New And Nervous!.

[jordywordy]

Hello everyone. I'm officially a piggy owner. I got 2 males from p@h yesterday. They were great together in the same cage indoors all evening. They had been living together in store I assumed that a hierarchy would have already been formed. Last night before I went to be and all mighty fight broke out and now my poor piggys have a bleeding nose and chin. I've been too nervous to leave them together so they're now in separate cages. How do I go about getting them to be friends again? According to p@h they are around 20 weeks old but I'm very unsure about this..... All advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BossHogg]

Welcome to our friendly forum. One of our experts will be along shortly to answer your query.

 

[jordywordy]

Welcome to our friendly forum. One of our experts will be along shortly to answer your query.

Thank you. I really hope they get along again. Someone told me the will die if they have to live on their own and I'm so nervous now x

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry for the mess you have been landed in due to insufficient advice - sadly not at all rare where pet shops are concerned. How big is their cage? I guess you just put them in there with all the hideys they could go possessive over?

Boars always need to establish the hierarchy afresh in any new surroundings. this can trigger a fall-out, especially as your boys are now in the middle of the hormonal teenage months. To be honest, I don't think that they will ever go back together after a bloody fight with bites to the face; piggies usually don't.

Please have them seen and checked by a vet, there is a risk of abscesses. It is good that you have separated them. Please let them calm down now.
We can talk you through your further options. Where in Wales are you roughly?

I am very sorry that you have found us only now and not earlier.

Here is more about boar behaviour:
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boars-a-guide-to-successful-companionship.76162/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/introducing-and-re-introducing-guinea-pigs.38562/

 

[jordywordy]

Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry for the mess you have been landed in due to insufficient advice - sadly not at all rare where pet shops are concerned. How big is their cage? I guess you just put them in there with all the hideys they could go possessive over?

Boars always need to establish the hierarchy afresh in any new surroundings. this can trigger a fall-out, especially as your boys are now in the middle of the hormonal teenage months. To be honest, I don't think that they will ever go back together after a bloody fight with bites to the face; piggies usually don't.

Please have them seen and checked by a vet, there is a risk of abscesses. It is good that you have separated them. Please let them calm down now.
We can talk you through your further options. Where in Wales are you roughly?

I am very sorry that you have found us only now and not earlier.

Here is more about boar behaviour:
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boars-a-guide-to-successful-companionship.76162/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/introducing-and-re-introducing-guinea-pigs.38562/

It's a 100L one? They said it's big enough for 3 but didn't want them to be cramped! I'd say it's about a metre and a half by about 55cm , I had a bed in there and a hidey tube but quickly removed them. I've cleaned them up and put some tea tree gel on them for now as I can't get to a vet untill tomorrow I'm in the pontypridd area. Any advice would be great. After work tomorrow I'm going to try and bath them together, they're friendly with each other when they're on my lap and I tried cleaning the cage out too but still have them separately but besides each other for now

 

[Wiebke]

It's a 100L one? They said it's big enough for 3 but didn't want them to be cramped! I'd say it's about a metre and a half by about 55cm , I had a bed in there and a hidey tube but quickly removed them. I've cleaned them up and put some tea tree gel on them for now as I can't get to a vet untill tomorrow I'm in the pontypridd area. Any advice would be great. After work tomorrow I'm going to try and bath them together, they're friendly with each other when they're on my lap and I tried cleaning the cage out too but still have them separately but besides each other for now

50x100cm is minimal for 1 guinea pig according to the RSPCA recommendations! Sadly, pet shops still insist on selling too small cages at high prices - which is one of the high risk factors for fall-outs unfortunately because guinea pigs can't get away from each other.
Have a look at our cage size guide: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/cage-size-guide.120795/

 

[AuntyC]

Hi there. If they won't rebond you will have to keep them in adjacent cages where they can see each other but not be able to fight, and don't worry - they won't die if kept like this! If they DO rebond( and as Wiebke says, this is looking unlikely) see if you have space for a 5x2 or 6x2 C&C pen( look on the members gallery section for examples) as the more room they have the better. Boars sharing also need two houses, two bowls, two water bottles, two hay areas......etc! This avoids arguments and gives them "personal space" so to speak. Hope the cuts heal well.

 

[jordywordy]

Than

Hi there. If they won't rebond you will have to keep them in adjacent cages where they can see each other but not be able to fight, and don't worry - they won't die if kept like this! If they DO rebond( and as Wiebke says, this is looking unlikely) see if you have space for a 5x2 or 6x2 C&C pen( look on the members gallery section for examples) as the more room they have the better. Boars sharing also need two houses, two bowls, two water bottles, two hay areas......etc! This avoids arguments and gives them "personal space" so to speak. Hope the cuts heal well.

Thank you, what I think I'm going to do is let them have together time in their pen as they're happy like this and just separate them for bed time. Going to have a bath today so hopefully this shall ease a bit of tension. I had 3 hidey areas for them and had just scatters hay and food around as they're foregers! The cuts are only little and seem to not be causing pain. Hope my boys make up. I've fallen in love with them after 2 days so will do what ever it takes!

 

[Wiebke]

Best of luck! When trying to rebond piggies, please always make sure that you have got plan B at the ready - and no hideys in the cage they can get possessive over.

 

[Flutterby]

Hello and welcome to the forum!