Suddenly fighting piggies

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Spikie

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Very confused. We have 2 boars, just over 2 years old. There's always been squabbles and chasing as (I presume) is normal for 2 boys sharing a space. Never any blood drawn and no one has ever been starved or anything (they'd have a chase round, maybe a bit if chattering, then they were eating together 10 minutes later).

Last night there was lots of chasing and chattering, so we put Classic FM on and they calmed down and ate together. All was normal until we brought their salad up and found one piggie hiding down the end of the tank. On closer inspection he had blood on his muzzle, though not much and it was dry. We checked him over and couldn't find a mark on him, so my guess was he had been chased into a wall/tunnel and had hit his nose. We took him out and after a bit of coaxing he was eating and drinking. To be safe we 'quaranteened' him in a spare tank for the night.

He seems fine now, maybe a little subdued, but active enough. So we put him back in the main tank, where he edged up to the other piggie and suddenly it was all chattering and chasing again.

I don't understand what has happened... We bathed them yesterday to try and reduce hostilities, has that somehow made things worse? We're thinking of cleaning them out early today to see if that helps. What do you suggest we do going forwards? While they are separated they look like they are missing each other, they come to the bars to look across at the other.

Also when one chatters the other starts, is it just an automatic reaction? We *** 2 other piggies in the room who are still young and squabble more (though still no bloodshed, just chasing and chattering), could their noises be setting off the other 2?
 
I'd keep an eye on them, and see how they go. Quite often piggies fight if they've got lack of space, or they're going through puberty.(But 2 years is too old fir puberty, I think)
 
Thanks. They have 'plenty' of space (corex cage 7 grids by 2), so it shouldn't be that. Unless they are just very territorial. It's how it is all so sudden... They got on fine till now.
 
We've decided to clean their cage and maybe talc them a little so they are reset smell wise. I'm sat with them in the bathroom (aka the demilitarised zone) and they are basically sat a foot apart alternating between eating hay and chattering loudly. Oddly the dominant pig has now snuck off out of the way, maybe this is all a shift in the balance of dominance, maybe the sub pig is making a bid to be alpha?
 
(Is there no way to edit in here?!?)

Ok, scratch the talc idea, someone once told me to do it but the Internet suggests not to.

This is fascinating, the dominant pig keeps walking over to the sub pig who is eating hay. They chatter and the dominant pig walks off. It's like they have reversed roles (but without the chasing). In fact it's like sub pig is defending the newspaper he's stood on, he walks to the edge if the Dom pig approaches. Neither of them are making any aggressive moves besides the chattering, no chasing or nipping, nothing.

We will put them back in their tank soon then I'll sit with them and see how they do. They have separate food and water.
 
Something clearly has upset them, and it looks like the chased piggy has been bitten and has been very shocked.

When you put them back, make sure that they have each a different area with their own housing (nothing with only one exit, so nopig can be cornered; that's when fighting can erupt), bowl and water, well away from the other. If necessary, put a divider in at night so you can supervise for as long as things are still tense. Hopefully, they will go back together again. It is rare that adult piggies suddenly start fighting, but it is not unheard of; it is just that subadult boars are much more likely to fall out.
 
They're back, each has a bed, a pile of hay, some nuggets and water at each end of the tank. We sat and watched them and there was much chattering, but they seemed to calm down. An hour later they were sat together laid on their sides, legs out.

So we thought all was well, just gone up with salad and every time Dom pig got a mouthfull sub pig would walk over and either try and take the food from him or mount him. We kept separating them and giving them a leaf each; sub pig went straight over and started mounting again.

We left them to it to see what happened and as soon as the first snap/nip happened we split them up again. Given how passive the Dom pig has become we are wondering if he is unwell and the sub pig has taken advantage of the situation to stage a coup.

I think supervised shared cage time is the way forward, we'll have to keep them separate when we're not there though :(
 
I would do the same in your shoes. Hopefully, with patience, you can get through the rough patch and they will get on again. If you can keep them from having the big fight, there is still everything to play for. Some boars are quite happy to have shared run time, but love their own quarters.

Mounting is a normal part for boar dominance; look out for the danger signs. You may find this thread here helpful in when to call it a day. Please be aware that every time you separate, your boys will have to start back in square one with establishing the hierarchy - which they need to if they are to live together again: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?28949-Boars!-Simple-Dominance-Displays-or-Fighting
 
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