We lost one of our babies now the others are all arguing.

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CTWC

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone bit of history we had our first guinea pig Charlie a rescue in August we found him a friend Toby then 2 more friends Willow and Cookie. Sadly we lost Toby on 17th December at only 5 months old our hearts are broken and now the others seem to be just not happy with each other Cookie in particular is being quite terratorial and dominant especially to Willow. Today however I moved Charlie from under a hide as I was cleaning and he ran into the hide Cookie was in within a second Cookie runs out whimpering a new sound I'd not heard before my son picked him up and he was bleeding by his eye initially it looked horrendous and perhaps some kind of PTSD from seeing Toby leave us I was a upset we calmed down and Cookie cleaned his own eye the bleeding has stopped. However now not sure what to do one about his eye and two about allowing them to all be together again please help feel like I'm failing our guinea babies terribly 😢
 
Aw I am very sorry for your loss of Toby 😞 Are Willow, Cookie and Charlie all male? Sadly, 3 boars living together rarely work out as you are currently experiencing. Boars do much better living in pairs.

I’m afraid that now blood has been drawn, Cookie and Charlie will need to be permanently separated. You will have to see whether Cookie and Willow are getting on better together or Charlie and Willow. The other boy can live side by side for now until you decide what to do next but you have a few options. You can get the single boy whether that be Cookie or Charlie a new boar friend or have him live side by side as a single. You could neuter him and get him a girlfriend after the 6 weeks post op safety wait but they would ideally have to live in a separate room to your boar pair as the smell of a girl would cause them to fight

You may find the following threads useful x

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

Bonds In Trouble
 
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Yes all boys. Yes I've been reading about the low chance of 3 working out. So you don't think Charlie simply lashed out unintentionally and hurt Cookie because I'd annoyed him by moving him? 😢
 
Well Charlie when we rescued him initially they said 2 years old but on. Collection day they said he had been born in May 2023 Cookie and Willow and Toby were all born in July 2023.
It's just so sad I've been sat here since it's happened all of them are separated because I'm worried about Cookie catching his eye again. I just want them to be happy.
 
I am very sorry but I do not think they’re going to be friends. They are all smack bang in the teenage phase which is from 4-14 months old when testosterone is at its highest so if they’re going to fall out, now would be the time.

It’s rare but some trios of boars do work out but this is usually when they’re much older, more mellow and when the testosterone has dried up

You may want to have Cookies eye checked over by a vet x
 
Thank you for your replies and all of your advice, yes Cookie will go tomorrow to see our vet. I'm gutted but know you're right I've just been hoping they'd work it out but I have to accept they won't not worth risking them getting more hurt. Have a good evening 🌈
 
Piggies&buns said:
I’m so sorry to hear this.
I do fully agree with Claire
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Not what I want to hear but thank you, how would you decide who would cope the best alone? And if they chew to get through to each other what then? Or as much as it would break my heart should I try to rehome so they're not alone? 💔
 
CTWC said:
Not what I want to hear but thank you, how would you decide who would cope the best alone? And if they chew to get through to each other what then? Or as much as it would break my heart should I try to rehome so they're not alone? 💔
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You keep the two who get on best together. They will be most likely to form a successful bond.
So you form a pair and a single. The single living alongside.

If they chew bars then you ignore it.
The behaviour of chewing bars is usually often misinterpreted by owners as them wanting to be together - it isn’t that at all. Along with laying either side/against the divider, bar chewing is a territory marking behaviour and/or the desire to fight again.
 
A very sad update Cookies eye was ruptured and could not be saved he had an emergency operation last night he made it through it a tense 48 hours ahead the vet says that's when we should know if he's ok, we'll as ok as he can be my heart is breaking for him he does not deserve what has happened 😢
 
Claire W said:
Aw I am very sorry that Cookies eye has ruptured and am keeping everything crossed that he makes a full recovery after his eye removal surgery x
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I just feel awful about the whole situation and struggling to get him to drink I wanted them all to have such happy lives and I'm failing them 😢
 
CTWC said:
I just feel awful about the whole situation and struggling to get him to drink I wanted them all to have such happy lives and I'm failing them 😢
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Please do not think you are failing them. You thought you were doing the right thing but have sadly learned the hard way that three boars can not live together. You were miss informed and are not to blame at all. It’s clear how much you love your boys x
 
You are not failing them. There is sadly far too much misinformation about guinea pigs. It's my understanding that he can still live a full and happy life with one eye. If you were failing him, you would have PTS instead of getting him the surgery he needs.
 
CTWC said:
A very sad update Cookies eye was ruptured and could not be saved he had an emergency operation last night he made it through it a tense 48 hours ahead the vet says that's when we should know if he's ok, we'll as ok as he can be my heart is breaking for him he does not deserve what has happened 😢
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Poor Cookie. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery. 🤞🏻
 
Sending Cookie loads of healing vibes. Guinea pigs do very well with only one eye as it’s their least sense, smell, hearing and taste are far more important to them

You haven’t failed Cookie, we can tell you are a very caring person. here is one of our guides to help you through those important post operative days Tips For Post-operative Care
 
Sending loads of healing vibes for Cookie. It must have been quite traumatic for you but you are not to blame for the mis-information you were given. The same happened to me years ago and I ended up separating them, getting them neutered and then going to a rescue to find them a girl each. It worked, but the initial information was not fair on the boars.
I hope it all works out for you and your lovely fur babies
 
You are really not to blame. I am so sorry that you ended up in this situation. Sadly there is far too much misinformation about boar groupings.
 
Morning thank you I do love them so very much and Cookie has made it through another night so looking promising as the vet said around 48 hours. Thank you again 🌈
 
fluffysal said:
You are not failing them. There is sadly far too much misinformation about guinea pigs. It's my understanding that he can still live a full and happy life with one eye. If you were failing him, you would have PTS instead of getting him the surgery he needs.
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Thank you for your reply it's so kind.
 
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