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New Member - Had 2 Male GPs together that hated one another... Should we try again?

goatwuss

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Hello GP friends,

My girlfriend got a GP a while back whose name is Gus. He's a very social GP and squeaks a lot. She got him from the shelter.

Then she had read that GPs like to have friends, and she saw a male guinea pig at the pet store and got him. His name is max.

Anyway, after a few days of having them in separate cages in the same room, we introduced them in neutral territory and they "had at" one another if you know what I mean. We didn't put them in the same cage though, and waited a couple more days, and then introduced them again outside in the grass and they did the GP rumble again, and weren't fighting too bad, so at that point we put them both in a new, bigger cage with 2 of everything, ie. food dish, pigloo, etc. Gus was about 6-7 months old at the time, and max was probably about 3-4 months old.

We had them together for a couple of weeks and they never got along. There was constant teeth chattering, head-raising games, and they either stayed in their igloos and deliberately ignored one another, or were fighting. One time they got in a "ball of fur" fight and we had to stop the fight. We figured it would be best to separate them, so my girlfriend has Gus now, and I have max. Max is very very shy, still shivers a lot of the time when you pet him, runs and hides in his pigloo whenever I enter the room, and if I take him out of his cage he just sits wherever I put him without moving. I'm spending time with him every day to try and get him more ok with the world. I think he may have been traumatized a bit by Gus, and maybe that's why he is so timid and scared, but I really don't know, and I also don't know his "pet-store history" but he was very young when we got him, probably a month or so.

My question is: Do you think we should try again to get them living happily together? It would be great if they could be friends, because then I'm sure they both would be happier, and we wouldn't need to maintain them in 2 separate cages. Or do you think that given their previous experience with one another they would just be happier alone and seperated?

Here are some pictures so you can see what they look like:

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Thanks,

Todd
 

Eolith

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I think that you should put them in the same cage with a few extra grids zip-tied to form a barrier. They often do better just being able to see, hear, and smell another guinea pig, even if they aren't friends. Who knows, maybe they'll sort out their differences and you'll be able to remove the divider... doesn't sound very likely though...

PS
They're super cute... but then again, I think that any cavy is super cute. lol
 

nonamian_girl

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Re: New Member - Had 2 Male GPs together that hated one another... Should we try again?

Maybe they're going through pig puberty, it might pass.
 

Hansel

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Re: New Member - Had 2 Male GPs together that hated one another... Should we try again?

The more that you introduce them and then seperate them the harder it is on the pigs. I have two males that are pretty close in age, and let me tell you, there was some fighting! Unless there is bloodshed do you want to seperate them. I would put a divider in the cage at first when I was sleeping or was out of my apartment for a while. When I was home the divider was taken out. They rumblestrutted, chase, squaked, and nipped at each other constantly. They eventually worked things out. It is a MUST that you cage is big enough for two males...esp if they are the way you described them. How big is your cage?
 

aqh88

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Re: New Member - Had 2 Male GPs together that hated one another... Should we try again?

You were dealing with 2 teenage guinea pigs which is the hardest time to introduce the little brats. Also did you have a cage of at least 10sq ft? You could try a buddy bath or you could just get each of them a different friend since they are seperated now anyway. You can almost always find another male that yours will get along with. Usually the only time you can't is when you have a guinea pig of several years that has been living alone since it was a tiny baby and on rare occasion you find one too agressive to keep with anyone. Still even with those few exceptions it's best to either keep them in a divided cage with another guinea pig next to them or neuter and put them with a female. Guinea pigs don't do as well alone and as you've seen they tend to hide more, are less friendly, and scared more easily. If they refuse to get along and you can't get another friend for them then try to put their cages touching so they can interact some. Have you read through this page?: https://cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm#Getting
 

goatwuss

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Re: New Member - Had 2 Male GPs together that hated one another... Should we try again?

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the replies.

Eolith - Do you think we should try introducing them again before just plopping them in the divided cage?

Hansel - The cage was 2' x 4' I believe, made from the grids

aqh98 - Do you think we should wait until they are past the teenage period to try and introduce them again? If so - about what age would be a good time?

Do you think we should try and introduce them again normally before trying to bath, or just going ahead with the bath?

Also - Yes, I did read the cavyspirit page about "the dating game". The only question I had about it is: If they don't fight too bad during their introduction, should they be put right in the new cage (a different, clean cage) afterwards? Or should there be a number of introductions and meetings on neutral territory before that point?

Thanks,
Todd
 

Eolith

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Re: New Member - Had 2 Male GPs together that hated one another... Should we try again?

Hmm... I think that I'd let them stay in a divided cage for a day or two so that they could 'introduce' themselves as much as they wanted. Then you could take them out, bring them to nuetral territory, and see if they get along better. If they do, you should probably clean and rearrange the cage as is suggested with the bathing introduction. I'm not claiming to be a pro at it... I've never introduced two cavies before. I just know what I've read all over the place.
 

aqh88

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Re: New Member - Had 2 Male GPs together that hated one another... Should we try again?

I would set them on the floor with a divider in the middle such as a playpen or grids and see if they are chattering like mad and ready to kill each other through the bars or if they chatter some and then start to calm down/get bored. If they continually go at like they want to kill each other put them in a divided cage for a few days and if they settle down try introducing in neutral territory without a divider. If that fails toss them in the tub. If at any point introductions work don't seperate them. Once seperated they have to go through it all over again. It's like erasing all the progress you've made and sometimes making it worse. The only exception is when I was introducing Pistachio to the other 2 boys and they kept arguing over him. The fights were over Pistachio not with Pistachio even after a buddy bath so I put him in a divided section of their cage overnight until they got used to him. When I let him out he wasn't new anymore and Orbit just stayed out of the way avoiding any fights until Pistachio and Cinnamon settled in together.

If everything still fails put them in a divided cage for weeks to a month and switch who is on what side of the divider every few days until they no longer get all excited about each others scent. Then right after you switch them try removing the divider. Not the usual way to introduce but may work as a last resort. It's how you introduce agressive gerbils and dwarf hamsters to each other. After 6months guinea pigs start calming down and within a year they should act like adults instead of annoying teenagers that both have to be boss and start fights for no reason. If you keep them divided for awhile they will be more grown up, they will be used to each other's scent, neither will have truly claimed the cage since they were both moved around, and they can work out their teenage problems through the bars. If it fails after all that you have found 2 male guinea pigs that have conflicting personalities and will never get along.
 

JackSpicerRules

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Re: New Member - Had 2 Male GPs together that hated one another... Should we try again?

Don't literally "toss" them into the tub.

Alot (If not most) male pigs fight. Usually it's to see who gets to be boss.

Pretty much aqh88 said.

Cute piggies, by the way :D
 

Ly&Pigs

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Re: New Member - Had 2 Male GPs together that hated one another... Should we try again?

Alot (If not most) male pigs fight.
Not really. It's a huge myth that two males will fight. What happens is you either end up with 2 very dominant boars or 2 boars who are both in puberty. If you match your males based on personality and get one older boar and match him with a baby boar, you generally won't have fighting.

After you first introduced, you should have put them together in the new cage. Introducing them then taking them away from each other and reintroducing causes more stress which can lead to more fights. I would give them a buddy bath together then put them in a new cleaned cage together to see if they get along. If they start to fight and there is major bloodshed going on then put a divider in. If there is no major bloodshed, then leave them alone to sort out their issues.
 
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