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Original poster

Fighting guinea pigs .... please help!!

40 replies

frazzledbutcalm · 23/08/2015 18:00

We've had our 2 lovely female guinea pigs for 7 weeks now. They're in an indoor hutch and have been lovely together, no problems at all. Today we put them in a new outdoor hutch. Within half an hour they were squealing like mad, I went over and they were fighting each other Sad
Nasty, up on their back legs biting each other, real fighting. We separated them and have now reintroduced them back together in their old indoor hutch. They stay at opposite ends to each other but every now and then keep fighting. They clatter their teeth then the fight starts. What can I do? They were absolutely fine til then went outside, now they can't stay together Sad

OP posts:
Fluffy24 · 23/08/2015 22:17

It might have been a trigger of something that was going to happen one sooner or later, rather than the cause of the problem.

sanfairyanne · 23/08/2015 22:29

they are becoming terrible teens Smile

Notsoaccidentproneanymore · 23/08/2015 22:34

I second bathing them. You can get special small animal shampoo. Also clean our indoor hutch at the same time, so when you put them both back in there are no scents to upset them.

Are they siblings?

millimat · 24/08/2015 14:44

How are they today?

Original poster
frazzledbutcalm · 25/08/2015 23:32

Thanks all. I've checked and I'd say they're definitely both girls. I rang the vet for advice as they're not much better Sad
Vet nurse seems to think it's not connected with going outside. (I'm still convinced it is though). She also said vying for top dog. (I just can't see it).

So they're now both in the same indoor cage, 1 stays in the house part, 1 stays in the main section hiding under hay. The 1 in the house seems to be the 'bully'. Now and again they squabble/fight then go their separate ways again. They eat separately. It's heart breaking Sad They've gone from being best buddies, cute chatter, girlie times ... to sad lonely creatures who never come together. They don't chatter to us now, they don't squeak when they hear the fridge door. I just want my old 2 girls personalities back.

OP posts:
FernieB · 26/08/2015 07:30

They may well settle down. Girlie pigs can be hormonal and I doubt going outside caused this - just coincidence. It's an age thing as they're becoming adults. They will need to decide who's boss.

Pigs are not always cuddly with each other as they get older. They can live perfectly happily without a lot of interaction with another pig so long as they know their cagemate is there. My boys have always largely ignored each other (apart from the odd spat over cucumber) but if one is removed from the cage they hate it and run round looking for each other.

Fridge door squeaking will return - pigs are ruled by their tummies.

Original poster
frazzledbutcalm · 26/08/2015 11:10

I hope you're right fern
They're still staying apart this morning. It's just awful seeing them in separate areas of the cage just hiding. They look so unhappy Sad
They hardly squeak at all now.

pigs are ruled by their tummies. ... I love this Grin I hope that brings them though this.

OP posts:
sanfairyanne · 26/08/2015 11:52

Gpigs often dont snuggle except on cold nights. They were just babies before and now are growing up. The excited squeaking will soon come back after they settle back down. Did you wash them yet?

millimat · 26/08/2015 14:14

Yes I definitely agree on washing them asap to get them to smell like each other.

Original poster
frazzledbutcalm · 26/08/2015 22:07

I haven't washed them, I'm confused as to how that will help Blush
They are in the cage together so I assume they'll smell like each other anyway?
san .. they don't snuggle necessarily but they were always together. Now they just look scared and unhappy. They don't eat together. They stay at opposite ends just looking on edge the whole time. When they walk around you can see them looking over their shoulder.

OP posts:
Notsoaccidentproneanymore · 29/08/2015 10:00

There is a hierarchy for them. They're trying to figure out which one of them is going to be the boss.

Bathing them makes them both smell the same, so they find it hard to distinguish each other from the other.

Give it time. They will settle down.

If all else fails, you could always get them spayed.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 29/08/2015 17:42

Hi- how are they (been away and with the shenanigans with the passwords I've not been online)

YY to Cage Neutral (vinegar is good on wee stains - you know those cloudy spots) and odour neutralising. Scrub, rinse ,dry (cage not guineas Wink )

Bathing them does help, makes them smell the same and puts them in a suitable sulk so they forget their uppitiness for a while.

My sows have had a few snippy days when they went into season ( add to the mix our adorable but clueless neutered boar, he still tries to DTD but has no clue he's firing blanks). They both turned evil and got fighty with each other but thankfully took themselves off to different areas of the Pighouse.
My sows are non related , they can bicker a bit for hierarchy (the boar is not alpha)

Even if they don't sit together , they have piggie company.

Original poster
frazzledbutcalm · 30/08/2015 20:21

They're not aggressive to each other now. They've stopped the nasty teeth chattering and up on back legs attacking each other. I've taken out their house so 1 can't dominate as much as she was. They're now reasonable. They're still inside, stay at opposite ends of the cage, rarely squeak (for treats, fridge sound etc). They have small squabbles. So all in all they're a lot better than they were but nowhere near how they used to be.

We've had a busy few days but we plan to bath them on Tuesday then try them again outside in their new hutch. I've bought 2 new food bowls, 2 new toys to go in also. Fingers crossed they'll be ok this time.

Does this sound ok or should I do something more/different to get them outside and to be ok with each other?

OP posts:
Original poster
frazzledbutcalm · 01/09/2015 14:05

So .... We've bathed them today. They actually seemed to enjoy it! We dried them then put them on towels on the floor. They sniffed each other, mooched about a bit, cleaned themselves ... then the dominant one nipped at the quieter one, a few times over 20 minutes. But overall, they seemed reasonable. I've put them outside in their new hutch. It's been emptied, sterilised and re made, 2 new toys in, 2 new food bowls. I've put a water bottle in, am going to buy another water bottle today so that there's 2. They've never used a bottle though, they've always drank from a dish but I want to stop the dish. They've been in their hutch about an hour and so far so good.

Fingers crossed this continues.

OP posts:
millimat · 01/09/2015 21:33

Fantastic!

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