Behavior Dominance Tussle?

[Jamie Wysocki]

Hi!

My 2 male guinea pigs have been housed together for about a year and a couple months, but a couple days ago [Friday the 12th] they got into a big fight and one of them, Barney, got a pretty bad bite on his right foot. I took him to the emergency vet that night and they cauterized the wound and gave me antibiotics and pain medicine for him, and he's separated into his own cage to recover.

Is there a specific reason as to why they suddenly had a falling out? Is it dominance, or could their cage be too small for their comfort? Also should I permanently keep them separated or try to re-introduce them once Barney is completely healed?? I don't want this to happen again, because it really wrecked my nerves and I've been very watchful 24/7 [when im not at work] over Barney.

I'm probably being overbearing to him, to be honest.

The good thing is that he's no longer limping as much or babying it too much, he seems to put more pressure on it than he did yesterday.

 

[PiggieGuinea]

I would give them a bigger enclosure. Wider is better than longer if you can. I dont have boars but my girls did that for 2 days and I seperated them. They have been seperated for a few days now and I am reintroducing them when I clean cages