Just asking for some advice - teenage boars

JunePiggies19

JunePiggies19

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Hi!
I have two male guinea pigs who live indoors together. They're about 8 months old and I've had them for 6 months. Usually they are very friendly with each other, lots of nose touching, playing together and snuggling up. Over the past couple of days they've been behaving a bit differently towards each other. First it started with a bit of pushing and shoving over the food bowl. Then one of them head butted the other out of the way and this morning they kept pushing each other out of their shared hidey hole. I put a cosy in their cage so they each had a place to hide away from each other. All today whenever I have seen them , one has been in the hidey hole and the other in the cosy. Is this anything to worry about it is it normal growing up piggie behauviour? Thanks
 
Could just be a bit of dominance happening. It happens at certain ages, doesn’t sound like anything to worry about just a little squabble.
My advice would be get two good bowls, two hideys etc that way when them need some space they can have it.
I think they are fine from what you have said and just one of those things. Hormones with boars create a few issues like this but settle fairly fast

welcome to the Forum by the way. Be lovely to see some photos of your boys, what are their names?
 
With boars it's best to have as large an enclosure as possible so you can have 2 of everything I also have hay areas at both ends of my enclosure so they can have their own areas if they wish.
 
sport_billy said:
Could just be a bit of dominance happening. It happens at certain ages, doesn’t sound like anything to worry about just a little squabble.
My advice would be get two good bowls, two hideys etc that way when them need some space they can have it.
I think they are fine from what you have said and just one of those things. Hormones with boars create a few issues like this but settle fairly fast

welcome to the Forum by the way. Be lovely to see some photos of your boys, what are their names?
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ok thank you for your advice. Their names are Sandy and Pebbles. Pebbles has always seemed more dominant than Sandy so maybe they are just having a little squabble like you said. I will put another food bowl in for them.
 
JunePiggies19 said:
ok thank you for your advice. Their names are Sandy and Pebbles. Pebbles has always seemed more dominant than Sandy so maybe they are just having a little squabble like you said. I will put another food bowl in for them.
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What size is their cage?
With boys you need a cage at least 150cm x 60cm, it bigger is better. Lack of space can case tensions and lead to problems.
 
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I find it also helps to give boars things to do like tunnels and cardboard boxes to hide in and chew.
 
they sound fine just a bit of tension but they will probably be able to work through it this is normal with boys. be sure to have a plan B (back up cage) in case you need to separate them but only if they fight and this is unlikely. I always make sure they have at least 3 hideys because you can guarantee one is always the best hidey ever and the dominant piggie will get this one so giving the less dominant piggie a choice gives them some empowerment (makes them more likely to accept the position of 2nd in command).

just what I have found works with my 2 boys.
 
Piggies&buns said:
:agr:
The key with boys (after mutual liking) is a lot of space (boys need a larger than average cage size) and two, possibly three, of every item.
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Ok thanks for the advice. They're brothers and have been together since birth so I didn't have to introduce them to each other. I've put in another food bowl, another hat rack and cosy. Will keep an eye on them and hope that by tomorrow they're best friends again ☺
 
I'd be careful with loofahs incase they eat them. As I've heard horror stories about them.
 
Sweet Potato said:
they sound fine just a bit of tension but they will probably be able to work through it this is normal with boys. be sure to have a plan B (back up cage) in case you need to separate them but only if they fight and this is unlikely. I always make sure they have at least 3 hideys because you can guarantee one is always the best hidey ever and the dominant piggie will get this one so giving the less dominant piggie a choice gives them some empowerment (makes them more likely to accept the position of 2nd in command).

just what I have found works with my 2 boys.
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Thanks for the advice. Yeah they don't seem like they want to fight (touch wood!). I think they might just need a bit of space. I'm going to get them out for a run around tomorrow but knowing my piggies they will just sit there. Hoping it will allow them to let off a bit of steam though.
 
Julie M said:
I'd be careful with loofahs incase they eat them. As I've heard horror stories about them.
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ok thanks. What sort of horror stories? I just buy the ones from the pet store specially for guinea pigs.
 
