Guinea Pigs Suddenly Fighting After One Passed Away

[TMan4563]

I have 4 guinea pigs that have lived together for quite a while now. The oldest 3 have been bonded and living together for over 2 years, and I suddenly lost one of them last week. It was very unexpected and the vet thinks it was something neurological. My main issue is that the two older guinea pigs that are left started lunging at each other randomly. I have only ever seen my guinea pig fight this aggressively before when I introduced a new guinea pig that had to be adopted out due to incompatibility. Can this be from the stress of losing one of their bonded cage mates? I don't know what could cause them to fight like this when they have lived together peacefully for several years. The third guinea pig is a younger one that has lived with them since the start, and she's pretty neutral in this situation. Any advice is appreciated,

Also, the fighting stopped pretty easily after I threw a towel on top of them. They are now eating together as if nothing happened, but I am worried it will happen again since it was so random and unexpected the first time.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry for your loss.

The passing of one member of the herd will cause them to reestablish and rearrange their hierarchy, particularly if the one you lost is high up in the hierarchy, and this is what you are most likely seeing.
Provided they can sort things out then any increase in dominance should be temporary. Obviously you will need to keep an eye on them to make sure they do settle

 

[Wiebke]

I have 4 guinea pigs that have lived together for quite a while now. The oldest 3 have been bonded and living together for over 2 years, and I suddenly lost one of them last week. It was very unexpected and the vet thinks it was something neurological. My main issue is that the two older guinea pigs that are left started lunging at each other randomly. I have only ever seen my guinea pig fight this aggressively before when I introduced a new guinea pig that had to be adopted out due to incompatibility. Can this be from the stress of losing one of their bonded cage mates? I don't know what could cause them to fight like this when they have lived together peacefully for several years. The third guinea pig is a younger one that has lived with them since the start, and she's pretty neutral in this situation. Any advice is appreciated,

Also, the fighting stopped pretty easily after I threw a towel on top of them. They are now eating together as if nothing happened, but I am worried it will happen again since it was so random and unexpected the first time.

Hi

I am very sorry for your loss.

It sounds like a hierarchy contest/group re-establishment in the wake of a loss (especially of the previous group leader). Lunging is a defensive behaviour that is a strongly worded 'stay out of my space'.

Whether there are more rounds of discussions depends on whether your two piggies (I assume they are sows?) have cleared up their ranking issue or not.

Find out more about dominance behaviours and the dominance phase here:
A - Z of Guinea Pig Behaviours (see entries lunging and dominance)
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics (see chapter about the dominance phase)