Pregnancy, Separation, Now Fighting...

jaderocks55

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Hi,

I adopted two female guinea piggies at the end of January, I was told they were three months old at the time. Two months later, on April 8th, one of them suprised me with a baby! I was really shocked and separated the other "adult?" piggie thinking it might be a male and I need to get the sex checked out again by a vet. The vet confirmed that the other guinea pig is also female, so Amethyst, the one that had the baby, was pregant when I got her.

When I went to the vet a few days after the baby was born, she told me it was too early to tell the sex of the baby, and to wean the baby/separate from mom at three weeks in case it's a male. I tried to sex him today and I do think he's a male; I identified a penis. As there's only one pup, he's big. He's two and a half weeks old and already weighs 260-something grams, so I'm guessing it's time to separate him from mom. I only have two cages and was hoping if baby has to get separated Amethyst and Bubbles, my two original guinea pigs, can go back to living together...

I think Bubbles has been a bit down/depressed since she's been living on her own. I put her cage right near the other one, but she probably needs a bigger cage and I was using it as a temporary solution until I figure out who can live with who and what kind of cage I'll get next. I put Amethyst and Bubbles in the pop up play pen a few times because I thought it might make Bubbles feel better to get more social contact, but they started teeth chattering immediately, and I haven't heard this from them before. Today I did it again because I am hoping to reintroduce them and get them to live in the same cage, as they're both females of the same age, but they started aggressively fighting and I had to separate them. I saw some loose fur after that and I also didn't think to handle them with a towel and got a deep painful gash on my finger from one super angry Bubbles.

My question now is--should I continue to let Amethyst and Bubbles spend time together in the play pen and let them duke it out in terms of fighting--is this just establishing dominance? It was hard to watch them fighting that aggressively.

Also, any thoughts on whether it's worthwile to neuter the male when he's of age so they can all live together? He's so cute I'd love to keep him but I just read about all the risks of such a surgery. Do male guinea pigs do okay alone?

Thanks in advance!
 
I also meant to ask if anyone has had experience with having to separate guinea pigs after preganncy and then trying to re-introduce them---I am hoping it is possible to have Amethyst and Bubbles continue to live together in the same cage even if the little male doesn't end up joining.
 
The guide below gives you information on reintroducing previous cage mates post birth.
Sadly, sometimes they simply won’t go back together after a separation. If they have had a proper fight, then it isn’t dominance, it is a decision that they no longer want to be together.
This guide explains (the section at the end)
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/after-birth-mother-and-baby-care.109389/

The cut off for separation of a male pup is 21 days of age or 250g whichever comes first. If he has hit the weight, then do separate him so you don’t risk him getting his mother pregnant.

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/sexing-separating-baby-boars-and-rehoming-babies.109391/

Once he is old enough, he can be neutered. He will then need to have his six week post op wait to become infertile before being bonded back in with a sow. So if the girls won’t live together again and while the boar cannot be with a sow, then you are going to need three cages - each measuring 120x60cm.
All piggies need companionship but while they must be single (either through him not be safe to be with sows, or through the sows not wanting to live together anymore) their cages must all be next to each other so they still smell, hear, see each other through the bars which will prevent them from becoming lonely. Living as neighbours is fine but if you can neuter and bond him back with one of the sows, then that will be best. The cage for the neutered boar/sow pair (when the time comes) can remain as a 120x60cm cage but ideally would be upgraded to 150x60cm. You may still end up with one of the sows single though and having to live as a neighbour permanently.
 
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