Behavior What to do about jealous guinea pig?

[Aleks]

George seems to be really jealous when it comes to me giving Rigby attention.
For example, they'll both come up to the cage and wait to be petted, and when i go to pet them George will basically bully Rigby away from me by either chasing him or mounting him until he goes away. A couple of times he has lunged at him, but there hasn't been any blood drawn.
The only time he ever really acts like that is when I'm giving them attention.

If there's anything I can do I would love to know, because it has been making Rigby a little hesitant to approach me lately.
Some additional information is that George is almost 2 years old and Rigby is about 3 years old.

 

[GreyWish]

well i have a guinea pig (taffie) who HATES me giving other pigs attention she is a single pig because shes so mean to other girls about it im not saying separate them , why dont you try taking one or the other out of the cage to play if you take out rigby cover the cage with a blanket or something OR play with them together i pet the both at the same time so they have nothing to be upset about when you go to leave the cage take your hand off Rigby first and then off george. that always seemed to work pretty well, cause taffie will beat up pigs after i leave if i take my hand off her first

 

[mayonoreo]

well if one of your pis is getting jealous of another pig getting more attention, maybe try sitting down in a bathroom or a room with the door closed and have a towel on you lap and sit with them both on your lap. pet them both and see what happens

 

[Aleks]

@GreyWish @mayonoreo
Thanks for the suggestions.
I've tried a few different things while petting them in the cage.
I've tried petting George first then petting Rigby, petting Rigby first then George, petting both at the same time. Nothing seems to help. :/

Usually George is fine while I'm giving Rigby attention out of the cage -he doesn't whine or anything- but when I put Rigby back in, George will start asserting his dominance and begin chasing him and everything.
I haven't tried taking them both out at the same time yet, mainly because they're so hard to catch and I'm lucky if I can get one of them out.
When I get home later tonight I will try doing that and let you all know what the outcome is! *fingers crossed*

 

[Aleks]

I just put them back in their cage after getting them both out.
We were all chilling on my bed for a while and they had some radicchio.

Things went well for the most part.
George was noticeably still being protective of me. He would come over and sit on my hand and any time Rigby got too close he would rumble a lot.
I was able to have them both peacefully snuggled close to me for a couple of minutes though, so I'll take that as a good sign?

I asked one of the co-owners of the rescue I volunteer at if he's ever had to deal with this with bonded rabbits and he said he has though there isn't really much you can do about it.
Hopefully it dies down on it's own after they've been together for a while longer-- They've been together for about 4 or 5 months.

If anyone else has dealt with this or has any suggestions I'm all ears!

 

[5GPsandcounting]

I just think your really lucky that George loves you so much :] I've had mine for a year and I still feel like four out of my five hate me. They run and hide for cover as soon as I walk into my room.

 

[Aleks]

I just think your really lucky that George loves you so much :] I've had mine for a year and I still feel like four out of my five hate me. They run and hide for cover as soon as I walk into my room.

I love it that George cares so much about me, it just kind of sucks that he's making Rigby scared to approach me, ya know?

Aww, well most guinea pigs will never really love you in the way that a cat or a dog will. They're prey animals and see you more as a threat than anything else.
I find that daily cuddles along with some veggies go a long way when it comes to getting them more used to you.
Don't feel too bad about them hiding when you walk into the room though, George still does that even though he's used to me. Most of the time he's taking a nap and the sudden noise just spooks him a little bit.

I got George from my boyfriend's 3-4 year old niece almost 2 years ago. She got him as a Christmas gift, but since she's so young she didn't know how to handle him properly so he bit her a few times.
They were going to take him back to the pet store, but I took him in instead.

Honestly, if it weren't for this site, I never would have bonded with him so much.
I figured the pet store cage he was in was fine, figured the cheap food he got was also okay, and I didn't know that they needed veggies and hay (he never had either before).

After correcting all of these things he really seemed to perk up a lot.
He started letting me take him out of his cage for cuddles and stopped biting and started giving kisses instead. Everything just went uphill from there.
He's probably the sweetest guinea pig I've ever met.