Behavior Argue like an old married couple

[Alyssa Valach]

I've had Charlie since August and brought Teddy into the picture in September. Both males. Ever since, they ALWAYS argue. They don't fight for blood, but they'll charge at each other and Teddy always always always is complaining towards Charlie. If Charlie wants to cuddle, Teddy complains. If Charlie is trying to get water, Teddy complains. They're also always rumblestrutting at each other but then Teddy will end up popcorning in between struts. I know they like being together because I can barely separate the two for individual cuddle time, but is all of this normal? Do all guinea pigs do this with cagemates?

On another note, Teddy always feels the need to not only tip over the food dish immediately after I put it in, but also feels the need to throw it around the cage. I was thinking about getting one of the bowls that attaches to the cage and then give the boys separate bowls but they still wanted the other's food. Advice please?

 

[Fay]

Re: Argue like an old, gay married couple

I never had boars myself but I know they tend to do the dominance thing more frequently than sows (depending). If they're still very young it could also be puberty maybe? And they might quiet down a bit more when they get older. At least to me it doesn't sound like problematic behaviour as long as one of them doesn't completely prevent the other from eating then I think the complaining is just that.

As for the food bowl you could get one that's not easy to tip. One that's heavier and slants down and outwards at the edge. It'll be much harder to shift then and worked for me when I had a tipper. This kind of style:



Using a bigger bowl might also help prevent one pig from sticking it's head in so that the other can't get in.

 

[Sparklederp]

Re: Argue like an old, gay married couple

I've had Charlie since August and brought Teddy into the picture in September. Both males. Ever since, they ALWAYS argue. They don't fight for blood, but they'll charge at each other and Teddy always always always is complaining towards Charlie. If Charlie wants to cuddle, Teddy complains. If Charlie is trying to get water, Teddy complains. They're also always rumblestrutting at each other but then Teddy will end up popcorning in between struts. I know they like being together because I can barely separate the two for individual cuddle time, but is all of this normal? Do all guinea pigs do this with cagemates?

On another note, Teddy always feels the need to not only tip over the food dish immediately after I put it in, but also feels the need to throw it around the cage. I was thinking about getting one of the bowls that attaches to the cage and then give the boys separate bowls but they still wanted the other's food. Advice please?

Every pair of boars I've ever had has been like an old married couple too. Sounds pretty normal to me. They love each other, but they're still brats most of the time.

 

[Alyssa Valach]

Re: Argue like an old, gay married couple

I never had boars myself but I know they tend to do the dominance thing more frequently than sows (depending). If they're still very young it could also be puberty maybe? And they might quiet down a bit more when they get older. At least to me it doesn't sound like problematic behaviour as long as one of them doesn't completely prevent the other from eating then I think the complaining is just that.

As for the food bowl you could get one that's not easy to tip. One that's heavier and slants down and outwards at the edge. It'll be much harder to shift then and worked for me when I had a tipper. This kind of style:

View attachment 71342

Using a bigger bowl might also help prevent one pig from sticking it's head in so that the other can't get in.

Do you know how exactly this works or does it just usually work? Sorry, I'm just very technical and don't have the money to just spend on things and hope for the best lol. My little one is 6 months old and he began going through puberty a few months ago but I never played that into perspective. Thank you!

 

[barbaramudge]

Those bowls are so cute! Are they for sale someplace or did you just pull a random photo? They would go well with my garden cage.

 

[aqh88]

I'm just practical about it. I bet we have 100 of these (broken link removed) . lol The guinea pigs, the chinchillas, the rabbits, and back up dishes while cleaning current dishes and supplement bowls to go along with pellet bowls.....

 

[HugglesBubble]

I use a small metal dogs bowl. It's got rubber on the bottom to keep it from moving (I use fleece) other than that, its all metal

 

[Alyssa Valach]

Thanks for the help guys I got the bowls at Petsmart that are bigger at the base and let me just tell you, Teddy is not a happy camper. He'll find another way to make a mess though, I know it.

 

[Kenna18155]

Sorry to intrude on your thread, but did anyone else notice the title change? Odd.

 

[Alyssa Valach]

Sorry to intrude on your thread, but did anyone else notice the title change? Odd.

I'm sensing homophobia from the mods.

 

[Kenna18155]

I hope not! Maybe we'll get an explanation. I don't want to assume anything negative. @bpatters @lissie

 

[bpatters]

No, you're not sensing homophobia from the mods. I'm the one who changed it, and I'm the least homophobic person you'll ever run into. But the gay reference has no more to do with arguing married couples than a straight reference does, and could be offensive to some of our other users. It was unnecessary and irrelevant.