Fighting Two sows fighting...HELP!

[katysioux]

OK so my fiance and I got a couple of guinea pigs back in March. They were a bonded pair of sisters, and we named them Chloe and Vivi. Sadly, Vivi died a few months later, and we didn't want to leave Chloe alone, so after a month or so we adopted a guinea pig from the Humane Association and named her Pumpkin. We have a C&C cage to give them plenty of space, and we read up on how to introduce two guinea pigs. We introduced them for the first time on neutral ground, and we have given them floor time together, but they just don't get along! Last weekend we gave them floor time and they seemed to be getting along so when we put them back in the cage with new bedding we removed the barrier that we had put up between the two. Things escalated when they both went into the same pigloo and they wound up getting into a fight, with Pumping biting or scratching Chloe on her ear and nose. We put the barrier back in the cage and they have been separated until tonight when we gave them some floor time while we cleaned the cage. When we put them together tonight Chloe started chattering her teeth, and we had to seperate them. Chloe seems to be the main one that the issue lies with, as she was the dominant one when we had Vivi and she is struggling for dominance with Pumpkin. Pumpkin is a lot bigger than Chloe, and she didn't want to fight with her at first but when Chloe started chasing after her and trying to dominate her she started to bristle her fur and rumblestrut. They are living in a c&c cage that is separated by a couple of grids, but I'd hate to keep them like that forever, and I don't want to have to give away either one. Is there anything we can do to help them get along?

 

[Colorado Cavies]

The very first thing you are going to want to do is take out the pigloo. That is causing problems right now because it allows one pig to trap the other so when an tiff does break out they can't get away. For now take out anything that doesn't have two exits.

Second, how big is your C&C? A 2x3 is technically big enough for two guinea pigs but that doesn't mean that it's always going to work out. Some pigs just need more space ino order to prevent fighting. I would go up to a 2x4 or 2x5 if you can and see if that helps.

Make sure there is two of everything, water bottles, food dishes, piles of hay and places to hide.

Once you have done all those things don't seperate unless one of them bleeds. Let them settle it out.