h.h.lovecraft
Junior Guinea Pig
I recently adopted two six week old guinea pig sows. They are sisters. This is my third full day of having them and I've already noticed some fighting, particularly over their hideys. I have one corner curtain hidey and one large bridge tunnel (the stick one, I'm sure you know what I am referring to.) There is more than enough space for both of them in each. I used to have a blanket over the cage for more hiding space, but they both started climbing up the side of the c & c cage (seriously, like little hamsters) to get to it so I took it down. They don't really cuddle and seem to like their own space, which is fine, until one of them wants to go into the hidey the other one is currently sitting in. They never bite or get too rough, but you can tell how they are forcing the other piggy out aggressively with squeaking and some lunging and what not. One is definitely more aggressive than the other and most times she is the one starting the fight. She will even come in and kick the other piggy out of the hidey sometimes. I know they are in a new cage and are establishing dominance and I've read the threads about dominance on here, but I am worried about this behavior since it seems connected to the hideys. The two hideys I have are pretty big and contain multiple openings, so I'm not really sure what to do or how to fix this. I hope this isn't a bad sign for future failed bonding when it's only been a few days and they are already fighting and generally just seem to tolerate each other. I also feel bad that one seems to get bullied in or out of hideys a lot