Rebonding Boars After A Fight? Videos!

[princenvladimir]

I have posted a few times since the fight happened but don't know how to quote previous posts sorry!

Long story short....
Both boars have been adopted from a breeder this January they were 2 months old. They got on perfectly well and could not stand being apart. Prince was significantly bigger than Vladimir.
In June this year we found Prince bleeding from the mouth and he had quite a big cut. We looked after him and separated them straight away, so they have been in separate cages ever since.
We have tried to bath them, wash cages/houses etc but as soon as we try to put them back together, Prince humps Vladimir and Vladimir wees on him, which I assume are both signs of dominance.
They have been in a boarding house for 5 weeks and we have noticed that Prince is even bigger than before and very active, whilst Vladimir is extremely quiet. The boarding house advised us to redo a try as they had been apart for 5 weeks. Prince instantly goes and humps Vladimir, like in 2 seconds.

My issue is that we keep their cages next to each other as don't want them to get depressed. We did leave a bit of distance between them and Prince would bite through the bars CONSTANTLY. Vladimir was very withdrawn and was not doing much since we got him back. Not his true self, but again he has just got back to his old environment and may need some time.

We have tried to put the cages right next to each other and they both bite through the bars quite aggressively: is it because they want to fight or is it because they miss each other?
I took videos but could not upload them on here, but could send it via message.

We don't know what to do. They are our very first guinea pigs and the thought that one of them / both of them are unhappy makes us really sad.

Thanks in advance for reading!

 

[DM030819]

It could be for either reason. How big was the cage they were in?

 

[princenvladimir]

Huuum average I would say. It's like the typical one you get from pets at home. They now both have their own. Weirdly enough, Vladimir is now back top his old self now that the cages are next to each other. But they bite through the bars so much!

 

[Lorcan]

If it's an average p@h cage, it defines won't have been big enough for them both. Boar pairs generally need space of at least 5x2.

 

[princenvladimir]

we do have a much bigger cage that we bought, but obviously can't use it if they can't be together...We're lost and don't know what to do!

 

[DM030819]

That's exactly what I was thinking @Lorcan.

My two boys had a huge fall out when they were younger. They now have a 2x7 C&C cage, which must be 2m in length or so. Sometimes being in each others presence all the time can start the fights.

Also they need their own stuff, own bottle, bed, food dish etc.

@princenvladimir I'd recommend you cover the bars with hard plastic or something (I used an old plastic poster photos frame) so they don't hurt their teeth/jaw chewing the bars.

 

[princenvladimir]

so would you put them back together in a bigger cage? Thanks both for advice!