Aggression My piggies were fine until this morning, now they are fighting

[brosenberger]

Hey all,

About 3 months ago I got my daughters a single female guinea pig and a small store cage. After much research I realized that not only was my cage far too small but I also needed a companion for her. I happened to find a friend on facebook who had 2 females that she turned out to be allergic to. We adopted them about 3 weeks ago and I built a 2x4 c&c cage.

After first introductions and about 6 hours of supervision they were fine. They were fine for the last 3 weeks but this morning all hell broke loose. The two new ones are rumble strutting, chattering and ended up attacking our original girl to the point of drawing blood. I now have them all split up in seperate containers but this can not go on.

Please help,

Brad (me)
Buttercup, Smores and Snickers (the piggies)

 

[Rach84]

If the 2 you got together are ok it's fine to keep them together - could you extend an split your cage? It would keep your original girl safe but she'd still get contact through the bars with the other 2 xx

 

[brosenberger]

I don't have the ability to immediatly extend the cage but I will consider it if that is the only sollution. The problem is that even after removing our original girl, the other two continued to fight although I did not let it go long after the first drawing of blood.

I should mention that right now I have one in the c&c cage, one in the store bought cage and one in a plastic bin for the time being.

 

[bpatters]

A 2x4 isn't nearly large enough for three pigs. The smallest recommended size for three is a 2x5, and bigger would be better.

I wouldn't put any of them back together until I got the cage enlarged.

 

[brosenberger]

Enlarging cage is next step, I have the grids on order now. I guess once the wounds are healed I'll start the introducing stage all over again. This is way more stressful than I expected.

 

[Denise Mabie]

I have my 3 girls in a 2x6 w/ a 2x2 loft. They get along pretty good but every couple weeks when they're in heat they will chase one another around rumbling.

 

[jrv4babies]

Agreed some PMS squabbling is normal but yeah drawing blood is too far. Hopefully a larger cage will be the answer! Also lots of hides so they can stay out of each others way. And one thing I learned was a must for my 2 girls (who have been together since babies and always got along fine, but then started a big tiff one night) is that all the hideys need to have 2 ways out. I had to get rid of any hidey with one entrance where my more dominant one could block/corner the other.

Ironically they seem to do okay with the loft. My more dominant one does not seem to be able to trap the other up there, I was worried about that when I added it. I think because she is not stuck in a hidey, she has room to gain speed and just fly her way down whether the other one likes it or not.

I have read that it can help to give them all a bath together. I guess something along the lines of traumatic experiences bond us hahaha.

At least the one good thing with piggies is that you CAN stick one in a plastic bin for a very temporary solution, compared to some pets. I love love love how portable and easily contained they are. Little rollie pollies.

Very good luck!!!

 

[brosenberger]

Well, the grids are ordered. I'm going to assume the PMS is the answer as to why. I guess for now I will keep them all seperate until the wounds have healed and I am able to expand the cage and then we'll try to put them all together again. Let's hope this isn't a monthly seperation...

 

[pinky]

I recently introduced another guinea pig to my female pair. It took me a full day and two buddy baths to finally feel comfortable housing them in their 2x5 cage. I took out all the pigloos and hiding places so there'd be open space throughout the cage. I also had 3 water bottles, food dishes and hay piles. There was quite of bit of chasing and nipping but it lessened each day. It's been about two months now and they're all settled in. I have three pigloos in there now and they each sleep in one of them without fighting over who gets which one. There definitely is a hierarchy, though, which is most evident when I offer veggies. The most dominant one will usually try and take food away from the lowest ranked one so I cut it into smaller pieces so they won't squabble over it. It's actually turned out better than I thought it would.

 

[brosenberger]

i'm okay with chasing and rumbling but when there is a fight with squeeling and blood, that's where I have to draw the line. What if I wasn't there, how far would it have gone? It's as if the Buttercup, the original pig, was cornered by the other two.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

A bigger cage can certainly help. Also don't use any hideys with only one entrance. Tunnels and tubes and fleece overhangs are better than wood houses and pigloos.

 

[brosenberger]

here is there interim setup....at least they can all see each other.