My two guinea pig males are fighting because...

Question
I bought first one last week. Then, the second one today. Both of them are males. The first guinea pig I bought was on heat, I didn't know that until I put a new guinea pig in the cage with him. He started sniffing him, and tried to hump on him. He snagged, bit, shook his body, and tried to scare him away. He kept doing that. They got angry and fought. I need your help! How to stop them? I just separated them in two cages. How could my first guinea pig trying to have sex with my second guinea pig if they are both males?

Answer
Callie,

Your first male is not trying to have sex with your second one, it is just normal behavior for them. Your First one is trying to tell the second one that he is alpha. Guinea Pigs are group animals and as such each group has two alphas a male and female and then everyone else comes in order after them. The humping is normal, he is just saying that I am the alpha. It is just one of the ways that they communicate who is alpha.

Your going to have to go a slow with them, introduce them again to each other in a neutral place. Watch them to make sure no serious fighting happens, they'll fight but you need to keep out of that unless it gets really serious and it looks like one could be hurt. They need to fight in order to establish who is alpha. There will be a lot of head raising, fighting, humping, body shaking, and trying to intimidate the other, but this is all normal and they need to go through it. Leave them together in that neutral place with you watching for about 15 minutes twice a day for the first week. Then bump up the time to about 20 or 25 minutes for the next week. But alway make sure it is in a neutral place, keep doing this with the time getting longer until they can spend an hour together without you having to separate them. Then throughly clean out one of the cages and but them both in it for about an hour and then separate them. Do that for about a week and then you should be able to leave them in together for good. Try putting both the cages next to each other so they can get use to each other, also take an old rag with each others scent on it and put it into the cage with the other, this will also help in getting them use to each other without fear of fighting.

Just remember to take it slow and they will began to get along with each other in no time flat. It will most likely take about a month or so before they are buddies. In the meant time take it slow and remember to encourage them to get along.

Good Luck To You,
        Take Care,
               Jules