Our two guinea pigs have started fighting.

Question
Hello Andy,
me and my girlfriend bought our first guinea pig, ODD, about 6 months ago. He was about 4-5 weeks old when we first got him. We had just the one pig for about 3 months, while my girlfriend was looking for a job. When she got herself a new job, we decided to get a 2nd pig, EVEN. He was 4-5 weeks old as well when we first got him. They are both males.

We introduced them to each other, on neutral ground, and they seemed to get along well straight away. Some rumblestrutting and showing off, but no fighting or teeth chattering. We kept slowly introducing them to each other for the next couple of days, and they got along very well. We kept Odd in his cage, and Even in a box next to Odds cage for this time. After the 3rd day of introductions they got very desperate when we split them up. So desperate that Even managed to jump out of the huge box he was in, and they were just crying for each other. So we decided to put them together in the cage and all was well. Up until 2 days ago.

They have been very friendly with each other, occasional teeth chattering when we have them together on the couch, but outside of that they have just been friends. Odd is the dominant male, and does quite a bit of rumblestrutting around Even, but he doesnt seem to faced by it. But 2 days ago at floortime, all of a sudden a violent and loud teeth chattering begun, and Even got up on his hind legs and jumped onto Odd. We managed to seperate them quickly, but they kept hissing and chattering whenever they got near each other. We put them back in their cage together, and watched them closely for about 20 minutes. They seemed to calm down, and went about their own business. No more fighting that day.

But the morning after, when we went to feed them breakfast, they jumped each other again. And now we dont know what to do with them.

They have a good sized cage, 120cm x 80cm, and they have two of everything. Two food bowls, two water bottles, two houses. And they have both been using all of the above, so they are not territorial about the items in their cage.

So now we really need some advice. They fight quite full on occasionally, but when we seperate them, they squeek and look for each other. its almost like they cant be apart, but they hate each other when they are together.

Do you think this is a passing period, or will they keep fighting forever? I assume that the younger one wants to become the dominant male, but Odd is quite a lot bigger and also very tough, and does not seem to haven any intention of backing down. We really dont want either of them to get hurt, but we also dont want them living in seperate cages, unless we have to.

Any help you could provide us would be great! We really need it!

Best regards,
Stian

Answer
Hi Stian

Sadly, this type of thing happens regularly when 2 males are housed together. It depends entirely on the temperament of the pigs involved. As you say, both pigs seem to want to be the dominant male, hence the fighting.

Once blood has been drawn its very unlikely that you will get the 2 to live together happily. However, I have had success by bathing both pigs, disguising their scent in the process and cleaning the hutch completely.

Give that a try and let me know what happens.

Andy