Male Guineapig Help

[Lilly17200]

Hello, i have 2 boys, Storm (Had him for about 2 months) and Otis (just got him). Storm is said to be about 5-6 months old, while Otis is said to be about 8-9months old. When i brought Otis home and introduced them in neutral territory (The bedroom floor) Otis submitted to Storm Immediately. I've looked it up dozens of times and i can confirm that Otis was and IS submitting. He has never challenged Storm at all. However, it has been a week and Storm STILL wont stop mounting, humping, and rumblestrutting to an extreme and nonstop level. Otis can't eat, sleep, or drink because of Storm's behavior. I know most of you will say it's a dominance thing, but as i said, Otis Submitted a Long time ago, and has never challenged him. Everything i have read indicates that if a guinea pig surrenders to the dominant pig then the behavior should stop in a couple of days, but it hasn't. I have them doing separate floor time once a day to give Otis some extra time to eat, drink, and relax. Storm has also been caught masturbating a couple times while Otis is not around (yes, he has been licking his fully extended member and whining while he does it. I didn't believe it at first either). I am 100% positive they are both males, It has been confirmed by many sources and It's pretty obvious. There hasn't really been any real actual fighting going on, but i see a lot of bullying from Storm. I don't know what else to do, but Otis is absolutely miserable. Please help!

 

[flintstones]

How long have you had Otis for?

Giving them separate floor time will be encourages Storm to re-establish the meeting process. It's very important to keep the pig's together well they sort out who is boss. If you are going to handle the pig's I would suggest picking up Storm first as he is obviously the more dominant pig of the two. It's not as simple as one pig submits it can take weeks for them to come to an agreement even after that you will still see displays of dominance but it should settle down in time.

I would have two of everything, sprinkle the veg so neither can stop the other eating. Don't have any hidies that do not have two exits this way no one can corner the other. Hopefully it will also stop Storm being able to bully Otis.

I would weigh both piggies regularly to ensure neither is losing weight, as weightloss is your best indicator when something is not right.

Storm is obviously right in the midst of his hormones. You really are going to have sit tight and observe the behaviour. If Otis is able to move freely, eat and sleep without obvious aggression. I would suggest leaving them to get on with it.

There are quite a few Boar stickies under behaviour which would be worth reading. @Wiebke may have some more advice for you.

 

[flintstones]

What I did forget to add is the more space you can give male piggies the better. How big is there current cage?

 

[Wiebke]

I am very sorry for you! Trying to bond two teenage boys is very difficult, especially of you have got one on hormonal overdrive. It is very gutting, but sadly, it can happen.

Please abort the bonding. Otis will be much happier being away from Storm. Sadly, some bonds can fail for that reason and not for bloody fights, which are inevitable in the same situation if the underboy has a little bit more spunk. We do recommend to separate if the pressure from one boy is constant to the extent that the other cannot rest, eat or drink.

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/introducing-and-re-introducing-guinea-pigs.38562/

 

[Lilly17200]

I did put them in separate cages shortly after i wrote the post and Otis has been visibly happier and walking around a lot more. I think i am going to try to wait until Storm has grown up a bit more and just have them be next cage neighbors for now. This seems to be working out very well. I also took them out on the lawn today and they behaved well and ate grass together. When i put them back into their separate cages, they didn't whine or seem upset that they weren't near each other anymore. So i think i have a system down. They seem to get along together outside, but they just can't live together. The cage they were in was a 42'' long, 20.5'' tall, and 18 '' wide cage (pretty large) and i also had put in a shelf halfway up the cage to create a upstairs level since it is was so tall. At the time they did have 2 food bowls, 2 water bottles, and every hidey place had at least 2 exits. Now they have one of each in both of their cages, and the cage i have Storm in now is Not much smaller than the larger cage, so he still has plenty of room. The behavior from Storm to Otis was also visible when i let them run around the living room, so i don't think it was a problem with the space. Being outdoors with all the sounds/smells/grass seems to be distracting him enough from his hormones so that they can have a good time together. Thank you both for the responses. Any further advice is very welcome as i am new to this and just trying to do what i can to make them both happy. I have had Otis for a little over a week, and i had only done the separate floor time the last two days before separating them since them being together constantly for 5 days didn't seem to work on the floor or in the cage.