Piggy Fight

[WorldSeriesHugOut]

My two girls, Willie and Posey, had a fight the other night that lead to a trial separation. They are classroom pets and one is in their cage at school getting snuggle time while the other has received lots of snuggle time at home with me. This has been in effect for 48 hours. I'm starting to see behavior and eating normalize this way.

The plan, based on researched, is to bring the cage from home tomorrow and let them smell and hear each other. On Friday (after 48 hours of being neighbors) they will be bathed and taken to a neutral location with a big pile of food to be reintroduced.

Does this sound like the right thing to do? I'm heartbroken that the girls fought to begin with and want to ensure that it is worked out before leaving them with a friend for ten days while I'm on vacation.

 

[piggyfan]

I think bathing them together is a great idea. They will share the experience and also smell the same which will help them to get along.

 

[Saysie]

Yes sounds like your doing the right thing. I think its rare for girls to fall out like this (I could be wrong) so bathing them and slowly re-introducing them should help, it could be one of them was in season and feeling more hormonal.
Really hope it all works out x

 

[Little Pig]

You could also try a bit of cage swapping for a day or so... good luck.

 

[Wiebke]

Your plan is certainly the best under the circumstances! Please be aware that when piggies of all genders have a serious fall out, they may refuse to ever live together again and no amount of trying can change that; don't get your hopes up too much and plan for the case that a reintroduction doesn't work out.

Just one question - how big is their cage? If it is less than 2x4 ft (60x120cm), that can have well contributed to the fight.

Here are more tips:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38562
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38561
Aggressive behaviours to look out for:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949