Really struggling with one of my piggies.

J&C2023

J&C2023

New Born Pup
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Hello,

I have two boars names Joey and Chandler. It is pretty clear that Chandler is the dominant piggie. He humps Joey and chases him a lot. Over the last few days I have noticed that Chandler is eating all the veg and if Joey comes to have some he either chases him away from it or steals it out of his mouth. Today I found him preventing Joey eating the hay.
Joey is very sweet as he lets me hold him he comes to me when I bring food and he eats from my hand.
Chandler is the complete opposite, we are unable to handle him because he has bitten both my husband and son and every time we have gone to pick him up he just immediately goes to bite us. I am only able to get him out of the cage by having him get into a hide and then carrying him out of the cage in the hide.
The problem I have is I am pretty sure Joey has running lice and I therefore want to wash them both, but I feel it's going to be impossible with Chandler. We have had them both for over a month now, and I am becoming increasingly anxious about cutting his nails etc. Although we are unable to handle him he seems to be really thriving, he was the smaller one of the two and now he is bigger than Joey, but I haven't been able to weigh him. I feel at an absolute loss, because we obviously need to be able to handle him to check him over. Any help or advice would be much appreciated, thank you.
 
Hi, sorry to hear that your piggies don't seem to be getting on well and are worrying you.

I'm not a medical expert, but if Joey does indeed have lice, it could be a reaction to stress due to being bullied by Chandler. That kind of lice are nearly always present but only become a problem when stress or illness lowers the immune system; as such Chandler probably wouldn't need treatment. The best treatment for those lice would be ivermectin from a vet after proper examination, washing before the vet sees them would not be a good idea as it might clear the evidence without curing the real problem.
My recommendation would be that you take them to the vet, also that if you don't already, then start weighing them both regularly so you can see if Chandler is preventing Joey from getting enough food. If serious bullying is going on, then sadly separation might be necessary.
 
:agr: And I’m sorry to hear this.

They will both need to be taken to the vet for ivermectin correct treatment, please don’t bathe them before seeing a vet.
Just bathing them won’t be enough. You will also need to fully disinfect the cage(s) the course of treatment and as it can cause a lowered immune system, a short two week booster course of vitamin c may also be a good idea. (Vit c should not be routinely supplemented as it can cause issues but doing it as a short course where an immune boost is needed is fine).

New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights
Probiotics Live Gut Microbiome Transfer ('Poo Soup'); Recovery Formula Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links and Transfer Recipe

It sadly does sound like bullying may be occurring and that is unfortunately bond breaking meaning they will most likely need to be permanently separated.

The guides below will explain further

Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
 
Just to add to the above, don't bathe them before you take them to a piggy savvy vet, as this may mean the vet can't properly diagnose them.
Best of luck with everything :)

When it comes to handling them for health checks etc, have you tried to herd them into a small hide or cardboard box? (Edit, I've reread your post, that's fine if you're doing that). The vet should be able to help with nail clipping for the first few times, and there are lots of threads with advice on nail clipping on the forum.

You will find lots more advice on handling over here: Settling In And Making Friends With Guinea Pigs - A Guide, particularly in the 'Settling, safe handling and making friends with your guinea pigs' section.

P.S. How big is their cage, and is there two of everything? Make sure that there are several piles of hay and food so that each pig can eat without worrying about the other. Boars need an awful lot of space to live together happily. This is explained more in this guide: A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
 
Thank you so much for the replies, I am going to book an appointment for them both.
Thankfully yesterday and today I have been able to hand feed Joey so I know exactly how much veg he is having now. I have also been sat with them by the cage today and so I have been able to watch him eat hay.
Yesterday I put Joey in the playpen with some food, and he started wheeking. This is the first time I have heard one of them do that, then Chandler was wheeking back.
They are currently in a 2x4 but I am thinking about going up to a 2x5.
They seem to go from Chandler being a bully to then them laying in the hay box together and coming out to see me together. I am hoping for now they will be able to stay together, but I know that things could change once the hit puberty.
 
It seems positive that Joey is still happy to be close to Chandler sometimes without issues arising. Possibly Chandler is becoming a hormonal teenager - you didn't mention how old they are iirc, but if you got them from a petshop or breeder as babies, it would be about the right time for them to become teenagers in piggy terms.
Do weigh Joey regularly to ascertain if he is gaining weight as he should be and not being bullied away from food.
I hope the vet can give you the right treatment for whatever Joey has too.
 
It could be Chandler is having strong hormone spikes. these usually settle after about 24 hours, then relationships go back to normal. These are most common in boars between 4- 14 months

Keep a close I on them, hope your vet check goes well x
 
Definitely do keep an eye. Actual bullying, rather than dominance, is a problem and a relationship won’t survive it.
Going to a 2x5 is a good idea. A 2x4 can be a bit too small for a teen boar pair.

Do also remember that the amount of veg they eat is not entirely relevant as it is only 20% of the daily food intake. It is hay intake which is the most important factor. Hay is 75-80% of their daily food intake. If they aren’t eating enough hay they will lose weight and you can’t gauge hay intake by eye.

Let us know how things go with the vet

Weight - Monitoring and Management
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
 
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