Should I Separate Again?

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Morebyluck

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I have three boars that are approximately 6 months old. We purchased them in May from a very reputable farm/pet shop after much deliberation regarding boys or girls, how many are good together, rescued or shop bought? And all the other deliberations that come along with owning/acquiring Guinea Pigs.

We had a decent sized double decker hutch and a large run that my partner built. So far so good.
About four weeks later it became apparent that Marty McFly was being bullied by his brothers. Nothing too violent but he was being constantly chased and harassed and kept away from his food and bed. I sought advice online and everything I read suggested separating them temporarily. I bought another double decker hutch and my husband built another lovely run for Marty McFly with the hopes that it would only be a temporary arrangement.......... It wasn't. A day later Marty was back to his popcorning self - THRILLED to be in his very own bachelor pad, and any attempts of reuniting him with his brothers (Jim Lovell and Jack Dawson) were unsucessful to say the least (teeth chattering, bottoms up, puffball fur from all sides). So we've left the living arrangements like that and its worked. Until yesterday.

I lifted Jack Dawson out of his run that he shares with Jim Lovell and his whole flank is cover in gouges and scabs with a huge amount of fur missing. He wasn't actively bleeding so it probably happened overnight. Basically, I've watched these boys together all day and Jim Lovell is bullying Jack Dawson mercilessly - he doesn't leave him alone. I'm so worried about Jack and understand that first and foremost he needs rest and respite and time to heal (I've cleaned his wounds with a sterile saline solution) so for now I've shut him in the top tier of his hutch and left Jim Lovell to roam around the bottom tier and the run.

My questions are:

Should I immediately purchase a new hutch, run and cover for Jack Dawson?
Is it ridiculous to have three guinea pigs in three hutches....... or even fair?
The runs are very close together and they can still see and communicate with each other so I'm assuming this is still classed as socialisation right?
Do you think my partner might leave me if I make him build another run?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated regarding anything I've spoken about. I don't offend easily. :D
 
It sounds to me that your boys have reached their "young man" age - and the hormones have kicked in .

Wiebke is our expert and I am sure she will pick up on this thread soon and answer you .

Personally, I think , if a boar bond fails, it is very difficult to get them back together so, you may be looking at keeping all 3 separate. If their runs are together, this can be sufficient company for them .
 
@Wiebke is rather busy today but I sure she'll be along soon. It may be that their boar hormones have kicked in. It may be worth (when things have calmed down ) introducing Jack and Marty on neutral ground to see if they may get along without the influence of bossy Jim. Be warned that it may not work, but if it does you may then be able to house those 2 together and look at keeping Jim separate or with a new companion of his own. Boys!
 
VickiA said:
@Wiebke is rather busy today but I sure she'll be along soon. It may be that their boar hormones have kicked in. It may be worth (when things have calmed down ) introducing Jack and Marty on neutral ground to see if they may get along without the influence of bossy Jim. Be warned that it may not work, but if it does you may then be able to house those 2 together and look at keeping Jim separate or with a new companion of his own. Boys!
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Thank you. I've gone ahead and ordered another run and hutch anyway. I suppose it's always good to have a spare one even if I don't need it - in case anyone decides to get their handbags out again! Will look forward further advice.
Regarding Jack's bites...... am I doing the right thing? Just a daily clean with sterile saline water...... I don't think he needs a vets atre
 
I'm not sure what's happened up there ^^^^ my mobile appears to be playing silly beggars... I didn't mean to post a quote.
 
Morebyluck said:
Thank you. I've gone ahead and ordered another run and hutch anyway. I suppose it's always good to have a spare one even if I don't need it - in case anyone decides to get their handbags out again! Will look forward further advice.
Regarding Jack's bites...... am I doing the right thing? Just a daily clean with sterile saline water...... I don't think he needs a vets atre
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In your shoes I would have done the same with ordering another hutch and run if you have the space and the money. Always good to have a fallback position!

In terms of the injuries, cleaning with saline is very good. Just keep an eye out that none become infected - if you notice any lumps then best get the vet to check as he may need ABs. In the meantime if you have any F10 ointment that is good for healing wounds (you can get from Amazon or the vets).

And as for technology - don't get me going. My iPad knows better than I do and autocorrects my posts to turn them into a nonsense regularly!
 
Ah bless I think you have done the right thing with separating and given time to heal a bit I think it might be worth trying Marty back with one of the other two lads again to see if you can get a bond working out. It might be worth contacting Honeybunnies rescue in Leicestershire for some bonding advice, I know that they tried to help my friend bond two rabbits that she had brought so they might be able to lend a hand for your situation.

If you do need a vet then there are a couple of good ones in Leicester. I use Vets4Pets Oadby and have seen 2-3 vets there now that have been knowledgeable on piggies even though they aren't classed as an exotics practice. The prices there are reasonable and I haven't had too much difficulty in getting. The specialist vets is Chine House in Sileby and Craig really knows his stuff. I have been here twice when my vets exhausted their options and needed to refer to someone with more specialist knowledge. They are very pricey though and picky when it comes to operations (my vets just give an invoice for the procedure but chine house itemised theirs down to the latex gloves!).
 
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