Does anyone have any advice about housing guinea pigs together?

Question

I have two guinea pigs, one is over 6 years old and the other is a rambunctious 5 month old. I have been trying to get them to get along for four months now! It's soo frustrating because the little one is really aggressive towards my older one and he keeps trying to mount him from behind which really pisses off my older guinea pig ( he nips the little one a lot but this does not discourage the little one from mounting him again). They've only spent time together outside of their cages in a large room together because I'm afraid that they will hurt each other if they are placed in the same cage. Also, my older guinea pig has been living without another guinea pig companion for almost all his life so he may not know how to get along with other guinea pigs. I would really appreciate it if you would post any suggestions about how to improve their relationship. thank you so much!

Answer 1

Ok if they did not grow up together or if they did but they were seperated for a long time they will not get along. I have a very simalar situataion, We have 2 guinea pigs they grew up together but one of them had a fractured femur and pnumonia they were seperated for 2 months. Before then they lived together and were very kind to each other, but when we brought them back together and they did not get along. Your only hope is to ease them along. A little time together each day and then let it grow a tiny more each day!

Answer 2

Great information on getting pigs to live happily together: http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm

Answer 3

Okay, you should never put your guinea pigs together and then  separate them. That just creates more tension & problems when they are put together the next time. Make sure you introduce them in a room NEITHER of them have ever been in before. Have two piles of veggies/hay laid out to distract them from the new guinea pig. Leave them together for at least 30 minutes to get accustomed to each other, and DO NOT separate unless there is bloodshed! Mounting, circling, rumbling, 'bullying', and even pulling out mouthfuls of hair is all okay! This all happened to my two pairs of introduced male guinea pigs, and now they get along fairly well! (Most of the time!) Make sure the cage is cleaned out with bleach & all of the toys are either new or thoroughly cleaned so neither feels they already 'own' the cage or items inside it. This could cause fights to break out. Males can be territorial, but with patience they can live peacefully together! If this doesn't work you can try bathing them together & putting them into the bleached/cleaned cage, which almost always work, except with the guinea pigs who just refuse a living partner. Also, are you sure the cage is large enough? Is it from a store? If it is, you may want to consider building a C&C cage. Store-bought cages are always too small, and cause guinea pigs to get VERY territorial over the small amount of space.

C&C Cages - www.cavycages.com

Answer 4

if they are both males, definately without question keep them seperate, I own 4 males and they'd tear each other apart if they're caged together, I have a humungous scar on my hand from seperating them when they 1st started fighting, if their opposite sexes, depends some female are aggresive, but tend to relax after a while, others fight everything and anything off

Answer 5

Wow...

Well first of all, like you tried but unsuccessfully failed.

Put them in a cage or small room together while supervised by you.

The meaning "PUT THEM IN A CAGE/ROOM" doesn't mean they're in there all the time=(day/night).

They should only be in  there for a curtain amount of time (15 minutes or so)

Do they share their food with each other?__________

Keep this up for 3 weeks.

Remember (15 minutes a day)

Good Luck!