Cage mate bullying
Hi all,
I have two Guinea pigs. A 4 year old intact female and her 3 1/2 yo. Neutered son.
Recently, in the last year I noticed that the boar is becoming more aggressive and bullying towards his mother. He blocks her from the food and doesn't let her use certain hides huts.
To handle this, I doubled their cage size from 8 sqft to 16 Sqft but this seems to have increased Instead of decreasing even though they now have much more space.
There have even been times I have heard her screaming and run in to see him all puffed up and mounting her (even though he's neutered ) and they have woken me in the night with shrieks or weird sounds (almost like a squeaking fan) that stop once I turn on a light.
I have no idea why this is happening. I had the boar seen by a vet to make sure he was medically ok. I thought pain or illness might be a cause of the aggression but this does not seem to be the case.
I want to make sure that both pigs are happy and healthy. I am worried the boar will hurt his mama or that he is upset and thus acting out. I also worry because mama is very passive and lets him dominate although I am glad she does not fight back because then a real fight might break out.
Any suggestions? I am now feeding them separately so that they both can eat and not fight over food (not that they ever have or should be but I noticed the boar has blocked his mom from eating for 3 days now) and they have plenty of hideys and toys in their cage and space to get away from each other.
I need suggestions on why this is increasing and what to do.
Thanks.
I have two Guinea pigs. A 4 year old intact female and her 3 1/2 yo. Neutered son.
Recently, in the last year I noticed that the boar is becoming more aggressive and bullying towards his mother. He blocks her from the food and doesn't let her use certain hides huts.
To handle this, I doubled their cage size from 8 sqft to 16 Sqft but this seems to have increased Instead of decreasing even though they now have much more space.
There have even been times I have heard her screaming and run in to see him all puffed up and mounting her (even though he's neutered ) and they have woken me in the night with shrieks or weird sounds (almost like a squeaking fan) that stop once I turn on a light.
I have no idea why this is happening. I had the boar seen by a vet to make sure he was medically ok. I thought pain or illness might be a cause of the aggression but this does not seem to be the case.
I want to make sure that both pigs are happy and healthy. I am worried the boar will hurt his mama or that he is upset and thus acting out. I also worry because mama is very passive and lets him dominate although I am glad she does not fight back because then a real fight might break out.
Any suggestions? I am now feeding them separately so that they both can eat and not fight over food (not that they ever have or should be but I noticed the boar has blocked his mom from eating for 3 days now) and they have plenty of hideys and toys in their cage and space to get away from each other.
I need suggestions on why this is increasing and what to do.
Thanks.
- PooksiedAnimals
- Supporting my GL Habit
In cases of sudden bullying, I start watching the weight and overall health of the guinea pigs. I've seen some pigs become aggressive when they don't feel well. I've seen sick pigs get bullied as the well ones try to "expel" it from the herd.
That's what I worry about too. I have had both checked out. The female does have ovarian cysts but we were advised not to try to spray her but rather leave them and drain if they get too big. I hope that's not the reason he is being so mean to her. I feel terribly for her although he has always been sort of a snot to his own mama this is getting to be too much.