Fighting Guinea pigs fighting all morning

[Sakano]

Normally my two get along pretty well. I mean sometimes they annoy each other by poking each other's butts or mounting behavior, but after I cleaned out their cage this morning they've been fighting the entire time. And it's not like usual, they're getting in each other's faces and one of them (Sugar) has been squeaking nonstop. I would have thought they'd get tired by now, but it's still going on. They don't seem to be actually hurting each other, though at one point I saw what looked like an attempted nip. Should I separate them? Cleaning out their cage doesn't usually cause fighting like this and I didn't do anything unusual today.

 

[bpatters]

Males or females?

How large is the cage?

How old are the pigs?

 

[Sakano]

Both males. Not sure how old they are, last time I asked on here people said they looked like babies. I've had them for one month so they're at least 4 weeks old. The cage is a midwestern one.

 

[Sakano]

They're still fighting, this is stressful. Sugar is shaking like he's terrified. I really don't know what could have started this, Spice was normally my more docile guinea pig but he's being so aggressive right now and they've been at it for hours. They're still not really hurting each other, but Spice keeps mounting Sugar over and over and won't ease up on him or let him rest. I thought they would have tired themselves out by now since they've been at it since around 10 am and now it's almost 3.

 

[bpatters]

Humping will go on for months, if not years, and they're just coming into the prime age for it. You can't stop it, and unless there's bloodshed or Sugar is tormented to the point that he can't eat and is losing weight, you should let them alone. Do weigh him daily for a while, preferably each morning before breakfast. You'll be weighing the least amount of food and poop then.

That said, there are a few things you can do. One, a Midwest cage is not nearly large enough for two boars. They need room to run around without getting in each other's faces.

Second, take out most, if not all, of the cage furniture to give them the maximum amount of floor space. Replace it with fleece draped across the corners, or fleece forests. You can hang the fleece forests so there's not an unobstructed view down the length of either side of the cage, and that may deter some of Spice's determined chasing.

You can put a couple of small hideys in that have at least two doors each. I like upside-down shoe boxes, no lids, with at least three holes cut into the sides. That way, nobody gets trapped.

If you're not doing floor time, try to add that in. If they've got a large place to run around in, and stuff to explore, it'll let them expend some energy on something besides each other.

 

[Sakano]

All right thanks! I do have floor time for them, maybe I'll extend the amount of time. I'll try the rest of your advice, hopefully it helps.