Scared Guinea Pig

Post Reply
jordj

Post   » Thu May 30, 2019 2:23 pm


So all 4 of my guinea pigs have been introduced and living in the same 4x4 C&C grid for a few weeks. There are 4 places to hide, hay piles/racks on opposite ends of the cage, 4 food bowls, and water bottles separate from each other to reduce the bulying/tension. They all seem to get along for the most part, but one of my guinea pigs (Smore) seems to be scared of the alpha piggie (Menat). Every time Menat comes anywhere near Smore, he runs all across the cage as far as possible. Sometimes I see Menat nip at Smore a bit, but he nips at the other piggies without the same reaction. Earlier this week I noticed that if Smore is eating hay and Menat comes near, Smore will stop eating and just not move for some time.

Smore gets along with the other 2 piggies (Noobie and Vega) and Menat gets along with the other 2 without much incident...but it's just that Smore will constantly try to be as far away as Menat as possible even if Menat is just strolling or calming 2 piggies down from chattering at each other. Is this something I should be concerned about? Will it eventually calm down a little over the course of time or will I have to make the attempt to re-introduce them all at some point?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu May 30, 2019 2:46 pm


They're probably fine. Just make sure all the hideys have two doors so one pig doesn't get trapped.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu May 30, 2019 3:01 pm


Are these four MALES that you're trying to house together?

jordj

Post   » Thu May 30, 2019 3:33 pm


Oh okay, just wanted to make sure. And thank you, I read before to only have 2 exit hideys so there'd be no concern there and I do plan to add a fleece tunnel so they can hide/play in there as well.

And yes, all four of my piggies are male. There are square offs between Smore and Vega from time to time, but for the most part the only really big concern is Smore running from Menat as often as he does.

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu May 30, 2019 4:32 pm


More than 2 boars sharing a cage is dicey at best. You have to monitor it closely and be prepared to split them up.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu May 30, 2019 5:00 pm


You are courting disaster. Two males living peacefully together can be challenging enough, and even then the dynamics can change at any time--especially if they are adolescents. You'd be much better off trying to pair the four now, before somebody gets hurt, and house in two separate cages.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu May 30, 2019 5:55 pm


I actually wouldn't worry as much about a foursome as a threesome, but the bigger the cage, the better.

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Fri May 31, 2019 1:52 am


My paired brothers have their little face offs (for lack of a better word), but Dean is clearly the dominant one and Sammy always yields to him. They haven't actually fought since I've had them. They don't look each other in the face for very long either. It's usually a quick confrontation that ends up with Sammy getting out of Dean's way. There's always plenty of hay, veggies and pellets for both boys and they have plenty of room. Dean likes the tunnel and Sammy likes the hammock, so there's nothing for them to fight over other than who gets the first piece of whatever food I'm giving them. I couldn't imagine more than 2 of them together after I experimented with getting them together with Mr Bubbles or Scruffy or both.

tiggyswift

Post   » Sat Jun 08, 2019 6:27 pm


It is rare but I had 4 males living in harmony. I introduced a pair and 2 single males and it worked. This is very rare and may have been influenced by the fact that all were related (long story). I have since lost 2 of the males but plan on trying to introduce an unrelated younger skinny male to the pair and see how that goes. You are doing everything right. Keep a watch on the scared pigs weight to make sure he gets his share of food.

Post Reply