This behavior can make it hard to tell if your guinea pigs are playing or fighting. Light chasing, humping and sniffing each other is considered playing. While any biting, lunging with hostile intent or any action leading to bloodshed is considered actually fighting.
When guinea pigs fight, it can get quite vicious, with blood being drawn. It isn't typical for a guinea pig to kill another one, especially if you intervene and separate them. But, if a fight breaks out when you aren't there, a larger guinea pig could attack, and kill one that is smaller or younger.
5 reasons they fight are Injury, Pairing, Cage too small, Mating and Boredom. To tell, monitor their behavior over time. First off, make sure that what your guinea pigs are doing is actually fighting. More common than fights among guinea pigs are domination behaviors, which they use to work out their hierarchy.
TEETH CHATTERINGAnd, it usually means that they are angry, unhappy or agitated at a certain situation. It's common for chattering to occur when you first introduce a guinea pig to another, especially in a cage.
Have patience, take your time, always do this on neutral territory, and don't give up too soon. Bonding may happen in one afternoon or it may take months. What you don't want to do is plop the new guinea pig into your existing guinea pig's cage. Never try to introduce guinea pigs in one of their cages.
While they are not cats, they do purr. When your guinea pig purrs, it likely indicates happiness. This happens when they are petted, content, or it is used for courting.
Your Guinea Pig Likes Being HeldYou can interpret that confidence as affection. To reach this stage you need to hand-tame your pet with care and patience. Once they've built the trust, they'll bond with you. They won't approach everyone in this way – it's just you they love!
In the same way you can't eat just one potato chip, you can't adopt just one guinea pig. It isn't healthy for them to be alone—they need a companion of their own species who they can “talk,” play, and cuddle with. Companionship is so vital to their well-being that Switzerland has made it illegal to keep only one.
Care Advice
- What You Should Know: Animal bites may cause bruises, scratches, cuts, or puncture wounds.
- Bleeding: Put a gauze pad or clean cloth on top of the wound.
- Cleansing:
- Antibiotic Ointment: Put an antibiotic ointment (Neosporin, Bacitracin) on the bite 3 times a day for 3 days.
- Call Your Doctor If:
Your guinea pigs will get jealous if they find that they are not treated more importantly. They can be suspicious of anybody, like your human mates, babies, or even each other. Guinea pigs react in anger if they do not get attention to their demand.
Females can have estrous or fertile periods at any time of the year, but they are most common in the spring. The estrous cycle length is 16 days. A female is fertile for about 6 to 11 hours, most often during night hours. Female guinea pigs begin a new estrous cycle shortly after giving birth.
Guinea pigs obviously don't speak human language but that doesn't mean they don't communicate. By using sounds and postures just like capybaras, guinea pigs can actually say a lot.
Guinea pigs are docile animals, and rarely bite without cause. They tend to 'mouth' their owners while being held, just to see if you're edible! These are not hard bites, though, and don't hurt. Guinea pigs only use their teeth aggressively if they feel under threat - they are their only means of defence.
When a guinea pig wants you to stop stroking them on their head, they will suddenly lift their head up, in the hope that they can remove your hand. Please be respectful when they do this and don't carry on petting them on their head. This lovely action means your guinea pigs is extremely happy.
As it turns out female guinea pigs do spray and they'll do it every now and then depending on the situation that they are in. It can seem like a strange behavior but it's mostly normal for some guinea pigs to do.
Is it better to get a male or female guinea pig? If you're getting a single guinea pig you can pick either a male or female depending on your personal preference as they both make great pets. Sex doesn't matter much as long as the pig is friendly and healthy.
A happy guinea pigA good appetite and enthusiasm for food. Plenty of activity (not at all lethargic) “Popcorning” (when a guinea pig leaps into the air with happiness) Lots of communication in the form of their various vocalizations, including “wheeking” and other squeaks, whistles, and purring sounds.
If the fights are aggressive and constant, it's better to separate them and keep them away from each other to prevent any more harm. If this is the case, it's best to separate them for a while. This can happen with any pair of guinea pigs: Male/male.
The minimum size for a group of guinea pigs is two. However, there are good reasons why should consider acquiring three or more at the same time and keeping them together: As guinea pigs are territorial animals, it is easier to put a group together all at once, rather than trying to introduce others later on.
It is always better to have two females than two males. Two sows get along quite well and the probability of them fighting is also pretty low. But, if you have a neutered male then you can keep them with a female guinea pig. They will also get along quite well.
Yes, this can often work quite well. Older guinea pigs are less likely to perceive the smaller, younger guinea pig as a threat and so pairs like this tend to get on relatively well.
Getting three which have been together in the same cage in the shop is a good bet. We also have had three unrelated guinea pigs in together and they have been fine. Get a nice big cage though. You can have the males neutered so don't worry too much about sex.
Sows will mount each other, especially when they are in heat and as a sign of dominance. There's no need to separate them, as this is normal behavior. Spraying urine is also normal, and females can do it just as well as males.
