Aggression Is it possible for a Guinea pig to never get along with others?

[Guineapiggie06]

I have a Guinea pig named Hazel who is around 3ish years old. She is also a female which is quite weird considering how aggressive she is. I got her a few years ago when I was 13 from a pet store. (I would never do that now, at the time I didn’t know much about where to get Guinea pigs and thought it was basically the only option.)

The first time I introduced her to the other 3 I had put her in a smallish space next to the cage to get used to them. It all seemed great and they weren’t teeth chattering at all. I had done an introduction before this and it went very well so I wasn’t even expecting what happened next. They seemed eager to get through the cage wire and Hazel was biting on it so much I thought it might damage her teeth. Because of this I don’t think I waited the recommended amount of days before putting them in the same cage. When I did though, it still seemed alright. I think the entire time Hazel really wanted somewhere to hide since the place I had her in would be a bit small for the big hides I had for them. She ended up going into the corner hide with another Guinea pig (Muffin) while Muffin was inside kicking her out. This is probably what started their fighting and teeth chattering:/

After kicking Muffin out Hazel looked like she was about to bite Muffin and they both started teeth chattering really loudly. Then Hazel leaped at Muffin and they tried to bite each other while sort of running around each other. Then they stopped and I had never had this happen before since my other Guinea pigs are very chill and nice. I sort of panicked as they were in this “battle stance” and decided I would take Hazel back out and maybe wait a week or two before trying to put them back again. They lunged at each other and I tried to put my hand in between them which I guess was the best thing I could do at that moment. Instead of biting Muffin, Hazel ended up biting my hand, like, HARD. She wouldn’t let go either so as I lifter up my hand as a reflex she came up with it and only “let go” when she bit through the skin her teeth were latched on to. I ended up getting her out right after and realized my hand was covered in blood:/ I still have the scar from it. I also probably should’ve gotten stitches… I did get antibiotics though.

Both Guinea pigs didn’t have any serious injurys, Hazel had the tiniest bit of blood on her lip, which could’ve been mine. Muffin did have part of her face bitten though, but I took her to the vet that took one look at her, told me it was fine and that I could put polysporin on it, and then charged 50:/

Anyways, within a week we got Hazel a cage to herself which unfortunately was quite small and was one of the store bought ones since I thought it wouldn’t be for very long. After that I couldn’t even have Hazel in the same room as the others because they would only rumblestrutt and teeth chatter at each other. So for a few months she was in another room and she seemed to like it by herself a lot better, and also seemed to prefer human interaction.

I’ve tried many times to get her to get along, and actually succeeded once. Unfortunately the time they were together they were all stressed out. The last straw was when Hazel bit part of one of the other’s ears off, so I separated her again.

Now I have her in the same cage as the others, but separated so that they can still see each other, but won’t try to murder anyone…

Has anyone every experienced anything like this? I don’t think Hazel will get along with any Guinea pig at the moment and is just weirdly aggressive. Every time anyone would try to pet her anywhere her mouth could reach her reflex would be to bite them I’ve even taken her to the vet for unrelated reasons, but she was completely fine. The only think I can think of is that she was all along at the pet store in the back and had probably never even seen another Guinea pig before…

 

[bpatters]

First, you never introduce in a cage. You do it in a large, neutral area following an established set of guidelines, and then you put them back into a thoroughly cleaned cage that smells nothing like any guinea pig.

It's also difficult to introduce one pig to a group, and the introduction takes much longer. You also need a huge cage for four guinea pigs, or you'll always have aggression. You may even wind up with the other three refusing to get along with each other.

Here's the bible on introductions: https://guinealynx.info/introductions.html

 

[Guineapiggie06]

I definitely didn’t introduce them properly the first time, but the other times I watched many tutorials and did it properly. I don’t think the cage size is a problem, it’s roughly 45 by 95 inches and only has three Guinea pigs including Hazel in a section of it.

Do you think it’s possible for them to ever get along? They rumblestrutt at each other a lot even though they are sort of separated. I might be able to successfully introduce them again, but would it be worth it if it makes them all super stressed out?

 

[wasder]

I'm sorry to hear this. You should know that keeping a group of three is generally not advisable. Also, the best pairings are between 2 female guinea pigs, or a female and a male guinea pig. It also shouldn't have rushed to introduce them to each other. You should have given them time to settle down in their new home. By the way, (broken link removed) I've heard people saying they're color-blind, but I've also read online that they can enjoy as much color as we do. I'm kinda confused. Does anyone know the answer?