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Behavior I need an a opinion on my guinea pigs? behaviour with one another

calnen99

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I have two male guinea pigs and I have left them in a cage with each other before, although they have been supervised. I have recently made them a cage that separates down the middle. This is because I caught them trying to fight a few nights back which was the first time ever and they have been in the same cage on a number of occasions. I always put fresh bedding in too before I had them in the same one, the cage was also fairly large.
Ozzy is my oldest he’s not quite a year yet and Jacko is fairly young and he’sprobably about four months old.
I’m not sure if they are on good terms with one another though, they almost vibrate around each other. Ozzy often makes this vibrating type noise, Ozzy teeth chatters and so does Jacko, they both are quite fluffy when with each other and they are always so this funny thing with their bums, like lifting them up higher. Ozzy has yawned near Jack in front of me once.

Ozzy is always desperste to get over to Jacko when he sees him. With the divider they both slowly walk towards one another chattering and Ozzy making that funny vibrating type noise.
Jacko is also popcorning around his cage. When they were first in the cage they both were biting on the cage trying to get to one another and they continue to do this.

I only caught them fighting once and I have had them on and off together about 4 or 5 times. They didn?t hurt each other either, their was no makes or blood.

I just want someones opinion and their thoughts on this.

thank you!
 
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Peanut_Butter2

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I have two male guinea pigs and I have left them in a cage with each other before, although they have been supervised. I have recently made them a cage that separates down the middle. This is because I caught them trying to fight a few nights back which was the first time ever and they have been in the same cage on a number of occasions. I always put fresh bedding in too before I had them in the same one, the cage was also fairly large.
Ozzy is my oldest he?s not quite a year yet and Jacko is fairly young and he?s probably about four months old.
I?m not sure if they are on good terms with one another though, they almost vibrate around each other. Ozzy often makes this vibrating type noise, Ozzy teeth chatters and so does Jacko, they both are quite fluffy when with each other and they are always so this funny thing with their bums, like lifting them up higher. Ozzy has yawned near Jack in front of me once.

Ozzy is always desperste to get over to Jacko when he sees him. With the divider they both slowly walk towards one another chattering and Ozzy making that funny vibrating type noise.
Jacko is also popcorning around his cage. When they were first in the cage they both were biting on the cage trying to get to one another and they continue to do this.

I only caught them fighting once and I have had them on and off together about 4 or 5 times. They didn?t hurt each other either, their was no makes or blood.

I just want someones opinion and their thoughts on this.

thank you!
I would put them back together what you are describing is completely normal gp behavior. BTW ( the vibration you describe is called rumblestruting)

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Peanut_Butter2

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I would put them back together what you are describing is completely normal gp behavior. BTW ( the vibration you describe is called rumblestruting)

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I don't know that much about gp maturity put it is possible the 4m old is reaching maturity

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Guinea Pig Papa

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They're trying to sort out who the dominant pig is. Your 4 month old has not yet reached puberty (but is close). All of the behaviour you're detailing is normal for pigs.

How much space do they have? Do they have adequate room to get away from each other?

Don't separate them unless there's been bloodshed. Every time you separate them, they have to begin the process all over again.

Start off by reading this to know if you're doing it right: https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html
 

CavyMama

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It's never a good idea to continuously put together and separate guinea pigs. Each time you put them together they have to start over establishing dominance. It's very stressful for them. This might be why they were fighting. It could also be the cage size. Male pigs need a larger space as they tend to be a bit more territorial. Dividing the space, you have decreased the amount of space they each have which could be compounding the problem.

It's important that you stop putting them together then separating. You need to make sure you have a cage that is large enough for 2 males and that you do proper introductions for as long as it takes if they are going to live together. If you don't have a plan for them to eventually live together, keep them in separate cages and stop the visits altogether.
 

bpatters

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Ditto [MENTION=12813]CavyMama[/MENTION]. Please do not keep putting your pigs together and then separating them. You're making things worse, not better.

What size cage are they in? Lack of space is a major reason for guinea pig aggression. Two boars need about 12 square feet.

Leave them separated for now, until you have a large enough cage that's very clean and smells nothing like either pig. That means washing or replacing all bedding and cage furniture. Introduce them in a large neutral area at a time when you've got several hours to give to the project, and when they're calm, put them in the cleaned cage and leave them there unless there's frank bloodshed. Nips don't count. Here's the article: https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html
 

calnen99

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They?re in a two by four grid cage, which is they?re new cage. Which for me is about 11 square feet. The other cage was a grid smaller when they got into the fight.

The only reason why I have them separated in this cage is because I?m gone for about 8 hours a day during the week so if anything happens I am not here to separate incase they start to hurt one another. Although they have been in the new cage for about two hours with the grids dividing them and they are making happy sounds, popcorning around, and eating hay.


they also won?t be being separated any time soon. This is their perminant cage now that I?ve settled down and moved into our new house.
 

calnen99

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I’ve read up on guinea pig intros, I just wasn’t aware that separating was an issue. I hadn’t read anything on that so thank you for telling me. I also have never had to introduce two males before since my last guinea pigs I adopted were of older age and already paired.
 

CavyMama

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A 2X4 grid cage isn't big enough for 2 males. Males need more space than females. If you want them to live together, you would still need to take the time to do a proper introduction. This is more than just showing the pigs to each other and letting them say, "Howdy do". You need to take a good chunk of time - several hours or for as long as it takes to get them to a point where they will at least tolerate each other. Read the link [MENTION=13820]bpatters[/MENTION] included about proper introductions.

Once they are properly introduced and can tolerate each other and are in a large enough area, you won't have to worry about being gone all day and separating them in the mean time.
 
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