Hi,

We've had our guinea pigs for about 18 months. Two males who have got on fine up until now. They are in a two storey hutch and run outside in the warmer months but are currently in a large cage indoors. This morning one has been marked and got blood on him. I dont know a lot more than that as my husband text me with this news as i am at work. They often chase each other around which i assumed was playing as they do their happy squeak when doing it.
So, the question is, what do i do now?! Do i put it down to a one offand leave them as they are or do i need to separate them? will they ever be able to live together? I'm thinking it's either because they are hitting maturity or because they are fed up with being cooped up indoors. They do get brought out to lay and behandled etc.
Any help gratefullty received. Thanks.

I would separate them for now, and straight away !
When we got 2 new ones they started to fight and we discovered that one of them had mites. The one that had mites and had a wound was being attacked by the other. When she was cured of the problem they we're put back together with an older one, with no problems.
It might be worth giving them both a good look over to see if there are any problems.
I think it's Jean SW that's good on GP's. Hopefully she will see this thread.

haven't had G Pigs since we were kids but we were always taught that (like hamsters) you NEVER put 2 males together, on one occasion when 2 got together by accident my brother got badly bitten separating them.
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It may be a possibility to neuter them these days which may help but I'm only guessing I'm afraid.

If they were brought up together since babies they shouldn't start fighting - in the past I've kept groups of males and females together for years and never had any fighting. Were they seen fighting or could the piggy have been injured in some other way?

They often chase each other around which i assumed was playing as they do their happy squeak when doing it.

Far from all boars will get on for life even if kept together since youngsters. Like in all animals temperament is individual and some will get on with others of their own sex, others not. The above sounds to me like it could have been one chasing the other aggressively or trying to mount the other.

Thank you for the replies.
Yes, two males are fine together (providing they get on!) And are supposed to be friendlier than two females (allegedly)
I've kept a very close eye on them and they are their normal selves this afternoon.
perhaps it was when they were playing that one has caught the other one. Their nails are trimmed regularly but I will trim again later to check theres not a stray sharp edge.

thinking back in our case they were adult breeding boars with females in the vicinity so that probably makes the difference. I mentioned neutering as I THINK I have heard recently heard of people having rabbits neutered to curb aggressive tendencies.

Hi Freds Mum

I don't think age is relevant, as, at this age, they have been sexually mature for a long time now.  I've always weaned boars earlier than sows, so they don't mate mum!

And, contrary to tales we hear, I've always put any male babies that I was intending to keep, with an adult boar for company.  The only male aggression I ever encountered was when judging Abyssinians, I put my hand out to pick up a boar and the boar next to him attacked.  And had my knuckle in his teeth!  It hurt!  But he was actually going for another male.  I assume that I had handled an in season sow that caused the problem.  I have always considered Abbies to be more confrontational than other breeds.

The "chasing around" is normal male hormones.  If you keep a male living alone he will actually learn to curb his hormones by ejaculating in his bedding.  All perfectly normal (although I've found sows living together playing trains too.)

My first gut feeling would be that they had smelled in season sows.  So separate rooms would help.  Still have the boys together, but away from the girls.  When I was showing/judging/exhibiting I had a 30ft x 22ft shed so could move them around to suit my needs.

If you don't have females I would need to rack my brains again.  :-)

agilabs

You heard right.  It is far more common nowadays for pet rabbits and guinea pigs to be neutered.  Back in my heyday vets would almost faint if you suggested any sedative or anaesthesia for these, or hamsters.  Todays safer drugs have made life so much easier for pet owners.

My vet regularly spays and castrates ferrets.  Which is why I trust him with my Chihuahuas!  :-)

Thank you Jean. Some good information.
No females in our house and none in any neighbouring houses though :-)

Well, as they seem to have settled it seems no more to be said.  Although dabbing vick under the nose can help.  As they will rub it off with their paws, and they will rub it back on the same way.  They will smell less sexy to each other.  In risky circumstances it's always best to divide the cage with wire.  So they can see each other, but not fight.

If their scent gland is particularly greasy it can be reduced by washing with Fairy Liquid (and thoroughly rinsing.)  Then they won't smell so terribly male to each other.

