Dominance Drawing blood, what to do?

[ericafournier]

Hi everyone,
I am recently new to the cavy world. I have five boars, all relatively around the same age. Approximately a week and a half ago my first pair of brothers Cooper and Theo began trying to establish dominance. They are approximately 13-14 weeks old. It got to the point where Theo caused multiple wounds on Cooper. Theo has been separated from the other four, who all get along great. I attempted to reintroduced Cooper and Theo yesterday afternoon after about a week and a half of being separated, and all was well for a little while. I brought them all out for floor time to reintroduce them, and all was well also. Just some usual boar behaviour(humping ect.), but after about forty minutes out on the floor together, i put them in my 2x8 cage to see how it would go. And once again Cooper and Theo were back to fighting, with Theo chasing him around and trying to bite him. I'm not sure what to do at this point. I feel terrible having to keep them separated, but Theo just keeps being so nasty. And almost always draws blood from Cooper when they fight. Theo is still able to see the other boys as i have him in a 2x3 beside his brothers, but it seems so cruel to me. I would really appreciate any words of wisdom or guidance any one could give. I look forward to hearing from all of you, thanks

 

[ryliem]

https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html

Here is some help for introducing guinea pigs. I would suggest using the buddy bath system and cleaning the cage before putting Theo back with the herd.

 

[ericafournier]

Sadly, i have tried everything possible. And because they are all in the "puberty" phase as most call it, Theo and his brother still do not get along. So for now I have Theo separated from the others, since he is the biter. And will try and re-join him with the herd once he is older and hopefully more relaxed.

 

[Shieme]

5 boars togeather? Some people here ave issues with 3 boars and some with 2 boars the same age. Good luck but you are looking at separating them. You might get two paired up okay.

 

[bpatters]

How big is your cage? You'd need a HUGE cage for five adolescent boars.