Submissive now wants to dominate

[LynB]

Hi anxious piggie mum again,
Treacle and Toffee have been together practically since birth, they are now 17 weeks old. Toffee was the dominant 1 and within the last 2/3 days Treacle has started to retaliate due to Toffee trying to stop him from eating, entering his hideout (there are 2 of everything). They face up to each other, have a nip and it's usually Treacle who gets chased. They are like it nearly all day apart from when they are asleep. I'm worried it will turn into a full on fight especially if during the night while I'm asleep. Should I persevere or separate them altogether. I have a hutch that I can slot a partition in but it isn't an open partition it's a wooden slide in, they can't see each other. Any advice greatly appreciated please

 

[Piggies&buns]

Do all hides have two exits?
How big is the hutch?
Do you scatter feed their veg and pellets so that one cannot hog it?

The issue is that when they hit their teens, things can sometimes change between them. They can become more dominant and if they both want to be dominant, issues arise. I have had it happen to one of my boar pairs. They were fine until they turned 18 weeks and then they had a full fight and have now lived separated since last November.

This guide will help you gauge where their behaviours are - Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs
If it is within the green/normal dominance section, you should not do anything, you certainly do not separate for normal chasing, mounting, rumbling etc. Dominance is normal and something they have to go through. If one is backing down and there is one submissive and one dominant, then things should be fine. Nipping which does not break the skin is a gesture of power, not necessarily an aggressive act.
If things do start to escalate and move into the orange section in the guide, neither is backing down, then you may need to prepare to separate them if things don’t settle.
A full on fight, bites which break the skin, wounds etc does mean immediate and permanent separation. Neither is prepared to be submissive and the bond is broken.

This guide explains how to test a tense relationship with a temporary separation and neutral territory reintroduction should that become necessary. This allows them to calm down and then make their own decision about whether they want to be together upon reintroduction . It would become clear upon neutral territory reintroduction whether they want to be together - it’ll either escalate almost straight away or they will rebond.
If a full fight occurs, reintroduction should not be attempted.
Bonds In Trouble
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

Should a permanent separation become necessary, then hutches are usually problematic. They don’t allow for side by side living easily. Each piggy must have at least the minimum amount of space - that is 4ft x 2ft each so unless your hutch is 8ft long then splitting it in half is not going to be an option. Usually this means two separate hutches to get the size right but the issue then comes that they do not lend themselves to being side by side given the solid end panels - do need to be able to see each other through mesh. Even making an L shape out of two hutches is not ideal.
However, in an emergency fight situation, separating them in any way you can is a priority - sorting out permanent living arrangements would need to come a little later.

 

[Mon59]

Well.

I had 4 girls together around the same age . Long story but the lovely baby passed away of something strange over the winter and the bully had to go back to the breeder as she was a nutter (technical term).

that left 2 that did start to squabble, so I use a C&C divider permanently which they love. They see and smell and kiss sometimes through the bars but seem to like their own space . Also I don’t worry about a big fight at 2am !

So . Everyone happy .. just my experience…

There is apparently a method involving neutral territory to rebond but it all sounds rather time consuming and a lot of moving back and forth . Difficult for busy owners..

maybe one of the experts knows something better ?