Newness

[caseyjoellen]

Hi! I'm new to the forum. I'm a new guinea pig owner but I've read just about everything I can find on them. I have one adult male pig (Harvey) and a baby male piggie (Marvin). We introduced them last weekend and things went pretty well. Harvey showed that he was boss but there were no fights. The thing I'm worried about is that Harvey doesn't seem as happy and I'm not sure if Marvin is very happy either. Harvey's personality has changed. He's also always pushing Marvin around which makes me thing that Marvin's not very happy. What I really want to know is if there's a chance that the tenseness in the cage will go away eventually. Does it usually take a while for guinea pigs to become friends?

Thanks for your help. I just worry about my little guys.

[Jenah]

There is a usual period of establishing dominance with all guineas - male and female. I would make sure that your cage is definitely large enough to house 2 males. From what I've read and seen around here they tend to require more room than females to house comfortably.

Take a read over at http://cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm to see what normal behaviors are when they are establishing dominance. If there hasn't been any bloodshed, I wouldn't worry.

And I'm sure that plenty here will give you their opinions - those that have males, especially!

[jdomans]

Yep the cage size is a huge factor. you have not told us what size it is. A 2 x 4 grid is the best for them.

[caseyjoellen]

i have a 2x5 grid cage plus i have an attached pet store cage they use as their potty.