We have had guinea pigs for over 5 years now. We have had several die over the years (had a sickness run though the herd, some from old age, and 1 from a birth defect) but we had one die last night that has us confused and concerned. We have 3 girls ranging in age from 3 to 5 years old who have been living together for well over a year. A 4th that was living in that cage died of old age about 2 months ago with no issues. We had a baby skinny that was living by herself because the girls we thought she would live with were being mean to her. A little over a month ago my wife decided we should give her a try with the 3 girls that had recently lost their sister and everything seemed to be going great. No fighting, no rumble strutting, we even saw her cuddling with each of them from time to time. I saw her last night before I went to bed and she was munching hay. I didn't do anything with the guineas before I left for work this morning since my wife would still be home. She called me from work (I was hoping it was a bad form April fools joke) to tell me our little skinny was dead. Not just dead but bloody and had obviously been chewed on! She said her face, side, and butt were bloody and her ears had mostly been chewed off. We are at a loss at what could have happened...was there a big fight and she died of her injuries then they chewed on her, did she die of a hidden cause then they chewed on her...why would the chew on her either way? They get pellet's daily just as they always have, They all get vitamin "cookies" once a week, they get hay all the time, snacks almost daily (cherry tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, peppers, etc., we change it daily) So what the heck, we have never had this happen with any of our other deceased pigs, what could have been different this time.