Fighting Female's fighting suddenly

[Linda Vasquez]

Hi I'm new here! My name is Linda. Just a quick introduction to my Pigs. I have two Males. Nibbler is 4-5 years old and Bender is about 2 years old. I also have 2 females, Leela who is 4 months old and Sandra who is only 3 months old.

Just the other day I was having Lap time with Sandra and when I put her back in her cage her with Leela, they started fighting instantly. They've had disagreements before but never this serious. They wont' go near each other now and they won't leave the sides of the cages or the igloos. Almost like they won't leave their back exposed. This has never happened before.

I do keep the Boys cages next to them because it never caused a problem before but I did move them away from the girls after the fighting.

Is this normal behavior? Are they not bonded or do bonded pigs fight seriously like this? It's almost like they're spooked....

I read that sometimes ill pigs can be fiesty and I did notice Leela has a tiny cold right now but i really don't think that's the problem.

Any advice would be great. Currently I have the cage divider up so no one hurts each other...

 

[Princess_Piggie]

Hey, and welcome to the forum

Let's start with the fighting, if no blood was drawn, it's not a fight, it's a dominance squabble. Females go in to heat every 14-17 days and are more prone to being hormonal and squabbling during heat.

Secondly, the cold. Guinea pigs don't get colds, they get URI's which need treatment. Almost no illness in pigs goes away of it's own accord, so if she's displaying symptoms of a URI such as sneezing frequently, runny/crusty nose, runny/crusty eyes, she needs a vet, to prescribe her antibiotics.

Thirdly, if you've separated them, you'll have to reintroduce them in neutral grounds all over again, and they may not take to each other again now that they've been separated.

 

[Rywen]

If Leela is sick that may cause fighting, piggies sometimes attack the weaker one, it's a dominance thing. Leela needs to see an exotics vet, URIs don't go away on their own and can rapidly develop into pneumonia.
Welcome to the forum!

 

[pigslave1]

She is probably very hormonal, because she may be in heat.