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Guinea pigs fighting, advice please!

9 replies

Tournesol · 02/06/2016 12:43

Hello everyone,

Looking for some advice. I always had two boar piggies when growing up and never had trouble with fighting and we went through quite a few pairs.

However I recently got three boars for my three children, we got them when they were just tiny about three months ago and they just keep fighting and humping.

I was hoping it was just a teenage phase but one guinea was so covered in scabs from fighting I just took him to vets as thought it must be mites and vet told me it was all caused from fighting and I needed to separate them and castrate!

Does anyone have any experience of castration? She said it might not even stop the fighting and it costs £50 per piggy so am looking at £150 for something that might not work and has risks associated with the GA.

Do you think they will grow out of fighting or would it be kinder to get a second hutch and keep the bullied one on his own?

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differentnameforthis · 02/06/2016 13:41

In my experience (over 20yrs of having GPs) once they start fighting, they don't stop.

Separation was the only thing that worked for us

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Tournesol · 02/06/2016 14:16

Having had a good search online is does look like I'll have to separate just not sure which one should go on their own - the aggressive one or the bullied one.

Since I moved bullied pig out the aggressive one has been trying it on with the other pig. I guess I'll try a few combinations, just need to find another hutch.

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FernieB · 02/06/2016 16:29

Three boars is rarely going to work I'm afraid. Two can work - they generally go through a terrible teen stage of bickering, posturing and occasional nipping but after establishing who's boss, normally settle. My original boys did still have the odd tussle but usually ignored each other and were content to do so.

You could try bathing all of them so they smell the same, thoroughly clean the hutch to neutralise it and try them together again but it's unlikely to work with three of them.

One of the boars is probably going to have to be removed. Seems a shame for him to live alone though - it's not the poor pigs fault. Any chance he could be neutered and matched with a female.

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FernieB · 02/06/2016 16:31

BTW. humping can be ignored - I have one pig who is a humper. He's 5 now and still tries it on. Other pigs ignore him.

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Tournesol · 02/06/2016 17:16

Thanks for the advice!

What do you bathe them with? I need to wait until poor bullied pig is healed but might try bathing and reintroducing them when in the outside run as there is loads of space out there.

I don't think I could neuter and introduce a girl as although can get a second cage it'll be in the same porch so the others would be able to smell female which could make them go bad too!

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70isaLimitNotaTarget · 02/06/2016 19:31

YY, if you have a female in sniffing distance of two boars they will fight each other.

I had a one year old neutered , it's a fairly routine operation if your vet is used to small animal surgery.
Our present boar was neutered in rescue before we got him.

Three boars is very difficult to manage there is always a Pig Hierarchy.

I bathed my pigs in Gorgeous Guineas Cedarwood and Lemongrass (this was recommended as a strong smelling one to make them pig neutral)
Also, white vinegar to spray the cage and remove piggie smells.

So for the little piggie being bullied. I think I'd be inclined to neuter the bolshy one and see if he can match up with a feisty sow or two. Would you consider sending him to a Rescue if he couldn't live comfortably with his housemates?

My boar was fighting with his brother, went to Rescue , came to live with our sows...........and is going to marry his two new wives soon (so lucky boy will have four wives)

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millimat · 02/06/2016 22:13

Glad to hear that the humping isn't too bad over time. Gp1 went through a phase of doing it to other GP who is a year younger, to an extend that he damaged his leg. Gp3s leg has recovered, we separated them but slowly reintroduced each other in the same cage. He goes through phases of humping again but gp3 send to fight back a bit more luckily.

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dodobookends · 02/06/2016 22:19

We were told that you can keep a pair of boars together, but not more than that - they will fight all the time. Females are happy living in pairs or in larger groups but not the males, sorry. Don't know what to suggest really.

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Tournesol · 07/06/2016 19:07

Thanks for all good advice, I just thought I'd update.

I ended up getting a separate hutch for the bullied pig (who is called Patch) and immediately everything calmed down. The other two were very happy together and Patch seemed more chilled too.

Trying to divide the outdoor run in half has been a nightmare though as it turns out although Patch was the one getting injured he is the aggressive one! Every time we put them in outdoor run he manages to squeeze through to other side, even climbing quite high obstacles!

Each time he got through he started fights and ended up cutting one of the other piggies noses quite badly.

Anyway I am trying to source a second run as I hate keeping them cooped up but also don't want to risk more fighting.

Hopefully he'll be OK being on his own as he can see and hear the others and he gets lots of cuddles from us!