The horrid bars of separation... please help.

[wiggley_narco]

Oh, woe is me!

Ok, so yeah, maybe the title is a bit angsty. But I'm sad, so gimme a break.

My boys finally had to be separated. Some of you may remember when I posted not very long ago about Wiggley's ear being bitten and Narco having a bite mark around his mouth/nose. I assume the sudden aggression is due to Narco getting older and hitting sexual maturity.

I tried making the cage bigger, I tried more hidey houses, I tried better hidey houses with more exits, I even resorted to a buddy bath. Nothing worked.

But everyone likes buddy bath pictures.



Anyway, like I said, they were still fighting. After the buddy bath, they fought when they were being dried off.

On the advice of my boyfriend (derrr...) I let them continue to live together, thinking eventually they would sort out their problems. Needless to say, that didn't happen.

I wish I would have separated them sooner. I feel completely selfish and irresponsible for leaving them together now. Yesterday I came home from work to find wounds on Wiggley's nose and Narco's ear bleeding profusely. Narco also had cuts on his face and there was a lot of hair all over the cage. I felt so horrible. I cried and cried while I cleaned them up (yes, I'm a sissy).

So of course now the boys are separated. I have worked for the past 8 hours to extend the cage and make a new ramp/loft and divide it. Basically, I extended the one of the arms of the L to 2x3 instead of 2x2... so now, instead of a 2x6 L-shaped cage, it is the equivalent of a 2x3 and 2x4 sitting side-by-side. I sacrificed the last bit of walking space in the bedroom (tiny freaking apartment), but I couldn't let Wiggley stay in a 2x2 with no room for a ramp to the 2nd level.

So... here it is. Any feedback/ideas are appreciated.





York and Narco's side...



And Wiggley's side... I hate having the ramp there, as it makes cleaning the cage and catching him incredibly hard... but I didn't know what else to do.



Wiggley really doesn't like being separated from the other two boys. I can already tell he's lonely--but I know it's for the best, because he and Narco were chattering their teeth at one another and trying to go at it through the grids earlier.

So now my main problem is Wiggley being alone. It depresses the heck outta me. I'm thinking about getting him a friend, but I'm worried he won't get along with him/her, either. I've considered getting an older male to live with him, but I'm worried they won't get along. I've considered getting a younger male also, but I'm worried I'll wind up in the same situation--they get along fine at first, then all heck breaks loose when the baby gets older. Then I thought maybe a spayed female would be the solution... but with the other boys on the other side of the cage, I don't want her presence to cause MORE problems. The sides are only separated by grids, so they would be able to see/smell her. I don't want them to fight or hurt themselves trying to get to her.

Please, for the love of all things guinea pig (and my sanity), give me some advice. Someone. Anyone. I know I'm a bit on the melodramatic side, but I'm really stressed about this. Input, comments, suggestions, ideas, experience, etc....... I need all of it.

Thanks in advance, guys.

[wiggley_narco]

Here's the lone ranger himself.



I really hope Narco and York don't stop getting along....

[clotho]

First of all, don't beat yourself up about this. You are a great piggie parent and are trying to do the best for your boys. You couldn't have known it would get that bad that fast. You were trying to leave them together.

Second, I would highly suggest you not jump into adopting another guinea pig. Maybe if you wait a while until the boys are older, you might be able to try introducing them again.

Third, I would highly recommend building stacked cages. That way you can have more space for yourself and the piggies still get nice big cages. I used connectors and drilled holes in them - then put a long bolt through to stagger the cage height so there would be a space between my two cages. Also, if you have your cages stacked, if you DO decide to get a female friend for one piggie (and have him or her altered of course) then she is less likely to cause any problems with the other boys.

I really do hope things work out that you can reunite your boys. It's such a rough time as they go through puberty. Hopefully things will settle down!!! Keep us updated please!!!

[wiggley_narco]

Thanks, clotho!

I've thought about reintroducing them when they're older... but I read somewhere, though I can't remember where, that once they have problems, they'll always have problems, even on into adulthood. But like I said, I don't recall where I read that, so it may not have been a reliable source.

Thanks for the support.

[wiggley_narco]

This is depressing. The boys are laying on their respective sides of the cage, right up against the divider, staring at each other. They were even all 3 asleep next to each other earlier. It breaks my heart for Wiggley to be alone.

[Newpiggiemom]

Your situation sounds so much like mine. I had almost the exact thing happen with my 3 boys. My Jack wound up with an abscess from being bitten on his side. Chester was bitten on his face and looked bad for a while. I felt horrible and cried and my children cried. It was such a disappointment. Needless to say, I had to separate them. They are now in a divided cage but it seems to be working. I am reluctant to ever re-introduce them for fear of something terrible happening.
Don't beat yourself up--you couldn't have known what would happen. We try our best but it doesn't always work out.
My Spike seems to be happy to be able to see and talk to the other boys. Maybe keeping a divided cage will work out. It has for me so far even though it was not what I had originally wanted.
If I were you I would think long and hard before getting another. What if it doesn't get along and then you need 3 separate cages? That has been my fear. So my boys will live with their divided cage and socialize safely through the bars.
It does get a little easier once you get used to it.

[acanoffleas]

Wiggley, I know exactly what you're going through. I have five boars, two of which get along swimmingly and can't be separated. The other three...eh. We ended up having four separate cages, all placed around and near one another. They can see, hear, and smell each other, and they seem to be okay with the arrangement, though I've recently had an itch to come up with some other ideas.

Just a few weeks ago, we attempted an introduction between two of our "bigger" boys, Brick and Mason. The introduction went really well, considering these two are the bossier of the herd, and for about an hour and a half we sat with them and monitored the process. We went to connect their cages, me taking them into another room and putting them down on the couch while we arranged the cage, and WHAM! It got nasty very quickly. Both boys suffered bites, but Brick really got it - he nearly lost his toe to a severe bite wound on his foot. Now it's 2 1/2 weeks later, and after two different AB's and a brief stint of GI distress, Brick is *nearly* fully recovered, and Mason's cage is right smack next to his. They seem to enjoy being near each other, but not TOO near, ya know? You get used to it.

[wiggley_narco]

Thanks for the support.

Newpiggiemom, it won't give me the option to thank you, but I appreciate the advice!

[chexxy]

I would wait a bit. I am so sorry. Maybe if you could find an older male? I know many pigs would bite my piggy Chexs face off if they had to be with him. He chews hair, gos underand over my other pig, nips, runs, and annoys him. Chester is a 1.5 year old male, who is extremely calm, and beisdes a few chatters, puts up with it all. Maybe if you could find a pig like him who just wnats to sleep and eat, it would work. Good luck, and it wasnt your fault!

[fourboys4now]

I had 4 boys living together in larger cage. I adopted 2 boys and wanted to see if they would all get along. It went well about 3 days and then the knock down/drag out fighting started. Two of the boys ended up getting bite wounds that got abcessed.

So, the first 4 are back living together, and the last 2 I adopted are in cage together. We have two large cages in our living room now. But I love all 6 and even knowing what I know now about having to use 2 separate cages, I would adopt the other 2 all over again. Us guinea pig slaves do what we have to, to keep our piggies happy!