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My guinea pigs are not getting on!

5 replies

123andaway · 23/01/2010 22:50

I have two 10 month old female guinea pigs who are sisters. They have always lived together and got on well, however 8 weeks ago they both had pups. Because of space issues I housed them both separately with their pups.

The pups have now left home and I want to put the girls back together - but they seem to hate each other!!! They make a strange clicking noise, and then the more dominent one will chase the other around the cage. They are quite aggressive, and I have to separate them in case they hurt each other.

Any ideas on how to overcome this and make my girls friends again? I'd hate to have to keep them separately, it would be really lonely for them.

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Beauregard · 23/01/2010 23:03

My guineas are sisters and have always squabbled for the dominant position.The one will occasionally pull the hair of the other one and chases her.Sometimes they will lie on each other to make the other submit.They have never bitten each other but do squabble.
I guess your guineas are just trying to establish who is in charge?

sanfairyann · 23/01/2010 23:03

personally I'd let them sort it out themselves within reason. when you separate them, is that because they've started to fight seriously or are you just worried they will start to fight? My two eldest girls are always bickering and there is some minor biting and ear nipping but it's all about establishing who is top guinea pig. do they both have a separate bedding area? is the cage big enough? can you put food in more than one place?
you could always try washing them together then letting them snuggle up together afterwards - have used that on some of mine sometimes

Cadelaide · 23/01/2010 23:05

Yes, I'd give it time. Could you house them together but separated by a grid for a while? Then you can swap sides to distribute the scent and get them used to one another again.

MrsL123 · 24/01/2010 10:01

It can be quite a shock seeing GPs fight for the first time, can't it? They're usually so gentle and lazy passive, and all of a sudden they turn into WWF wrestlers

I would reintroduce them outside of the cage. Whoever is already living in the cage will see it as 'their' territory, so you can't just put the other guinea back in there without a fight. Even if you move the dominant one into the other's cage, you would have the same problem, because you don't really have a 'dominant' one anymore - you had a dominant and submissive when they used to live together, but now they've both become top dog in their own domain (especially over the pups), they won't necessarily just revert back. They need to reestablish their roles and get to know each other again, and it should be on neutral territory.

Take a bit of bedding from each GP's cage and rub it on the other GP to transfer some of the smell. Then put a towel in the bottom of the bath and put them both in there, ensuring that there's something to hide under (not something out of either cage - something new) and plenty of nibbles to keep them entertained. Remember to put the plug in so no legs get caught. Keep a close eye on them, but let them squabble - stop them if you think it's really getting out of hand, but otherwise they'll need to sort it out between themselves. By stopping the fight, you're just prolonging the process. Usually the submissive one will just revert back to that position once she's been dominated by the other, but you need to let it run it's course. If you don't have a bath, even the bathroom floor will do - just somewhere that they've never been before (new smells, sights etc) and that is quite enclosed so they can't just run to opposite corners and avoid each other!

Whilst that's going on, have someone else fully clean the new cage with cage disinfectant (bars, base, bowls, beds, everything) and put fresh bedding and hay in, so it doesn't smell of either GP. Rearrange the 'furniture' so it's like a new cage (put two beds and two food bowls in for now), and then try putting them both into it. That way neither has claim over it from the beginning.

But if all else fails, you'll just have to keep them in separate cages (next to each other for company) and let them out together at play time. Oh, and get them some boxing gloves

123andaway · 24/01/2010 11:02

Thanks for the advice everyone. It was a shock to see them fighting as they are normally such little sweeties. I just separated them again, but next time I shall leave them (within reason) to sort things out for themselves. The bath idea is great MrsL.

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