Female Guinea Pigs not getting along...

Question
I have two female guinea pigs, Mocha who I bought April 1, 2006 and Latte who I got May 16, 2007.  Obviously I did not get them at the same time and they are not the same age but I heard that female guinea pigs get along well with each other.  The two hit it off really well right away and I haven't had any problems until a couple of days ago.  To preface the problem, Mocha was found to have some wounds on her side right about where her left foot reaches to scratch.  They didn't look very good so I took her to the doctors and they did a skin test but she doesn't have mites/lice/etc. and they believe that she had an original would that scabbed over and began to itch.  She kept itching and her nails were too sharp and she ended up spreading the wound and it got infected.  She is on medication now and has been taking it for about a week.  Her two large wounds are almost gone now but she has small scratch marks around the area and and has developed a scratch mark on her other side.  I say scratch mark because (1) I don't want to think it is my other guinea pig hurting her and (2) because it definitely looks like a scratch and not teeth marks. On the 16th I moved them to my new apartment and have noticed Mocha and Latte not getting along like they used to.  Mocha is becoming more defensive of the food and Latte more defensive of the hidey house.  They now chase each other away from their respective "belongings" (food/house) and make a "keep away noise" at each other.  Should I separate them or are they going through a phase?

Answer
Hi Jenny

In short, I think Mocha and Latte are going through a phase. You have moved house so it may be that the two pigs need to re-establish their dominance over each other. However, chasing each other is by no means reason to separate them and I fully expect things to settle down in a few days.

That said, to ensure both pigs are happy, it is a good idea to put an extra food dish in the house and perhaps an extra hidey house too so both pigs get to each/play.

Andy