Help With Fighting Males!

Status
Not open for further replies.

CazH

New Born Pup
Joined
Oct 3, 2015
Messages
8
Reaction score
2
Points
95
Hi,
I have three males four months old, two brothers and one which was bonded successfully when they were babies.
I now have a problem where two are now fighting constantly!
I checked them over and one has two cuts on his nose and both have cuts on their backs.
It seems to be the none brother causing trouble so I separated him for the night in the hope it would help but the fighting was worse when I put him back in.

My hutch has ample space, two houses, two food bowls so all should be ok.
I really don't know what to do I am worried one will get really hurt.
Hoping someone can help!
 
Three males will rarely work - they are in their hormonal stage, which is particularly volatile. If you still have a pair who are working together, keep them together. It would seem that your only options would be to look at getting your single pig another male friend (which could be tricky if he is feisty) or to have him neutered and get him a female friend once things are all clear. Spayed females are few and far between.

Boars need as much space as possible. I have had pairs who have worked perfectly well in a 4' x 2' cage and others who could only just tolerate each other in a 5' x 2.5' space.
 
I wish I would of known!
Should I seperate them asap or wait a few days to see if it settles down?
I am hoping it does settle down as they previously got on so well and I am unable to get any more guinea pigs.
 
It depends very much on how they are with each other. They sound like they have nipped each other, rather than had a full on fight, but they will need to be monitored closely, to make sure they don't do serious damage to each other, which is what could potentially happen.
 
Ok I will keep an eye on them.
I had them in the run most of the day to check on them but they seemed to be bickering most of the day and I had to stop one fight.
Fingers crossed they will stop soon, how long shall I leave it before I seperate them?
 
If they settle down, all well and good, but I can't see that happening, particularly with the age they are at. The teenage stage in pigs lasts for around 8-9 months. If they have a full on fight, you'll be lucky both pigs come out of it, as they can be vicious. If they are threatening to fight, I wouldn't leave them unsupervised at all. Problem you have is if you take one out, then every time he is reintroduced, the dominance and hierarchy process starts all over again.
 
That is exactly what happened when I took one out for the night one I put him back in the fighting was even worse.
It is such a shame as they were so nice together, but it sounds like I need to find a new home for the one causing trouble.
 
Could it be anything to do with the time of year?I know springtime is usual for fall-outs but this last week my two males who live in a 6x3 cage and normally get on ok have been really bickering.Grrr.Probably not but I'm watching them really carefully and if there is a fight I will separate them straight away.
 
It has only started this week for some reason.Unfortunately I am unable to divide my hutch because of the layout, it has a ramp down to a run underneath
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top