Dominance New male cagemates fighting?

4cavies · Jan 27, 2015

Okay... So, I have Benny, a 1 year old male. I have had him for 8 months. I got him a cagemate three weeks ago, because even though I have a mom and baby girl pig (Judy and Liza), they are separated by a divider and I was hoping for Benny to get some Piggie interaction. Spencer is 7 months old. I introduced them two days ago. There was sniffing, chasing, rumblestrutting and all that then things calmed down. I caged them and more rumblestrutting and all that happened again then calmed down. This happens every time after i spot clean their cage. Last night and tonight I have heard quiet a showdown I believe. Middle of the night I can hear rumbling and lots of running. When I jump up and turn on the light, Benny is in a corner chattering his teeth and spencer acts like nothing happened and hidey spots are tipped over, hay everywhere, etc.. So I was wondering, pretty much.... What the heck? I haven't seen any actual wounds, so should I assume its just normal guy pig stuff? I haven't been able to actually SEE what's happening, so it makes me nervous!

joys_cavies · Jan 27, 2015

4cavies said:
Okay... So, I have Benny, a 1 year old male. I have had him for 8 months. I got him a cagemate three weeks ago, because even though I have a mom and baby girl pig (Judy and Liza), they are separated by a divider and I was hoping for Benny to get some Piggie interaction. Spencer is 7 months old. I introduced them two days ago. There was sniffing, chasing, rumblestrutting and all that then things calmed down. I caged them and more rumblestrutting and all that happened again then calmed down. This happens every time after i spot clean their cage. Last night and tonight I have heard quiet a showdown I believe. Middle of the night I can hear rumbling and lots of running. When I jump up and turn on the light, Benny is in a corner chattering his teeth and spencer acts like nothing happened and hidey spots are tipped over, hay everywhere, etc.. So I was wondering, pretty much.... What the heck? I haven't seen any actual wounds, so should I assume its just normal guy pig stuff? I haven't been able to actually SEE what's happening, so it makes me nervous!

My girls did that. It's totally normal. It's also that there both adolescents (they're in puberty) If they end up drawing blood sepretate and if you really want them to be together, do this l:
1.Scrub the cage down.
2. Wash everything and remove anything wooden.
3. Wash fleece or put new bedding in (depending on which you use)
4. Buddy bathe them. The "horror" of a bath bonds them. It worked for my 3 girls.
5. So that they'll smell the same put a tiny drop of vanilla on their bum.

Hope this helps!

CavyMama · Jan 27, 2015

How big is the cage you have them in and how were introductions done?

miniver · Jan 27, 2015

I recently went through something like this. Four days of teeth chattering, whining, chasing and nipping at each other. The big dust up happened over night. I only saw the results in the morning. I suspect you will be dealing this for a while, on and off, until they work it out for themselves.

It's important to regularly give them a good looking over to make sure they aren't doing any serious harm.

@CavyMama asks an important question. The cage can make a big difference.

Hang in there. If they aren't drawing blood, they are doing well to two boys.

4cavies · Jan 27, 2015

CavyMama said:
How big is the cage you have them in and how were introductions done?

Their cage is a c&c 2x6 grids. They have 3 different huts, 2 water bottles, 2 food dishes and all of that. I introduced them by using my hallway, totally neutral territory, at first they were separated by a play pen, then I set out veggies and opened the gate up to let them find each other.

I did give them a bath together and they were grooming each other.

miniver · Jan 27, 2015

Spoiled piggies! lol

I sounds like you've done everything right. Now it's up to Benny and Spenser to work it out.

lunarminx · Jan 27, 2015

You said the boys and girls were separated by a divider, so they each pair has a 2x3 then? Or you have a 2x12 and each pair has 2x6 space. Because a 2x3 space is the smallest for 2 and boars need more room, they get very grumpy in enclosed space.

foggycreekcavy · Jan 27, 2015

I would never put a pair of males in a 2x3 unless they have been together for awhile and have never fought.

So hopefully that's not the case.

Are they still near the girls? If so, this can cause more stress and fighting.

4cavies · Jan 27, 2015

foggycreekcavy said:
I would never put a pair of males in a 2x3 unless they have been together for awhile and have never fought.

So hopefully that's not the case.

Are they still near the girls? If so, this can cause more stress and fighting.

They are still by the girls but the idea that that might be causing some tension never crossed my mind. I wonder if that IS it. Then again.... They seem to do very well when they're both talking with the girls... If the girls come over to the divider, all rumblestrutting stops and they both go over to chat.

foggycreekcavy · Jan 27, 2015

Definitely remove the cage from the girls'. Being next to the females can cause problems even with males that get along very well.

4cavies · Jan 27, 2015

lunarminx said:
You said the boys and girls were separated by a divider, so they each pair has a 2x3 then? Or you have a 2x12 and each pair has 2x6 space. Because a 2x3 space is the smallest for 2 and boars need more room, they get very grumpy in enclosed space.

Oh, no! The boys are in a 2x6, then a divider and the girls are in a 2x3. I plan on enlarging the girls cage when baby gets a bit larger.

4cavies · Jan 27, 2015

miniver said:
I recently went through something like this. Four days of teeth chattering, whining, chasing and nipping at each other. The big dust up happened over night. I only saw the results in the morning. I suspect you will be dealing this for a while, on and off, until they work it out for themselves.

It's important to regularly give them a good looking over to make sure they aren't doing any serious harm.

@CavyMama asks an important question. The cage can make a big difference.

Hang in there. If they aren't drawing blood, they are doing well to two boys.

I have been doing regular checks for battle wounds

I'm happy to have your feedback, I was wondering if my boys were just nutty seeing as everything is fine until 2am.

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Dominance New male cagemates fighting?

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