Fighting Behavior

Question
We have two guinea pigs. They have been getting along fine in their cage for three months, but tonight, they began to act strange. Our bigger cavy, Zeus, begun to mount Pluto, our smaller pig and continually chases him and chatters his teeth. We have separated them and placed Zeus in a different aquarium, but we don't know what to do. Please help!

Answer
Hi Kristen & Darrel,

Depending on their age, they may be going through puberty. This tends to occur between 4 and 10 months of age, and can cause quite  alot of friction, most notably been two boys of the same age.

I notice you said "aquarium" - I am hoping that was not the word you meant to type. Aquariums are far from suitable for guinea pigs - the ammonia can build up within hours, temperature-sensitive guinea pigs get extreme heat and cold in aquariums, poor ventilation (even if the aquarium has holes here, there and everywhere)...aquariums are not appropriate guinea pig housing, even temporarily.

I recommend you check out www.guineapigcages.com for a much better  - and cheaper - housing idea.

A good sized cage should help your boys, as should a hidey, hay rack, food dish and water bottle each, in different areas of the cage. This ensures they can escape each other when they need to.
Also if you do look into building a C&C cage, if they still fight you can so easily put a divider in and they still have each others company without harming one another. Then when they calm down you can just remove the divider and have one large cage again.

If you require any further help, let me know and I will be glad to assist.

Best Wishes,

- Laura
www.cavy-care.com