Chewing Male Guinea constantly hewing on cage

[RoxasAndJJ]

So I have two intact male Guinea Pigs, I am in the works of getting them both neutered but am waiting until they are both six months old. Roxas (11/12/16) and JJ (02/02/17). I have had Roxas since December of 2016 and he has been good, and I recently got JJ over the weekend. I know it isn't recommended, but both did come from a pet store because my roommate works at Petsmart and both came from a missexed female who was pregnant and the pigs had to be adopted out. I am not sure if that would be important for this, but I wanted to had it just in case.
So, I read online on a few blogs that it is good to have them slowly start to meet each other. The first night I had JJ I put them in the tub for 20 minutes, and the normal dominance setting for Roxas started, and I have had them together for about 30 minutes for floor time twice now. Once, JJ has tried to mount Roxas, and he did seem to get annoyed and just nipped at JJ and in turn mounted him for a few seconds.
I didn't give them floor time last night and let JJ roam around first, and Roxas started acting differently. I have never seen him biting or pulling at his cage, but he instantly started doing it when I let JJ out. I thought he was just upset because I didn't have him out as well, because then he started going into his igloo and tossing it around and the tipped his food bowl over a few times, which he only does when I did something that annoyed him. I looked it up online and some blogs said that it could just be he is bored or is trying to grind down his teeth. I got him some new toys to play with and already had a lava block for him to use, and I usually rub carrots around the lava block and I know he is using it that way. But, he is still doing it. I am not sure if it has something to do with the presence of his new brother or something else. I am still giving Roxas the same amount of floor time, love, and fruits like I always have been, but he just seems upset when he is going at it with his cage.

Maybe I am just over reacting, but I worry but my boy.

 

[bpatters]

Welcome to the forum.

You'll find that more people will read your posts and you'll get more responses if you'll double space between the paragraphs. It's really hard to read a "wall of text" and pick out the important parts.

You're going about introductions the wrong way. Guinea pigs are wired to establish dominance when they meet another pig, and it happens every time they're put together. You're making them start over again from square one. Here's the bible on guinea pig introductions: https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html.

He doesn't need a lava block to grind down his teeth. Hay is what keeps guinea pig molars ground down, and the grinding action of the molars keeps the front teeth in line. I've had several guinea pigs live to a fairly ripe old age, and none of them have ever needed anything for their teeth other than hay.

Your one pig is probably chewing the cage because he's frustrated and wants to get out. Once you've done the full introductions and they're in the same cage, that may ease up. Or not. Some pigs are determined to chew on the cage, and nothing will stop them except lining the inside of the cage with plexiglass.

Here's some recommended reading for new pig owners:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/113176-Information-for-new-guinea-pig-owners
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/107827-What-NOT-to-do-for-your-guinea-pigs!

 

[mtilink]

Our boy used to chew on his cage bars all the time. We had to have the coroplast as high as the C&C cage walls. He still occasionally chews on the coroplast, probably to get our attention, or when he is bored. We try not to encourage him by ignoring him, and then come to him 5 minutes after he stops chewing. We then take him out, change his cage layout (to give him something to explore), or introduce a challenge that he can work on (having some veggies inside something where he needs to solve a problem).

On another note, why would you neuter them. Unless you will host each one with a female, then there's no point. It won't change their behavior as far as I know.

 

[cavymomma01]

My boys used to be bad at chewing on the cage bars, but have pretty much stopped over time. Granted, I did inadvertently cause the chewing bars behavior by having the boys' cage too close to the girls at one point. I remedied that one though and have not had an issue since. Now they do chew on the bars at times when they know they are getting fed and I'm not moving fast enough for their liking!

Your one pig is probably chewing the cage because he's frustrated and wants to get out. Once you've done the full introductions and they're in the same cage, that may ease up. Or not. Some pigs are determined to chew on the cage, and nothing will stop them except lining the inside of the cage with plexiglass.

I'm with bpatters on this one. It does sound like it may be frustration of wanting to be out because the other pig is out, but you most likely will not know until the introductions are done and they are living in the same cage.