Guinea pig fight

[doggybootcamp]

We have two boars- one is six/ seven months and the other 18 months. They've got on fine since we got boar 2 but about half an hour ago I heard lots of banging and crashing from the room they're in. Both were chattering and clicking and boar 1 had some of boar 2's fur in his mouth. No sign of blood but neither are happy, particularly boar 1 who is half heartedly chasing boar 2, who isn't being aggressive at all.
They're in a 5 x 2 c and c cage with two of everything so we've temporarily divided the cage down the middle with some spare panels.
I know if a fight draws blood it's likely they'll be rebonded but I can't say how bad the fight was as I didn't see it- neither are bleeding though.
We've had piggies for years and this is the first time it's ever happened- can anyone offer any advice please?

Oh dear. Unfortunately this does happen. If you leave them together, they may fight to the death.

With ours, we acquired a second hutch. They could see each other so had “company” but couldn’t harm each other.

They were so friendly with people and when the older one died, the youngest became really good friends with our PR terrier. They spent summer days loose in the garden together and cuddled up to sleep.

I think the only alternative is to have a colony of 6 plus: we didn’t have the space.

(If you do, have the boars neutered or you’ll end up with dozens before you know it!)

You need to separate them or one might kill the other

Maybe your younger one is going into puberty so lots of hormones and pheromones. Mine went through similar and had to be regularly separated for around 6 months. They are much more chilled out now. The only time they fight now is the first week when they come in from their outside hutch to their inside one for winter. It's the reduction in space that triggers them to fight. I bath mine in warm salt water to prevent infection. Also removes some of the pheromone smell which trigger them to fight.

Your dog and guineapig cuddled up together?!? That is so cute

The younger one is coming into sexual maturity. They may no longer be compatible. You're better to go to a reputable rescue who will know the process for matching up boars that will get on.

Your dog and guineapig cuddled up together?!? That is so cute

Yes, they absolutely did. We were amazed. She was a terrier. Her ancestors were bred to kill rodents. But I promise, they regularly wandered about the garden then fell asleep together.

Doggo was a small female. He was a boar and pretty big. Not sure if that was relevant. We never left them alone together but I suspect they would have been fine.

Sadly both passed now but they enjoyed long and happy lives 😊

MrsSkylerWhite · Today 22:55
sorry, didn’t format.

Your dog and guineapig cuddled up together?!? That is so cute

Yes, they absolutely did. We were amazed. She was a terrier. Her ancestors were bred to kill rodents. But I promise, they regularly wandered about the garden then fell asleep together.
Doggo was a small female. He was a boar and pretty big. Not sure if that was relevant. We never left them alone together but I suspect they would have been fine.
Sadly both passed now but they enjoyed long and happy lives 😊

Thanks all.
We've kept them separated since it happened with a divider between two ends of their cage. They were still chattering and trying to get to each other through the bars so we've covered them for now. Hopefully we can amend it so they can see each other without having access at some point as we really don't want to introduce any more pigs! We can reconfigure the set up so they both have plenty of space but it looks like they won't ever be snuggled up together again 😪

Are they outdoors?
I bought heatpads for ours after we separated them.

They're indoors all year round. They seem happy this morning but will wait a while before removing the cover over the divider and won't risk removing the divider completely. We've bonded several pairs- and boar 1 with 2 others previously and never had any issues so it has thrown me a bit!

Have you tried bathing them and giving them a completely clean cage with everything moved around and a huge hay pile. Sometimes this can take their minds off arguing and remove the pheromones smell that triggers arguments. It goes without saying that you should still keep a very close eye if you try this.