My 2 male Guinea Pigs hate each other since I introduced a new baby male :(

Question
Hi,

I have two male guinea pigs which are approximately 6 months old. They both seemed to love each other very much and were sleeping together, playing together and eating together well.

At the weekend, I bought another baby male - 6 to 8 weeks old. I introduced the new baby male in a neutral environment and the two older ones were humping him, sniffing his bum and fighting each other off him.

After 4 days I took the baby male out as the 2 older ones were fighting so much over him. The baby male is now in a cage of his own with ANOTHER baby male that I bought him for company - the two babies are getting on great!

The two older males absolutely HATE each other now though. If they go near each other, they bang their teeth, let out puffs of air, stand on their back legs and snarl at each other. They've both been bitten with blood drawn and as a result, I'm not going to separate them.

I'm so upset that I've caused this problem by introducing the new piggy :( I hate seeing them fight and hate each other and I really want them to become friends again :( Is there anything at all I can do to help them bond and be friends again? They literally can't be anywhere near each other anymore and it's making me so sad :(

Thanks

Helen

Answer
Hi Helen
Naturally males will fight each their over territory and females.
In the wild the male guinea pigs live outside the colony in a group and will challenge younger males who try to take over their place in the group. This is so they have a chance to mate with the alpha females.
While the babies are near by there is not doubt that you will get fighting between them. they are both mature boars who are ready to breed and as you said because you introduce a strange boar to the pair they are going to attack each other and the new arrival.

The only possible way to calm them down is neutering and re introducing them on neutral territory once the wounds have healed and in about 2 months after the operation to give the testosterone levels time to get out of the system. you can use Vicks vaporub on their noses and rumps to deter mounting. This method has been used by quite a few UK breeders that i have spoken too.
at this point the younger boars will be reaching maturity and may need to be neutered too if you want them to try and join the group.
With the low levels of testosterone there should be less chance of competing for space. It is always a 75% chance of success but is better to try then have fighting boars.
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