helping guinea pigs bond

[spritefairy]

I have two females who are not litter mates but were raised together from a young age.
They are in a 4ft x 2ft cage with a layer of sawdust and the hay piled high enough to bury in. They also have a choobe and two boxes to hide in.

My problem is though, they keep scrapping. Not constantly but it's enough to worry Me. I don't want to split them unless I really have to.

Any tips to help reconcile them?

What are they doing when they scrap? Have they bitten each other/drawn blood? Or is it more bickering and posturing?

You could try bathing them so they smell the same.

Our three girls can be grumpy. We regularly have ear nipping, nose offs, butting each other out of the way and generally being a nuisance to one another. It looks much worse than it is-they really do love each other and pine for whichever one has had to go to the vet.

The key thing is whether or not they're having bloody fights. That's very difficult to overcome.

I found this really helpful when trying to decide whether to separate our pigs permanently...
www.guineapigtoday.com/2012/08/11/guinea-pig-relationship-ups-and-downs/

They each have one scabbed over bite wound on their back but it is literally only one. I also hear teeth grinding occasionally. However will both eat from their greens without bickering

Give them 2 separate piles of veg so they are not in each others faces. Trouble is piggies always want to eat/stole food from their friends.

Also agree a bath may help. It will bond them in hating you , don't worry they forgive quickly after the fridge is opened.

The bickering is probably caused by hormones. They come into season about every 16 days and it lasts about a day.

Sows can be as arsey spirited as boars.

When my two (unrelated) sows come into season, they are little swine . They have lived with neutered boars (Gp3 then GP6) so I do expect them to go full throttle into mardiness and they don't disappoint

I find the telltale sign is their pee smells stronger.

You might find they will snipe at each other regularly, one will be Alpha.
Do they have a run (4'x2' is the minimum size for 2 adults). They might enjoy a new scene with some new boxes and bags to play in?
Gumtree has some bargains.