Guinea Pigs Behaving Differently Outside?

[AvaDottie]

I have two guinea pigs.
Ava, an older female who is about five or six years old, and Dottie, a small male who is barely a year old.
Dottie is always trying to mate with Ava, and they often get into fights, so I always keep them separated.
When I put them both outside, they get along amazingly! Dottie makes no attempts to mate, and Ava sits beside him and cuddles!
It's strange, because after about a minute of being inside they start hating each other again.
I couldn't find any threads about this. Does anyone know why this happens, and is it normal?
Are they stressed out? Does temperature have anything to do with it?
I'd like to see if I can get them to get along just as well inside as they do outside, so I can get Dottie neutered and keep them both together in a larger cage.

 

[Adelle]

Trying an unneutered male and female together is a bad idea- especially since your sow is elderly. Any pregnancy for her would be extremely dangerous.

Outside, theres probably the distraction of fresh grass there fore they are both busy eating to bother with each other.

Indoors, his first port of call will be to mount her, she will protest and they will bicker.

Please do not reintroduce your male to your female until at least 6 weeks after he has been neutered.

 

[AvaDottie]

Trying an unneutered male and female together is a bad idea- especially since your sow is elderly. Any pregnancy for her would be extremely dangerous.

Outside, theres probably the distraction of fresh grass there fore they are both busy eating to bother with each other.

Indoors, his first port of call will be to mount her, she will protest and they will bicker.

Please do not reintroduce your male to your female until at least 6 weeks after he has been neutered.

Yes, I keep them apart outside too. It was just one time that they were outside that they were together, because the place I got Dottie from said he was female. (But once inside it became apparent that he was not, in fact a female. At the time I myself was not very well educated on guinea pigs, but I know much better now that I should have done much more research than I did.)
I guess there is a distraction with the grass. I hadn't really thought of that. Thank you for the information of the length of time to keep them apart after being neutered. I will remember that for the future. I just thought it was odd that they behaved so well outside. I'm hoping eventually I can get them to get along one day, though I believe it may be unlikely, because Dottie already gave himself a bad reputation with Ava, and she no longer trusts him all that much.

 

[Adelle]

Yes, I keep them apart outside too. It was just one time that they were outside that they were together, because the place I got Dottie from said he was female. (But once inside it became apparent that he was not, in fact a female. At the time I myself was not very well educated on guinea pigs, but I know much better now that I should have done much more research than I did.)
I guess there is a distraction with the grass. I hadn't really thought of that. Thank you for the information of the length of time to keep them apart after being neutered. I will remember that for the future. I just thought it was odd that they behaved so well outside. I'm hoping eventually I can get them to get along one day, though I believe it may be unlikely, because Dottie already gave himself a bad reputation with Ava, and she no longer trusts him all that much.

Once hes neutered and his 6 weeks are up then you can introducing them properly on neutral territory following this guide:

Introducing And Re-introducing Guinea Pigs


Then they can sort out their positions properly and can hopefully settle down as obviously havent really had the chance to due to the risk of impregnating the female.

 

[Wiebke]

I have two guinea pigs.
Ava, an older female who is about five or six years old, and Dottie, a small male who is barely a year old.
Dottie is always trying to mate with Ava, and they often get into fights, so I always keep them separated.
When I put them both outside, they get along amazingly! Dottie makes no attempts to mate, and Ava sits beside him and cuddles!
It's strange, because after about a minute of being inside they start hating each other again.
I couldn't find any threads about this. Does anyone know why this happens, and is it normal?
Are they stressed out? Does temperature have anything to do with it?
I'd like to see if I can get them to get along just as well inside as they do outside, so I can get Dottie neutered and keep them both together in a larger cage.

Please do NOT put any unneutered guinea pigs of different genders together, EVER! Neither sows or boars have a menopause, but a pregnancy in an older guinea pig is usually fatal for any babies and very often fatal for mum, too. It only takes seconds to do the damage, quicker than you can separate!

