Old Pals Now Fighting

[Mike Brincat]

hi,

I have 3 7 month old boars 2 of which have been together since a very young age. we recently introduced a 3rd we followed every precaution in introduction and everything went well. the new piggy is now living in the hutch with the existing 2 and has been for about 2 weeks. but all of a sudden yesterday while in their run the 2 existing guinea pigs had a fight and the dominant piggy was bleeding. this morning I wake up and they have had a fight again this time both of them have some small cuts... i'm not really sure what to make of the whole thing because they've never done this before and the new pig isn't getting involved...

any ideas?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! I am sorry for your pickle.

Please be aware that:
a) all your boys are right in the middle of the unstable hormonal teenage months, which will last until your boys reach a somewhat more settled adulthood at about 15 months old
b) the fall-out rate for two teenage boys is quite high (a bit less than 50%), depending on how well their developing adult personalities mesh. The fall-out rate for three subadult boars is around 90%.
By adding a third into the mix, you have unfortunately destabilised the existing hierarchy. Please separate the fighters and consider alternative long term solutions (i.e. pairing up the boys rather than having them in a trio); if you leave it, you could end up with three single boys that won't get back together with each other at the worst. Boars are best kept in character compatible pairs. See which boy your newbie is happiest with and then try to find a new boarfriend for the other, ideally from a rescue (we have got a piggy savvy good standard rescue locator on the top bar) that offers boar dating for single boars. That way, character compatibility is taken into account, so the risk of further fall-outs is significantly reduced.

 

[piggyfan]

Hi mike. Welcome to the forum. Boar trios rarely work. Boars are best kept in pairs. Introducing a new piggy will threaten your pair. Have you now separated the pair that fought? If blood has been drawn they cannot be kept together. It is very sad but you will not be able to keep all three together. With guinea pigs you cannot just get them and hope they get on. They have to match in personality.

The best thing you can do is separate the fighting pair. Hopefully one can live with the new boy but the other will need a friend. The way to get him a friend is to take him to a rescue were he can choose his own friend. This saves getting another guinea pig and them not getting on. This link will help you find your nearest rescue,
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-rescue-locator/

With a guinea pig from a rescue you can be sure they are healthy, correctly sexed and vet checked. There will be no need to quarentine them either.

 

[Mike Brincat]

it just all seems very strange that they were all getting along very well. I totally understand that boars are very difficult when adding another. but for 2 inseperable guinea pigs to just turn on each other seems a little odd... i'm going to pursist with them as I think they will come round. after a bit more time together.

the strangest thing is that they all pretty inseperable and cuddle up together for the most part but this just happened yesterday and this morning... I have removed one of them from the hutch for the time being and will give them a bath together later to see if they can bond over that....

Am I right in saying that neutering makes no difference to their behaviour?