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Other Guinea pigs fighting

erowe1362

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So I have 3 guinea pigs, two were bought together at a pet store and are in the same cage (nugget and beanie) . The other one I rescued (Linus) and he is in a separate cage. I quarantined them for a couple of months and slowly introduced them to each other however after a couple of weeks Linus and nugget started fighting. I figured it was a dominant issue at first but then it got nasty and they were biting each other alot. So I separated them, and even put them in separate rooms. Then Linus started wheeking all the time when he would hear nugget and beanie from the other room, wanting to be with them. So I moved his cage into the same room. That was fine for a while but now Linus constantly bites at his cage and chatters his teeth wanting to be with nugget and beanie. I tried to introduce them again but this time blood was drawn and I separated them immediately. I don't know what to do because nugget and beanie get along great and Linus always shows signs that he wants out of his cage to be with them but when I do all they do is fight and I don't want them to get hurt. It's becoming hard to get to sleep at night because he is so loud when he bites the cage. Any suggestions on how I can get this to stop?
 

pinky

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Three questions: How large is your cage? Did you completely clean out and disinfect the cage and everything in it before putting them in there? Are you certain you have three guinea pigs of the same gender?
 

erowe1362

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Three questions: How large is your cage? Did you completely clean out and disinfect the cage and everything in it before putting them in there? Are you certain you have three guinea pigs of the same gender?
The cage on the bottom with the two guinea pigs are 2x3 sq ft. And the one with the other is 2x2 sq ft. All guinea pigs are males. And the cages were completely disinfected and cleaned before they were put in there.
 

Axe34

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2x3 sq. feet for two boars is not nearly large enough.

Also, if they are indeed three boars, you've got the odds stacked against you in terms of them working out as a trio.
 

bpatters

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The cages are way too small. Lack of space is one of the main reasons for aggression in boars.

You can try reading https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html before you introduce them again, but I wouldn't do any introductions until you have a much bigger cage. And you have to be prepared for the fact that three just may not work. It's possible for you wind up with three solo pigs, none of which will live with either of the others.
 

erowe1362

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The cages are way too small. Lack of space is one of the main reasons for aggression in boars.

You can try reading https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html before you introduce them again, but I wouldn't do any introductions until you have a much bigger cage. And you have to be prepared for the fact that three just may not work. It's possible for you wind up with three solo pigs, none of which will live with either of the others.
I don't have room to expanded the cages. What about if I added levels? Will that improve the spatial issue?
 

bpatters

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No, levels won't help. You'll have to have ramps, and those are just invitations to fight when pigs are being territorial. They really need room to run, and to avoid getting in each others' faces. Wider is way better than long and narrow.
 
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