Not all sows will accept a boar in their space, especially dominant older ones. Outside, they are out of their normal territory, so neither feels invaded. You always need to stage any bonding on neutral ground and then transfer to a neutralised, deep cleaned and rearranged cage. Please also be aware that guinea pigs don't do play time. For them, it is always the beginning of a serious bonding process.
Before you try any serious bonding, please carefully read our various guides at the top of the behaviour section; but only do this once your boy is safely neutered and you are not endangering Ava's life.

Please also be aware that any neutered boar needs to wait a full 6 weeks post-operation before he is 100% safe to meet a sow. My Tegan is the surprise baby courtesy of a supposedly safe over 5 weeks post-op boar (not one of mine), so it can really happen as late as that!
The crucial point in boar neutering is finding a good vet, otherwise the risk of post-op complications is MUCH higher. We have got a recommended UK vet locator on the top bar, but can provide a link for recommended piggy savvy vets in other countries.

 

[AvaDottie]

Please do NOT put any unneutered guinea pigs of different genders together, EVER! Neither sows or boars have a menopause, but a pregnancy in an older guinea pig is usually fatal for any babies and very often fatal for mum, too. It only takes seconds to do the damage, quicker than you can separate!

Not all sows will accept a boar in their space, especially dominant older ones. Outside, they are out of their normal territory, so neither feels invaded. You always need to stage any bonding on neutral ground and then transfer to a neutralised, deep cleaned and rearranged cage. Please also be aware that guinea pigs don't do play time. For them, it is always the beginning of a serious bonding process.
Before you try any serious bonding, please carefully read our various guides at the top of the behaviour section; but only do this once your boy is safely neutered and you are not endangering Ava's life.

Please also be aware that any neutered boar needs to wait a full 6 weeks post-operation before he is 100% safe to meet a sow. My Tegan is the surprise baby courtesy of a supposedly safe over 5 weeks post-op boar (not one of mine), so it can really happen as late as that!
The crucial point in boar neutering is finding a good vet, otherwise the risk of post-op complications is MUCH higher. We have got a recommended UK vet locator on the top bar, but can provide a link for recommended piggy savvy vets in other countries.

I am aware that a female and a male should not be together. Thank you for reminding me though
The person I got Dottie from said he was female, and I put them outside together. When they got inside I found out he was a male.

 

[Wiebke]

I am aware that a female and a male should not be together. Thank you for reminding me though
The person I got Dottie from said he was female, and I put them outside together. When they got inside I found out he was a male.

Did you look at the bits or just at the behaviour? Mounting is dominance behaviour for both genders. It is however always a wise precaution to double check the gender of any new piggy before mixing them; we see sadly plenty of mis-sexed piggies on here with all the ensuing accidents.
Sexing Guinea Pigs: How to Sex a Guinea Pig or post a preferably clear and well lit (day light) picture in this thread if you need confirmation from another source.

 

[AvaDottie]

Did you look at the bits or just at the behaviour? Mounting is dominance behaviour for both genders. It is however always a wise precaution to double check the gender of any new piggy before mixing them; we see sadly plenty of mis-sexed piggies on here with all the ensuing accidents.
Sexing Guinea Pigs: How to Sex a Guinea Pig or post a preferably clear and well lit (day light) picture in this thread if you need confirmation from another source.

The bits When we got inside I noticed that he had testicles, as well as a little button rather than a Y shape. Which looked exactly like the "male" bits in many pictures I found on ways to sex guinea pigs.

 

[Freela]

Yes, they certainly know they are somewhere different and will behave accordingly. I've seen pigs huddle together upon first going outside when they aren't used to it- presumably it's different, potentially threatening, and there is safety in numbers. They did resume more normal behavior once they realized they were not in any imminent danger. Then my pigs basically just eat, doze, wake up and eat more! The months where pigs can go outside is relatively short where I live, so the novelty of the lawn never really wears off for them! In addition, for some puzzling reason, one of my pigs will barber the other, but only when they are outdoors. She leaves the other's coat along inside, but will persistent follow her buddy around outdoors and try to chew her fur. I have no idea why this is! LOL!