Dominance Sudden Dominance Help!

[PiggieWigglies]

Because of fighting over food sometimes, I separate my two boys Sammy and Cody two times a day for breakfast and dinner. It has been this way for 2 months...maybe? They are together the rest of the day and are fine. Sammy is about 8 months old (give or take, I got him from a petstore and have learned since then.) and Cody is 3 years old. They live in a 2x6 C&C cage and have been together since December. No signs of health issues in either of them. Just now I put Sammy back and gave them their hay. All of the sudden, Sammy randomly takes a good chunk of Cody's hair out, no blood I believe. So I quickly separated them with my hands and took their hidey houses out. Just as I was about to take one of them out of the cage, Sammy was about to go at Cody again. I put my hand in between them and then tapped on Sammy's nose slightly before Im about to take him out of the cage. All of the sudden, Sammy bites me instead of Cody. I go to pull my finger away so I can grab Cody to take him out of the cage but he latched on, hard. Any ideas on why he randomly did this? Especially tonight? I realize puberty and all.. but Im still wondering. Right now they're separated. Im really concerned.. Any suggestions would be great. Im sorry if I did the wrong thing here, I was very scared for Cody's safety because he is the submissive one and is fragile and laid back compared to Sammy, who is a strong, feisty little pig. Should I separate them for tonight?

 

[PiggieWigglies]

I don't trust Sammy with Cody tonight, so I'll separate them just for tonight and see what I'll do about it tomorrow.

 

[PiggieWigglies]

I feel a bit stupid for posting this topic now. Once I took a step back and thought about my options I calmed down a little. I freak out whenever my pigs fight, and this is only my 2nd fighting experience with my pigs so I don't handle these situations well. I'll give them a few days to settle down, divide their 2x6 into a 2x3 each in the mean-time, then try a buddy bath and full introductions again. Although I forgot to add some things in my thread, it was actually about to be a full on fight if I didn't stick my hand in there. (Not the wisest option I believe...)

 

[Red5Iam]

I think you're taking a good approach to handling things now, but I would recommend in the event of future fights using a hand towel to separate your boys. When my girls started to fight, I tossed a hand towel over Harley, and used it to pick her up. She was off guard enough to not bite me when I handled her, and immediately stopped going after Brienne. I had to start introductions over and do a buddy bath but things calmed down. Hopefully things with your boys work out!

 

[PiggieWigglies]

So it sounds like a good idea to introduce them after a few days with a buddy bath and full introductions? Also, I can keep them side by side in a C&C cage all week that they're separated and it wont mess with introductions, will it?