Guinea pigs had a fight(I need a lot of advice)

I

interestingthoughts

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My guinea pigs had a fight and one of them drew blood. The only issue is that I don't know who drew the blood(I tried looking for any blood on their bodies(they are both red haired guinea pigs making it hard)) and I don't know where the blood was drawn. Because of this I haven't had any anti bacterial medicine on their bodies. Do you have any advice for this?

Additionally I don't know what to do in regards to keeping them together. They are normally fine, I think one of them got super hormonal for a while but then things calmed down, when I found blood in their cage they were both more relaxed. I've separated them but I don't know if I should just put them back soon since they were ok with each other(as of then)?

A few more things: one of the guinea pigs got a lot of boar glue, I was trying to cut it off his fur but he wouldn't calm down so I accidentally ripped a small tuft of fur off. Will he be ok? He was also so hyper that he ended up eating his own fur which had boar glue on it. Will he be ok if he ate that?

Yeah I'm sorry but I'm in a bit of a panic since this just came up.
 
I’m sorry to hear this.

In terms of the fight and the future of the bond. Sadly an injury causing fight means the relationship is over and separation should be permanent. Two piggies who have had a fight are unlikely to go back together long term successfully. We dont recommend you attempt any reintroduction after an actual fight - the chances of it happening again are high.

Wiebke

Thread 'Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?'

Overview
1 The hormonal teenage months
- What are the most difficult times?
- What are your boars' chances of making it together?
- What can help to boost your boys' chances?
- What does NOT work?
2 Fighting, bullying and when to separate
- What are the signs of a dysfunctional bond?
- How can I test whether a bond is no longer working?
- What to do if your boars had a bloody fight?
3 Life after...
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If you feel you really want to try to reintroduce, then you will need to watch them very closely - another fight would be likely to occur and it could happen at any time.
Any reintroduction must be done properly and on neutral territory. Do not just remove the cage divider and allow them to wander back together

Wiebke

Thread 'Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics'

1 Introduction
2 Pre-bonding
- Quarantine and sexing
- The need for a plan B
- The rule-breaker: Youngsters under 4 months (sub-teenage)
3 Setting up an introduction
- Getting to know each other
- ‘Buddy baths’ – why not
- Setting up a neutral bonding area
- How to start the bonding
4 Acceptance phase: Do we like each other?
- Friendly getting to know...
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If you are worried about wounds, then take them both to the vet to be checked.
When one of my boar pairs had a fight there were injuries on them both and they both had a short course of antibiotics.

The boar glue in the hair and eating the hair - it’s not an issue. He will be fine
 
Just a quick thought- did you see them fight?
Is it possible that one of them has passed blood in their urine instead?
 
interestingthoughts said:
hi, i didn't see them fight fight but they seemed very hormonal and were humping each other a lot
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Seeing blood is concerning but as you didn’t see a fight, I would try to reintroduce them on neutral territory and gauge their reactions to each other. Humping each other is not grounds to separate.
They will need to be in a bonding pen for several hours so you can see whether they are prepared to go back together.

If they are ok in a bonding pen for several hours, then clean out their normal cage and move them back to it. You will still need to keep an eye on them just in case there was a fight. If they have fought once then the chances are high they will do it again.
Do note that you can’t repeatedly separate boars without risking damaging their bond.
If they are not ok upon neutral territory, then their separation will need to be permanent.
 
Piggies&buns said:
eeing blood is concerning but as you didn’t see a fight, I would try to reintroduce them on neutral territory and gauge their reactions to each other. Humping each other is not grounds to separate.
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thank you.I dont think they were out to kill each other since they seemed much better when i saw them again and first noticed the blood but i just wanted to make sure that they should've been separated or not
 
interestingthoughts said:
thank you.I dont think they were out to kill each other since they seemed much better when i saw them again and first noticed the blood but i just wanted to make sure that they should've been separated or not
Click to expand...

If there is underlying tension, then they may appear to be ok with each other at times but those tensions will continually rise to the surface. If they can overcome it then they will be ok. If not, then the bond won’t survive.
A fight obviously means the bond is immediately over and the separation should be permanent.

All you can do is try to reintroduce given you don’t know what actually happened. If it happens again or indeed if you actually witness a fight, then their bond is likely over.

In the meantime, I would avoid making any territory changes ie don’t clean the whole cage in one go, don’t change the set up in way. Make sure there are dead ends and no single exit hides.
 
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