Should I swap them around?

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Emmaclay95

Emmaclay95

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My two male guinea pigs have had to be separated they just keep fighting all of a sudden (and by fighting I mean drawing blood) I’ve got a new cage for one of them and its all set up they’ve already spent a couple of nights apart, but my question is, should I keep swapping them about the two cages? As in two or three weeks I hope to maybe re introduce them and if this goes successfully I would like them to live together again. I don’t want one guinea pig to think he owns what would be the communal cage if they happen to ever get along again? Hope I get plenty of input as I'm honestly clueless as to what to do for the best! Wouldn't want to stress them by swapping them about, thanks in advance!
 
Once blood has been drawn its virtually impossible for them to ever be able to live again I am afraid, I am not saying not to try a few months down the line, but I don't see cage swapping as necessary, it would be good for the cages t be right next to each other so they can still see and speak to each other.

What size cage were they in before? Did they have one of everything each? How old are they?

X
 
Oh right okay, I'd like to try as you say a month or two down the line, reintroducing them on neutral ground after bathing them both in the same shampoo, I reckon it's worth a try however it's not worth them hurting eachother so I will keep them separate if they don't seem to show any improvement. They were in an outdoor hutch, two story, 3 foot wide and three foot deep, with a run attached to their cage which they had constant access too, that's 6 foot by 4 foot. They had two wooden hides in the bedroom and three or four hiding places in the run! I don't know why they started to fight it happened whilst I was on holiday and they were being pig sat by grandma and grandad :-( they're around 8 month old, thanks for your reply x
 
Three foot by two foot sorry I meant for the hutch! They're now both in similar sized hutches with access to the same run but split in half so they can speak to each other and interact through the divider x
 
Male piggies get hormonal at around that sort of age and they will fight for dominance, so it could be that, hope that a few months down the line they will go back together, but its rarely the case once blood has been drawn as I said. It's about compatability.

And sorry to say it but that hutch is ridiculously small, especially for a pair of boars, 4 ft x 2ft is the absolutely minimum, preferably 5 x 2 for males, that's not a dig at you, we're all new to this at some point and will have made the same mistake, but the run should have made a difference.

X
 
Oh really? Maybe I have the measurements wrong off of the top of my head then as I don't think it's too small at all, I've had guinea pigs for years! I'd post a photo but I don't have my photo bucket account sorted out yet, remember its two story so they technically have twice the space and a large run constantly attached :-) ill get a photo on tomorrow at some point x
 
You can get hutches that small and sadly smaller, and it never makes sense to me, but for some reason it's actual square footage that counts, not levels, so even if it was 10 story's high it would still be the same size if that makes sense.

Don't worry anyway, they have been separated now.

Xx
 
The only reason that people say levels don’t matter is because the animal welfare sizes are set for how far a piggy should be able to run from one end to the other end of his cage.

For example, Rabbits should be able to do at least 3 hops from one side of it’s hutch to another, and if you were rescuing one this would be a requirement, you couldn’t turn around and say, ‘it can only do one hop from one side to the other but theres three levels so thats three hops’ because thats not the point, there should be one level that at least meets the minimum,

You can’t put a dog in a two story kennel thats too small on either of the two floors, but say if you added the top level to the size it would fit because there would be 10 square foot all together if you add the two 5 foot levels together.

Guinea pigs aren’t made for climbing and alot of two storey cages/hutches are made more for the owners benefits of space saving than the animals, yes it’s fine to have upper levels etc. But only if you still have a minimum size on the base for the pigs to run, they tend to enjoy running in circles and doing laps of their cage.

Also, bungalows may have less square foot, but whats the point in an old woman having a two storey house if she can’t get up the stairs ?

I’d say keep your pigs the way they are as long as they can talk to each other, i’ve never had two boars that have fought in the past come back together after, this shared area arrangement is less stressful for all involved :)
 
Okay, I get that the actual cage may be 'too small' in that sense however with constant access to their 6x4 foot run I don't think they were short on space to run around! :-) thanks for the input though I won't be doing any cage swapping ill just leave them be! X
 


had to do a bit of DIY when separating them so some things are temporary like the bungee rope around the right hand hutch! However that's their set up as it stands now and it used to be that but just the far hutch and full run of the pen. :-)
 
It looks nice, although i definitely don’t think they would be suitable without the run area available, i’m sure the concrete really helps with keeping their nails down !
Sadly many hutches sold these days are much smaller than they should be and yet no one realises because theres so many small hutches available that are advertised for guinea pigs that everyone seems to assume they’re okay.

I think when it comes to space you need to judge it on the happiness of your pigs, and their health too, as long as they’re getting the right diet with veg, hay and nuggets, and they get attention too i’m sure they’ll be fine :)

Do you use the same set up for winter ? Or do you bring them inside ?
 
Oh they most definitely get a good diet I'm a full time cavy slave lol, and I haven't had them over a winter period as of yet but they won't be staying in that set up, they'll be coming inside in the warm :-)
 
Good good, i’m sure they’ll be very happy then, and i look forward to seeing you around the forum more, getting more updates of your piggies ! :)
 
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