New Guinea Pig Nipping Old Guinea Pig

[Kate Upton]

I need some help

We had Berg and Gizmo back in May 2013. Sadly Berg was ill and we lost him in November.

After a few weeks we decided to get Gizmo a friend as he seemed quite down. Gizmo was 8 months at the time.

We found an 8 week old boy from the RSPCA. We went and picked up this little fella (called Rufio).

For the last few weeks they've been getting on so well, I never expected it to be so good. They wouldn't leave each other's sides and whenever one got taken out, the other would squeak until they were reunited!

All was going well until tonight. Rufio won't leave Gizmo alone and seems to be nipping him. Gizmo is chattering his teeth a lot but then Rufio is rumbling. I don't get it.

I know I'm probably overreacting but it's worrying me so much as they were getting on so well. If anything I thought Gizmo would be the dominant one as he is older but it's not the case.

Please help!
(Gizmo is on the left and Rufio behind him!)

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome!

Your boys are lovely! PS: You have the option between an attachment and a full picture once you have uploaded the file.

By the time scale/age you are giving, Rufio has now reached the big teenage hormones and is displaying dominance behaviour. This phase can run in spikes from 4-14 months old until boars reach a much more hormonally settled adulthood at around 15 months old. It is during this time you find out whether the youngster is developing a character compatible adult personality with Gizmo.

At the moment, the behaviours are still in the medium (and tolerable) range, but you need to keep an eye out in case they escalate. Separate if they reach high aggression/full blown fights with bites. I am sorry, but the next few months won't be quite an easy time for you and your boys. They have an over 50% chance of making it, especially with the age gap, but percentages never apply to the individual case; it very much depends on how your two personalities gel and how well they can work through it.

You may find these information threads here helpful:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/boars-a-guide-to-successful-companionship.76162/\
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dominance-behaviours-in-guinea-pigs.28949/