Teeth Chattering & aggressive behaviour

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A&J's Mum

Hi everyone,

I'm new to guinea pig ownership so I'm wondering if anyone can help me on this.

We have 3 guinea pigs that we've had for about 4 months, they're all male, two (Malcolm and Wilf) are exactly the same age (about 13 weeks when we got them) and the other one (Charlie) is a couple of weeks younger. Wilf is the most confident one, he will come to the cage door when I bring food (they all live in a large outdoor hutch with a run), but he also does ALOT of teeth chattering, which is something I've not heard either of the other two doing.

I've also noticed that he's gone for Malcolm alot, tries to bite him, and when Malcolm is in the sleep area, he often comes running out when the other two come in. Malcolm also had what we think was a bite on his ear a few weeks after we got them, but nothing since. Strangely, the youngest one doesn't seem to be so scared of Wilf, even though at the beginning Wilf tried to mount him!

I'm not sure what to do, I do have a spare hutch, but do you think I should separate them and if so, which ones? I'm really worried that Malcolm's unhappy, but will he be more unhappy if he's on his own?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
Helen
 
Hello! Welcome to the forum!

Malcolm shows some typical dominant boar behaviour.

Between about 4 months to one year, boys can be very hormonal and break-up are more likely (although they can happen at any time.
If there are bloody fights again, or one of the boys gets bullied to a degree where his wellbeing is suffering, you may have think about taking Malcolm out and find him a new young friend.

It helps, if you have everything in threes (or at least twos) - places to sleep, bowls, water etc., so there can be no bullying about sleep and food, which are the most likely fight starters!

Here is a link to boar behaviour, which can help you with the interpretation of what is going on: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949

Please don't hesitate to ask questions, if you have more! Or have a look around the forum.
 
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