My youngest guinea pig jumped off of my bed and ran down the hallway and cut his lip

Kel_loves_piggies

Kel_loves_piggies

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I have 2 male guinea pigs and they are both very aggressive towards each other and me, yet the youngest acts like he can’t be separated from the older one. today I was holding my youngest pig on my bed with me and all of the sudden he jumped off of my bed and ran halfway down the hallway, this isnt the first time he has jumped off of me/my bed, but he has never ran off like that (mind you my bed is about 1-2 feet tall) then I went after him and brought him back to my room, he did not make a sound, but before I could sit on my bed he jumped off of me again, running behind his cage and hiding from me, I have no clue what made him do that. I finally got him to calm down and I checked him to make sure he wasn’t hurt and I noticed a little cut on his top lip, but everything else seemed fine. I don’t think he is getting much sleep as I said before the older guinea pig is very aggressive towards him and pushes him out of the hidey hut he hasn’t been getting much rest food or water because the older pig is hogging it all. He has been sleeping on the bedding of the cage with no hidey over him and I feel really bad.
 
I’m sorry to hear of the accident.
Please have any injuries checked by a vet.

On the basis of the issues in their bond, it would be best for you to immediately separate them. It sounds as if bullying is occurring which means their bond is over and they cannot remain in the same cage.
Ensure you are weighing the bullied pig daily (the bully can still be weighed weekly as part of routine care) but you need to be sure the bullied/younger pig is eating properly again once separated

The most important thing in a boar bond is character compatibility. If they don’t have it, their bond won’t work.
The other thing with boars is that they need a lot of space (cage of 180x60cm). They need multiple of every resource in the cage available to them so they never needed to share anything. There needed to be at least two hides and all hides must have two doors. (So he should not have to sleep out in the open as there should be other hides in the cage available to him). Even with that though, if they aren’t compatible and he is being bullied then sadly their cannot remain together.
Please ensure once separated that each piggy has a cage a minimum of 120x60cm and that the two cages are side by side so they can still interact but only with bars between them. Please don’t put them physically together after that

Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Bonds In Trouble
 
Ok thanks so much, I can’t get a new cage at the moment so is there any way I could keep them together for a couple more days?
 
If bullying is occurring then ideally they need to be separated right now. It won’t get better and could potentially end in a fight at any point if the underpig gets fed up enough.

Please ensure you are weighing the underpig daily and making sure he has plenty of access to hay away from your other pig so that he isn’t losing weight.
If weight loss has been occurring during your weekly weight checks, and it’s due to the issues in their bond, then you really don’t want them to remain together.

How old are they?
Does your cage meet the necessary size for two boars?
Is there two of everything in the cage?

Also, there’s the potential that you need to have the older pig get checked in case a change in behaviour is related to a brewing health issue rather than hormones in teen piggies/space/resource issues
 
I think I got the oldest in August and I think I got the youngest in October and when I first got the oldest one, he was bigger, and had no other pig with him when I got the youngest one couple months later, he had another guinea pig with him from his litter, and he was a lot younger than the oldest one was when I first got him and I’m not sure what the necessary size cage I need, and no, I have one of everything, I can’t find any exotic veterinary place around where I live, right now I put a divider in the cage I have now (temporarily) and I put food and water bowl and a old hidey hut in the older ones half and the youngest already has a water bottle and food bowl and hidey hut in it
 
As mentioned in my post above, the necessary cage size for two boys to live together is 180x60cm. Anything less than that is too small.
However if their bond is now broken then that is no longer relevant because you will need two cages measuring a minimum of 120x60cm

There must be two of everything in the cage for two boars.
Only having one of everything in the cage means they were likely fighting for resources which can run the risk of causing bullying particularly if the cage isn’t big enough, tensions are high and if they are likely to be teenagers so hormones may be in play.

As bullying is likely occurring you do need to separate them. However you do now need to work on ensuring each cage is big enough. Each piggy needs a cage a minimum of 120x60cm.
Any separation caused by a break in their hind needs to be permanent so you will need to work on getting another, appropriately sized, cage.

Do they both have plenty of hay?
They don’t actually need food bowls as ideally their veg is scattered amongst hay to provide mental stimulation and foraging opportunity.
 
I give them a handful of hay 2 times a day and I have always used food bowls for them but I am ordering a forage mat for the food
 
As long as there is always large amounts of hay available in the cage - they must never run out of hay as it is three quarters of what they need to eat in a day. It should ideally be available in large piles (bigger than them) for them to hide in and play in as well as eat.

As I say, food bowls are no longer recommended - eating from them is a rather mindless activity which is over in minutes and does not encourage mental stimulation through foraging. Bowls can also lead to food hogging.

Now they are separated it is even more important that they are kept mentally stimulated by being encouraged to forage for large parts of the day amongst plenty of hay.
A large cage will also help here as you can add in lots of boxes and tunnels for each piggy to play in to keep active.
The forage mat is absolutely fine but not necessary as veg mixed in amongst hay does the same thing (plus encourages higher hay intake - this important for the one who has been bullied if he has lost any weight through being chased away from hay in the past few weeks). His daily weight checks will be important to ensure he is now eating plenty of hay properly now separated.
 
Ok thank you so much, I will definitely do put their veggies in they hay to encourage them to forage for it, I am saving up for a bigger cage with more things to keep them active.
 
Kel_loves_piggies said:
Ok thank you so much, I will definitely do put their veggies in they hay to encourage them to forage for it, I am saving up for a bigger cage with more things to keep them active.
Click to expand...

What are the measurements of the cage you have (the one which I think you currently have split in half?)
Each piggy will need their own cage measuring at least 48x24 inches now they are separated.
 
Sadly 39 by 21 inches falls very short of welfare standards and isn’t suitable for them to live in at all - it’s not big enough even for one piggy.
You also cannot split it in half because each half will not provide any room.

Boars need a lot of room and lack of space is most likely part of the reason their bond has failed.
The smallest cage two boars should be in is 60 by 24 inches but they really need 72 by 24 inches to have enough room.

Don’t forget you now need to buy two cages so they can live in a bigger one each given they cant be together in the same cage. The cage you currently have cannot be used at all.
You need to have two cages with each one measuring at least 48 by 24 inches.
 
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