Oh boy, how many of us have been in Diana's shoes?
"I have two male guinea pigs...father and son and they have lived together since the son was born. Kiko (the father) is around 2 years old while Ringo (the son) isn't one yet. They have lived together with no problems. Lately they have become very strange, chattering their teeth at one another. Ringo chases Kiko around the cage and throws himself at Kiko. Kiko...has become very scared and hides wherever he can. He has been tired and sleepy most of the time, while before he was very active and generally good humoured. I'm not sure whats going on. I've separated them because I'm scared that when I'm not there something bad will happen and I can't help them."
Diana did the right thing by separating her boys. Ringo is relentless and Kiko is miserable and showing signs of depression (i.e., hiding, lethargy). But what happened?
One word: Hormones
After months of being a dutiful young son learning from his dad how to be a big boy, Ringo is individuating from his father. His hormones are surging and he's thinking he'd like to be alpha male now -- and he's basically wrestling with his father to claim that title. Although the seemingly gentle-natured Kiko apparently isn't putting up a fight, Ringo seems determined to keep hammering on this point. He's behaving like a bully now, and Kiko is clearly feeling victimized.
You can keep them separated for a short time and try reintroducing them a little later. Maybe they'll restore harmony, maybe you'll see the pattern repeat. (I suspect the latter will prove true. If you do end up having to permanently separate them, keeping them in side-by-side cages or side-by-side partitioned areas in a very large C&C cage should give both pigs enough company and socialization to keep them from getting lonely or depressed.
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It's odd that my pigs have never done that. I had 2 pigs, Penelope and Matilda, for 3 years and although they did chatter their teeth, they never fought. Matilda died a few years ago, and Penelope's new companion is just as friendly. Penny is clearly teaching her, though, what to eat and what not to eat, since the new pig is 3 years younger than her.
Posted by: Rachel | February 20, 2012 at 02:11 PM
Hi, my name is Katie and I just found this blog after doing some relentless searching for an issue my two guinea pigs are starting to have. After reading through many of your articles and noticing things that I probably should have done ages ago, I figured I was informed enough with what's here to ask my question.
My two guinea pigs (Gus and Caesar) have been living together for about two years now. I saw and read a few posts about bullying and realize, now, that Gus (older by about 6 months) has taken dominance to a bullying level ages ago. It's not constant, but fairly often they'll both bristle up and do some very annoying (and continuous) whine-like squeaks at each other, occasionally accompanied by teeth chattering. Caesar use to get tired of it fairly quickly and go hide, but today he actually bit Gus and had to be physically ripped off before letting go. I've put up a partition in the cage (it's large) but I'm worried that since I didn't catch the bullying problem early enough and Caesar is now fighting back that they'll never be able to live together again. This is the first case I've had with physical fighting. Do you have any advice?
Thanks!
Posted by: Katie | December 10, 2011 at 10:31 PM