Well, I've given them both a bath and modified the run outside. Put some carpet and newspaper in to keep it warm and draped tarpaulin across so it was dry. let them have a run about in there for a few hours yesterday (which burnt off some energy!) and they really do seem ok. Really hoping it was a one off as they are so lovely and usually play so nicely together i wouldn't like to have to split them up.
Thank you so much for the advise.
x

I'm a breeder and exhibitor of Dalmation cavies (guinea pigs) for over 30 years, and yes we do spell Dalmations this way. :)
I hope the advice you have been given works. But if they are still chattering their teeth at each other this can lead to fighting and the most dominant one will bully the other one. Bullying can take the form as chasing and guarding their food, so if one looks a bit thinner than the other this could be the cause. Some boars (males) like to live on their own and will only live with sows (females). But a lot of that depends on the breed. Check them both for mites. If you pull the coat back so you can see their skin, if you can see something moving then they probably have running lice these wont hurt you but the cavy needs to be treated. If your cavies are scratching a lot look in the centre of the back by pulling the hair back with your finger, if you see broken skin it sounds like mites which can be treated by Ivermectin drops. If you are unsure you should see your vet. I have added a link so that you can see photo's of cavies with the mange mite. If this is not allowed then I apologise and you can remove. For the welfare and guidance for the proper care of guinea pigs the Southern Cavy Club have a useful website. This is their wording not mine.

http://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A7x9QfljYRhT4FkAmTpLBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTB2bzFub3RmBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2lyZAR2dGlkA1NNRVVLNDBfODY-?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-903-s&sz=all&va=guinea+pig+mite

Thanks for the advice.

We bought another hutch that enabled them to live independantly from one another (one upstiars and one downstairs) but with a ramp so they can still interact.
This meant we had to move them outside but have bought a hutch hugger so they are warm and dry.
This seems to have worked. They spend time together but will go off to seperate areas at other times. they both seem much happier and we have had no instances of fighting for a long time now.

again, many thanks for the help

:)

Just googled Dalmation Guinea Pigs as I'd never seen one.     They are gorgeous!

But I'm taumatised now, having seen my first 'Skinny Pig'   :-(    Why on earth would anyone deliberately breed a hairless Guinea Pig? :-(       Poor things :-(   No coat to keep them warm :-(

I kept Guinea Pigs in my teen years, lovely little characters and very interesting, even more so, when you keep a group of them :-)    One of mine was like a dog, and used to come to Grammar School with me.    She had an abode in the Biology room and loved all the attention :-)

Hairless cavies are popular with some people but the National cavy club don't except them so they can't be shown. Hairless have to be kept warm in the house. One breeder told me that he keeps  them under light bulbs 24 hours a day to keep them warm. They cost £100 each for sows and £50-£75 for boars.

>One breeder told me that he keeps them under light bulbs 24 hours a day to keep them warm

I'm not surprised.   Lets face it, hairy Piggies don't do well in a draft, so I'd have thought hairless ones would be even more susceptible.   I would expect them to burn in the sun too, as they've no coat to protect them.    So unfair, mine used to love a bit of sunbathing, though they always had a choice and plenty of shade too.

Poor little piggies, I'd have to make them jackets to keep them warm.   It just doesn't seem right somehow,  thank goodness the National Cavy club have some sense.

I'm another long term cavy exhibitor, Self Creams in my case.

The British Cavy Council (not exactly a governing body, but sort of) has banned exhibition of skinnies and so they can't be shown in shows affiliated to either the National, or Southern Cavy Clubs. All clubs are affiliated to one of those two, so hopefully they will never be shown.

Hello Hants, I'm wondering who you are? :)

Hants do you live in the NF?

>Why on earth would anyone deliberately breed a hairless Guinea Pig? :-(

Only if you were keeping them for meat (as they were originally domesticated for, being hairless might be an advantage when preparing them for the table, in the same way we have bred many domestic pigs to be pretty hairless.

> Only if you were keeping them for meat

The meat guinea pigs are called Cuys, and are up to 6lb in weight... yes they have been developed for meat in south america, where they do represent a significant protein source. Some Cuys were imported to Europe about ten years ago, I saw websites of breeders in the scandinavian countries. I had a friend who was interested in importing some to the UK at the time.

That is itnerestign as I knew the original guinea pigs were raised for meat, but when imported here were bred down in size *(I expect close breeding also had this effect).

I didn't realise that they were still being currently bred for meat outside of south America.

> I didn't realise that they were still being currently bred for meat outside of south America.

I'm not sure they are, Brainless... but these Cuys are bigger than ours. In fact some of the pet-bred cavies I saw in America were bigger than ours. Going back a long time,  late 70's early 80's, I knew a cavy breeder who relocated to here from Canada, brought some in via quarantine, and her lines were much larger than usual - I owned a couple and they were really substantial.

Cuy are also excluded from exhibition here. They are a lot less docile than normal guineas (I believe).

The cavy fancy suffers from too many people trying to constantly invent "new breeds" and the BCC didn't want whole new subspecies appearing at shows too!

I think Skinny Pigs were developed in laboratories to do dermatitis experiments on :(