vet quickly for suitable treatment.
Holding you in my thoughts.
Welcome to the forum

 

[VickiA]

Please get him seen by a vet as soon as you can and let us know how you get on.