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Guinea pig wounds- do i need to see a vet?
- Thread starter Lindsey7618
- Start date
Sadly if an injury causing, blood drawing fight has occurred, then their bond is now likely broken meaning they can no longer live together at all and reintroduction would not be recommended as if they no longer like each other, a fight will occur again upon attempting a reintroduction.
Clean the wound with a saline solution but it would be a good idea to have a vet check it in case it’s deep and antibiotics are needed to prevent infection
Bonds In Trouble
Clean the wound with a saline solution but it would be a good idea to have a vet check it in case it’s deep and antibiotics are needed to prevent infection
Bonds In Trouble
Lindsey7618
New Born Pup
My sister was taking care of them for awhile and they were fighting sometimes but otherwise were fine together. They seem fine most of the time. I'll have to move one of them into another cage but I was hoping maybe a bigger cage and more hideouts would help (as I'm moving into a bigger space soon and can give them a bigger space. I'd like to build a c&c cage). I also switched cages and they seem much happier but maybe Oreo is unhappy since he was in the previous cage for years. His previous owners neglected him and never held him or cut his nails and his companion died so he was left alone.
Siikibam
Forum Donator 2022/23
How old are they and what size was their cage? As above, once boars have that kind of fight then unfortunately their bond is over. So you need to separate them now. They’ll need to live side by side in separate cages of 120x60cm. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.
A boar pair need a cage of 180x60cm as they need a lot of room due to being more territorial. However if they have character incompatibilities and if an injury causing fight occurs, then no amount of extra space is going to make them like each other. In fact if you are to try a bigger cage, you need to be careful as it constitutes a change in territory which can also cause further problems for an unstable bond.
Once separated, as siikibam has said, each piggy needs a cage a minimum of 120x60cm
Once separated, as siikibam has said, each piggy needs a cage a minimum of 120x60cm
Lindsey7618
New Born Pup
Thanks. I know the minimum cage sizes- they have space and I also let them have floor time of course. It's just frustrating as they got along fine for months and have now started fighting out of nowhere.
Lindsey7618
New Born Pup
Oreo is around 3-4 years- since I adopted him from a friend we aren't sure. Buttercup is probably 4-5 months. I don't have the current cage size off the top of my head.
Unfortunately this can happen - they will be fine while the youngest is not a risk to the hierarchy. Babies are desperate for companionship and to belong and can’t challenge but he is now a teenager and getting hormones and can challenge the hierarchy. This is often when problems will start and a bond can fail.
Lindsey7618
New Born Pup
Do you think either of them would be able to live with any of my other guinea pigs? Oreo is the one attacking. He has never hurt any of the others. The others are in separate cages but Percy and Brownie are 8-9 months. Buttercup has lived with Peanut with no problem- they were also housed together when I bought them and are around the same age.
As it all comes down to character compatibility and is a decision for the piggies, it wouldn’t be possible for us to say. You need one submissive and one dominant together.
What I would say is that bonding teenage boars can be very tricky due to the hormones, so putting a 4-5 month old with a 8-9 month old can be risky - you can absolutely try of course. Do just watch out because 6 months of age is when hormones reach their highest level. 9-10 months of age is when there is another hormone spike. So if you’ve got a 6 month old and a 9-10 month old together, there is a risk of issues.
If you’ve
How many piggies do you have?
Which two piggies are the subject of this post (the 3 year old and a 4 month old)?
Do buttercup and peanut still live together? If not, and they got on ok when they were together then what happened for them to be separated?
Lindsey7618
New Born Pup
Thanks! I have six. Oreo (3-4 years) and Buttercup (4-5 months) are the subject of this post. I bought a much bigger cage when I got Peanut and Buttercup so there was room for three of them. It worked well up until recently- Oreo seemed much happier and would move and run around with the babies as opposed to hiding in the corner without moving like he usually did. They started fighting recently but there was no blood previously and they would be completely fine other than small fights.
I'm moving sometime in the next month or two and I'm hoping to make a c&c floor cage or connect multiple Midwest style cages but I'm not sure I'll be able to due to space and the fact that I'll have to tell the landlord I don't have guinea pigs.
It depends entirely what you mean here - small fights or dominance, because ‘small fights’ is still a huge problem. Dominance is normal, fights are not.
Do you mean you had peanut, buttercup and Oreo all in one cage together? If so, then three boars together almost never works out and fights and broken bonds are the outcome.
Do you mean you had peanut, buttercup and Oreo all in one cage together? If so, then three boars together almost never works out and fights and broken bonds are the outcome.
I’m afraid that I would not reintroduce them.
Once blood has been drawn with boars, they have decided that they do not wish to live together. Buttercup is a teenager and his hormone spike will probably have prompted the change in their behaviour. And if you have introduced 2 juveniles in with your older boar, then I’m afraid that this simply will not work long term, especially if the 2 are of similar age. The best thing to do is work out who gets on, keep those as a pair and remove the 3rd. Sometimes the best thing to do is to accept that despite your best intentions it has failed and separate them.
Once blood has been drawn with boars, they have decided that they do not wish to live together. Buttercup is a teenager and his hormone spike will probably have prompted the change in their behaviour. And if you have introduced 2 juveniles in with your older boar, then I’m afraid that this simply will not work long term, especially if the 2 are of similar age. The best thing to do is work out who gets on, keep those as a pair and remove the 3rd. Sometimes the best thing to do is to accept that despite your best intentions it has failed and separate them.