need help with odd ways of fighting

[arcangel]

okay first update i've been away for months now because my schooling has me so busy that i can't update or help other people out.

Now on to the real odd problem i have. I have 4 female guinea pigs in a huge L-shape C and C cage. 2 of the pigs are fully grown up and the other are now getting towards their adult age if a year is that time period. the problem that has reason only recently in the past 2 weeks is that 3 of my guinea pigs have been what i want to call piggie boxing , they will stop and look at each other puff up and rumblestrut in that place and when one of the pigs move its ding ding they will chase each other then get up on their back legs and do jabs at the other pigs face and then proceed to chase and sometimes nip each other. O and they only will do it to fang. Idk what this mean or what to do with this? do i just wait and let them handle in on there own or what? lastly because i forgot to state this the 3 pig's who do this are my most dominate pig Moo moo and my 2 getting adult pigs fang and vanille. P.S moo moo is doing it right to fang

[bpatters]

If I understood your post, Fang is the pig being picked on by two of the others. The first thing I'd do is check her out very carefully to make sure she's ok. GPs can sometimes tell when something is wrong with another pig and will tend to pick on them.

What size is your huge cage? And what dimensions? Pigs will sometimes to better in wider, shorter cages than in long and narrow, because there's less opportunity for conflict as they're passing each other in a narrow area.

[arcangel]

i checked out Fang shes perfactly fine no marks to signs of sickness. my cage size is a L-shaped 10 long on one side 8 foot on the other and they are both 4.5 feet wid. my cage is the size of my wall and much more

[jacqueline]

if you aren't already weighing them i'd start now to make sure there isn't any food guarding involved. also, loss of weight can tell you if a pig is ill long before you will notice anything wrong with them sometimes.

most of the time, it seems this kind of behavior is almost more stressful on us owners than the pigs. living in herds, they're used to this kind of dominance dance. if there's not blood shed, let them work it out. if it just gets too much - too stressful, or if someone's losing weight, you might want to consider expanding your cage, or dividing into 2 cages.

also, makes sure you have separate food bowls, hay racks, and water dishes for each one. for my three guys i have three water bottles and three food dishes, they seem to be able to share 2 hays racks tho.

no hideys with only one entrance/exit.

for my 3 guys, having a "second level" has helped enormously. i have a cabana and a tent/bungalow so that if one is being chased, they can jump/climb up onto a second level, and that seems to end the chase for some reason.

[bpatters]

I'd let them be, but watch carefully to make sure Fang isn't being actually bitten, and that she's allowed to get to food and water.