Worried about the piggies..when to split?

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Jane

Senior Guinea Pig
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
8,034
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Location
South Yorkshire, England
Well ever since Pepper and Beauty came home they've never really been a happy couple but tolerated eachother.. well lately there has been constant teeth chattering towards each other and the don't seem happy together. If Beauty goes near Pepper, Pepper trys to attack Beauty resulting in Beauty being chased around the cage..it happens a lot now and I'm worried that I'm gunna end up coming home one day after them having a "proper" fight and one of them being injured.. When eating if Beauty goes anywhere near Pepper he will chase him again..

Do you think I should split them or just leave them to be? I was thinking I could split there 2x4 C&C cage to make it 2x2 for each pig..I know thats too small but it would only be until I got more grids to extend it..any ideas what I should do? *sigh*

Thanks
Jane
 
Hi Jane, first of all I am so sorry you are experiencing these problems. Boys just don;t kow whats best for themselves sometimes! How old are they Jane? To be honest I think you are probably the best judge for if the time is right to seperate them. If they are repeatedly fighting and you are worried one or the other is going to get injured before long then it sounds as if you think seperation would be best. If so the fact you have a C&C cage which you can extend and the fact they have not yet drawn blood bodes well for the future. You could seperate them now and try reintroducing them somewhere down the line when they may have grown up and mellowed.

Check out these pages from the Barmy4boars website which may help you
http://www.susieandpigs.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/seperation.htm
http://www.susieandpigs.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bullying.htm
http://www.susieandpigs.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/options3.htm

Good luck and please do not hesitate to contact me either on the forum or directly by e-mail if you would like a further chat about this. It is a hard decision to make, but I can tell you that my side by side boys lived very happily this way for years.

Best wishes

Susie
 
It's a hard decision to make, you keep them together as long as possible on the off chance they will start getting on again. I decided to split mine after the 2nd bite on Chester that actually drew blood, that was after a couple of months of constant rumbling and chasing. :-\
 
Thanks both of you.. I'll check out those sites Susie. They are currently 6-7 months old ish.

Yeah Bev, at the moment that's what it's like.. constant rumbling, teeth chattering and chasing each other around. I've seen Pepper bite Beauty, but never actually drew blood.

Ack, there they go again.. Pepper was sniffing something, Beauty came along and Pepper attacked him.. now they're chasing each other round the cage ::)

I don't know what to do :-\ In one way I think I should seperate them before anything worst happens, but in another way I'm not sure..

Could they both live in a 2x2 (each) temporarily until I get more cubes? I know it's not suitable but it's better than them injuring each other? :-\
 
Jane said:
Ack, there they go again.. Pepper was sniffing something, Beauty came along and Pepper attacked him.. now they're chasing each other round the cage ::)

I don't know what to do :-\ In one way I think I should seperate them before anything worst happens, but in another way I'm not sure..

Could they both live in a 2x2 (each) temporarily until I get more cubes? I know it's not suitable but it's better than them injuring each other? :-\
Click to expand...

Oh dear Jane, these sound like far from happy guinea pigs, in fact they are both likely to be very stressed.
My advice would be to separate them now before they cause each other a really nasty injury.

Many boars can live very happily together, but it doesn't sound as though it is going to be that way for these 2 little rips :(
A small temporary cage won't hurt them, just ensure they get out for exercise :)

Barbara
 
I agree with Barbara. It's better to be too safe than not safe enough. If they're not just having the odd fight but are constantly fighting, then they should be separated. They don't sound like they're happy together, so side-by-side is probably the best way to go. 2x2 is an ok temporary solution as long as they get out for exercise.

Kimmie
 
Well they're now cleaned out and seperated.. I feel kinda bad, but they can still see each other through the bars..I'd feel even worst if they killled eachother though wouldn't I.. They're on Megazorb instead of fleece at the moment because with fleece I try to keep the hay of it so they have a litter tray full of hay..but the litter tray takes up about 1x1 (grids), the house takes up another 1x1 and there wouldn't be enough room left, so yeah, it's Megazorb time for them :P

They seem fine.. havn't even noticed eachother is missing I don't think ::)


okay..maybe I spoke too fast? They just rumbled at eachother through the bars ::) I'll give them more floor time now.. should they still be seperate during floor time (side by side) or should they be together? How long do you think I should give them floor time for now? They usually get 1-2 hours.
 
I know it is hard Jane and my experiance is they do continue to rumble at each other through the bars for a while but thankfully they can't do damage through the bars but they can keep each other company.
 
Barmy4boars said:
I know it is hard Jane and my experiance is they do continue to rumble at each other through the bars for a while but thankfully they can't do damage through the bars but they can keep each other company.
Click to expand...

Well they seem okay.. they can still see, hear and smell eachother so hopefully they wont get too lonely. To anyone who uses a bedding that's not fleece (like woodshavings, megazorb, etc) do you use a bowl for the veg or just throw it on the floor? With fleece I just scattered it everywhere but with the megazorb will it still be ok to do that because they'll get megazorb stuck to them? :P
 
Oh dear. I think I am better off with my "boys" that are really girls.

I do hope things calm down, Jane :)
 
I use a bowl Jane but the pigs pull it out and dump it on the floor anyway! It is a bachelour pad after all.

Susie
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top