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[Yorkshire Pudding]

Out 2 GP boys have been together since 4 weeks of age and are now 10 months old. They live in a big indoor cage, so should have plenty of room, and have lots of toys.

 

Over the last two weeks they have taken a sudden and violent dislike to each other, to the point where there is now a fight just about every day. After another s"Ooops, word censored!" today I have had to split them up - there is a 1cm long gash on Wikkit's face and a similar one on Chewbacca's back.

 

Will I have to keep them apart forever? They get on well when out in their run, but when indoors they seem to have a deathwish.

 

They are my sons' pets and they will be heartbroken if the GPs keep hurting one another!

[BooBoo]

I’m sorry they are fighting. It does sound more serious than usual guinea pig scuffles.

 

My advice would be if they are actually drawing blood, you need to separate them when they are not in their run. Most g-pig books/ websites suggest this if the fights are getting violent. Could you separate their cage with wire so they can still talk to each other? The positive is that they are still youngish and it could be a phase - you can always try and reintroduce them to each other in a while.

If you don’t want to divide the cage, have you tried separate sleeping areas/ food bowls etc so they can avoid each other? My guinea pigs get on, but they still have separate pigloos for when they want ‘time out’ from each other

[Yorkshire Pudding]

Their present cage is big for two, but in halves they each would be a bit cramped, if you see what I mean.

 

I think we might have to build something with a divide down the middle as you suggest - I have been desperately looking for a second-hand hutch but they have got so violent that I think I might have to build one to get it right. They already have several feeding points so there shouldn't be competition for food, and two hidey-holes so they can get time out from each other.

 

Thanks for your reply - it's very upsetting to see them hurting each other like this, they are such sweeties normally.

[BooBoo]

As this behaviour is only recent, I would try a temporary divide before you invest in a new hutch/ cage. At this time of year they can spend most of the day and evening in their run and slightly crampt living conditions may only have to be temporary?

[The Dogmother]

Sounds like puberty to me You need to be prepared that they may never like each other again unless you have one or both of them neutered. As Booboo has said, I'd advise dividing their hutch until you decide what to do.

[Scooby]

Just to say, I also have two boys from the same litter and had a similar problem. I had them both neutered (also this doesn't always keep the fighting at bay if they are already in the habit).

 

I also found it helpful to get two of everything. So now they have two water drinkers, two pellet bowls and I even took out the house that came attached with their indoor cage and bought two igloos

 

They are much happier boys now and although they don't like to be away from each other, they love to have their own igloo space each.

 

Hope you find something that works for your boys.

[redfrock]

unfortunately we had similar problems and despite having two of everything it just got out of hand (despite a 5ft x 2.5ft indoor cage ). I felt Roman was suffering too much and despite trying everything the rescue place said, it got to the point where I knew that if I didn't separate them then I would have a death on my hands. As much as I don't believe in keeping solitary animals, I believe it is often difficult for boars to be paired and the problems can flare up out of nowhere. Roman is now on his own, but in the lounge, and there is no doubt he is happy and contented. In the end his heath and well being came first and I strongly believe I made the right decision. It might be worth seeing if there is a rescue place near you who can bond your boys with a new friend and everything will be hunky dory.

 

Sometimes boars can be neutered and paired with a female - this is supposed to work very well. Unfortunately I was advised that Roman is probably not strong enough to undergo anaesthetic (he is an in-breed), otherwise this would have been my first choice. The Rescue centre has now done this with Dexter, and things seems to be progressing well.

[Yorkshire Pudding]

Thanks everyone for your good advice and wishes.

 

We have some good progress here today - I got a top tip from my son's teacher who used to breed guinea pigs.

 

Part of the problem is apparently the scent produced at puberty from their grease gland - like any teenage boy they are competitive little souls, but masking the scent helps dampen the aggression. I was surprised to learn that Vick's Vaporub is the solution - a little rubbed into the fur around their grease gland to mask the boar's scent. They certainly smell nice!

 

They're now in a bigger garden run, with two bowls, water bottles and igloos, and seem much happier. At least, there have been no teeth bared and only a brief chattering at one another - mostly I'm hearing contented little wheeks.

 

It may be that they can learn to live together again, or not, but the run is large enough to divide up the centre if necessary so I hope we'll be ok!

[The Dogmother]

Thats great news Helen, we like contented piggies

[redfrock]

excellent news! that is the one thing I was never advised about - I wish I had known, I would have tried it

[hils78]

ooh your sons teacher beat me to it!!! vicks is fab & has fixed many scapping pigs here when I was a guinea rescue. Spring is in the air too which is always bound to set off a dominance battle. Might sound a bit too much - but if you want to find out who's the dominant one check their testicles(yes really! ) and the one with the biggest is usually the dominant. If they have the same sized plumbs then guarenteed in a month or 2 when the boss has been established the boss will def have the more spectacular pair!

[Yorkshire Pudding]

 

I hope they're not shy!

 

My two sons will find that

 

I think Chewbacca is the boss, but he's a Sheltie so his bits and pieces are quite well hidden. Wikkit has short hair so his are more obvious! Will do a comparison of their personal bits in the morning... and let you know.

 

Once dominance is settled and whoever has the biggest testicles is the 'boss, will I be able to stop smearing them with Vick's every few days? It works really well, they were squaring up to each other the other day and a little dab on each pig stopped them in their tracks. They need a wash now though - their back ends are a bit greasy!

[Yorkshire Pudding]

Well, I had a peep this afternoon while they were dozing and friendly - and I was right, Chewbacca is definitely sporting a far more impressive set than poor Wikkit.

 

If Wikkit tried to be top pig he was out of luck - he just doesn't have the equipment!

 

There's been no s"Ooops, word censored!"ping for a few days now and I haven't had to add any more Vick's - fingers crossed they are settling down, but I have my beady eye on them and the moment I hear teeth rattling I'm off to their run, pot of smelly stuff in hand...

 

 

By the way, one of them had lice in his fur the other week (yuk) and the Stronghold I use on the cat was very effective - I checked online and although it isn't licenced for GPs it is safe; 2 drops on each pig did the trick in a couple of days.