my boys are squabbling-getting serious

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poppylovesguineas

poppylovesguineas

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my two boars are brothers and have lived together since birth and they are two years old. They have always got along fine. Recently i have adopted a female guinea pig and i put her in a carry case whilst i cleaned her out. i made the MASSIVE mistake of putting the boys in the same carry case after i had put her back to clean their cage out. They went nuts smelling the hay and humping so i took them out almost immediately and changed it. The problem is i have noticed today a patch of hair missing on one guinea and some blood on the other. Iv given them a bath together to try and make them alright with each other, they're outside now and appear to be ok together. i dont know what to do does anyone have any advice. thanks :(
 
Hello,

First of all I'm sorry your boys had a spat - it must have been unnerving.

I don't know about the effects of sows on boars per se. I do know quite a bit about boar spats though (I've got two boars who've been through some hormonal arguments recently). Missing hair doesn't seem to be too uncommon and I think with two boars, you've been lucky they haven;t had an argument thus far.

Even sows that get on really well will occasionally have a little scrap. I think that this was an extreme situation. The boars are not usually put in that kind of tense situation and reacted instinticvely.

I think you should keep your eye on them for the next couple of days/weeks but it doesn't sound like they're particularly bad. Our two have little arguments all the time but they've never really damaged each other. They can't live in the same cage but they can live in the same flat, free-range, which is good enough. You boys sound like they'll get back to normal but just keep an eye out in case they don't.

:)
 
thanks a lot for that you've really put my mind at rest. they have been fine all afternoon outside together so I'm keeping an eye on them. there is occasional teeth chattering at one another but nothing violent or aggressive. i really hope they work it out because they used to be lovely together.
 
I think that you have done the right thing. They should be able to go back together after a little cooling down period and a good wash down of their quarters to remove the smell of tesoterone.

You have learned your lesson - clean, feed and handle the boys before the girls... ALWAYS!
 
i definitely wont do that again! I'm still worried though. they keep yawning at each other showing their teeth. their fine around each other but still teeth chattering.
 
poppylovesguineas said:
i definitely wont do that again! I'm still worried though. they keep yawning at each other showing their teeth. their fine around each other but still teeth chattering.
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If necessary, separate them for a night... They should be OK in the long term, but right now, you have to give them space (apart) and time to cool down.
 
Yawning is similar to chattering and complaining in that it's a warning sign to the other boar to stay away. It's not too serious, as Wiebke says, your boars need to cool down a bit and get some space but they should be fine.
 
I just got two pigs that are meant to be really good together and have started falling out and chattering. I think its a change of enviroment and it should settle down so hopefully your pigs just got confused with this new scent and felt the need to battle for her womenness :)
 
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