JunePiggies19 said:
ok thanks. What sort of horror stories? I just buy the ones from the pet store specially for guinea pigs.
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If they eat them they can swell up in their stomachs. As essentially they are a sponge. I'm just too scared to give them to mine.
 
Excellent. It shouldn’t be a space issues then. Lack of space leading to tension one of the most common problems we see amongst teen boars.
It is just dominance. They have a fairly high hormone level around this age, and with them both going through it at the same time, if just makes things a bit scary! Keep an eye on them, ensure you handle the dominant piggy first (you always have to respect their heirarchy), two/three of every item and hopefully things will settle down.
 
JunePiggies19 said:
Hi!
I have two male guinea pigs who live indoors together. They're about 8 months old and I've had them for 6 months. Usually they are very friendly with each other, lots of nose touching, playing together and snuggling up. Over the past couple of days they've been behaving a bit differently towards each other. First it started with a bit of pushing and shoving over the food bowl. Then one of them head butted the other out of the way and this morning they kept pushing each other out of their shared hidey hole. I put a cosy in their cage so they each had a place to hide away from each other. All today whenever I have seen them , one has been in the hidey hole and the other in the cosy. Is this anything to worry about it is it normal growing up piggie behauviour? Thanks
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Hi!

Your boys are currently both at tricky ages of the teenage months. Make sure that you have got two different huts and that all hideys have two exits so no boar can be trapped in a hut - that is a prime flashpoint for problems.

If possible, please remove any bowls unless you serve a small portion of veg that can be eaten in one go and the 1 tablespoon of pellets that guinea pigs should eat in a day in two bowls, spaced well apart to avoid food bullying (which is a normal part of dominance behaviour, the same as chucking the underpiggy out of a hidey). alternatively you can sprinkle feed around the cage to encourage foraging behaviour.
In between meals, remove the bowls in order to encourage your boys to eat as much hay as possible - it should make over 80% of the daily food intake and is the mainstay of the diet that is responsible for long term health (via the gut and dental health) and can add 1-2 years to the average life span.
More information and tips on how to stabilise a teenage bond, dominance behaviours and a list of dos and don'ts with boars in these links here:
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars (see chapters on ages and what boars need)
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics (see chapter on the dominance phase for relevant behaviours)

The good news is that the behaviour so far is on the mild side.

All the best!
 
Piggies&buns said:
Excellent. It shouldn’t be a space issues then. Lack of space leading to tension one of the most common problems we see amongst teen boars.
It is just dominance. They have a fairly high hormone level around this age, and with them both going through it at the same time, if just makes things a bit scary! Keep an eye on them, ensure you handle the dominant piggy first (you always have to respect their heirarchy), two/three of every item and hopefully things will settle down.
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Thank you for all your help! 😊
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Your boys are currently both at tricky ages of the teenage months. Make sure that you have got two different huts and that all hideys have two exits so no boar can be trapped in a hut - that is a prime flashpoint for problems.

If possible, please remove any bowls unless you serve a small portion of veg that can be eaten in one go and the 1 tablespoon of pellets that guinea pigs should eat in a day in two bowls, spaced well apart to avoid food bullying (which is a normal part of dominance behaviour, the same as chucking the underpiggy out of a hidey). alternatively you can sprinkle feed around the cage to encourage foraging behaviour.
In between meals, remove the bowls in order to encourage your boys to eat as much hay as possible - it should make over 80% of the daily food intake and is the mainstay of the diet that is responsible for long term health (via the gut and dental health) and can add 1-2 years to the average life span.
More information and tips on how to stabilise a teenage bond, dominance behaviours and a list of dos and don'ts with boars in these links here:
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars (see chapters on ages and what boars need)
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics (see chapter on the dominance phase for relevant behaviours)

The good news is that the behaviour so far is on the mild side.

All the best!
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Thank you for your response and all your help!
 
Thank you for everyone's help. They have settled down a bit over the past few days and do seem more mature but are still doing a bit of snuggling together! Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply and give some advice, it was highly appreciated.
 
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