Why Are My Guinea Pigs Preventing? 4 Causes & The right way to Cease It

Stopping a guinea pig struggle is essential for all of your piggies’ security. Nevertheless, guinea pigs can appear to be they’re preventing when actually they’re simply enjoying. Enjoying consists of chasing, humping, purring, and sharing toys and meals.

Then again, preventing consists of circling one another, yawning, baring tooth, and forceful bodily contact that attracts blood or pulls fur. Generally enjoying embodies preventing behaviors, although it’s time to intervene when blood is drawn.

On this article, you’ll study the explanations your guinea pigs are preventing and the steps to cease it.

The 4 Causes Your Guinea Pigs Are Preventing

Dominance and pack management is among the main causes animals struggle. Social animals, similar to monkeys, wolves, lions, and chickens, amongst different species, create a hierarchy very like guinea pigs.

Hierarchies are important amongst many social mammals as a result of it reveals the aptitude to guide their pack for survival. Additionally, the dominant male suggests higher offspring and reveals they’re the strongest among the many group.

As soon as a frontrunner has been chosen, there could also be different causes for preventing, particularly in guinea pigs. Different causes embrace:

1. Ache Or Sickness

Simply as we are able to get cranky once we are in ache or sick, guinea pigs are a lot the identical. Sickness can stem from an unclean or unstable surroundings, dental issues, lack of acceptable vitamins, and stress.

If you happen to discover any of the next indicators, your guinea pig is probably going sick and should see a vet at your earliest comfort.

To stop any illness contributing to ache or different causes, guarantee your guinea’s house is properly fitted to them, present contemporary greens, fruit, and hay every day, and spend a great deal of high quality time with them.

2. Fixed Reintroduction

Upon first introducing your guinea pigs, they’ll create a dominance dance. Rumbling, tooth chattering, circling one another, and mounting are just a few examples. Nevertheless, after they create the hierarchy and select a frontrunner, they’re prepared to maneuver in collectively. This could take just a few days or as much as a few months, relying on the personalities of every guinea pig.

If you happen to introduce your guinea pigs, separate them, then reintroduce and separate them once more, your guinea pigs will attempt establishing a hierarchy every time you reintroduce them. It’s essential to grasp the guinea pig technique to forestall fixed reintroduction. In any other case, bonds could also be damaged, and fights will escape—generally past restore.

After a hierarchy has been established, hold your guinea pigs collectively.

3. Not Sufficient House

An satisfactory quantity of house for one guinea pig is roughly 5.7 sq. toes. If you happen to’re including extra guinea pigs, you will need to add about 3 sq. toes to the house. If this isn’t doable, investing in a guinea pig pen or customizable outside cage is crucial.

Guinea pigs run round, cover, and have their very own space for hierarchy causes. In case your guinea pigs really feel cramped, fights might escape.

Guinea pigs like their downtime, however additionally they declare sure objects. A territorial struggle might escape if one guinea pig will get too near your chief’s claimed objects. Guarantee you could have one merchandise per guinea pig in your cage.

4. Boredom

It’s simple to turn out to be bored if there’s no hay, contemporary greens, acceptable chews, or tunnels to run via. The one factor to do is play with one another. Although, enjoying can result in preventing if one guinea pig needs to be left alone.

Guarantee your guinea pigs have enough toys, chews, tunnels, meals, and actions to stop boredom. A drained guinea pig is far safer than a bored guinea.

The right way to Cease Guinea Pigs From Preventing

Throughout a struggle, guinea pigs turn out to be cussed, combative, and fairly aggressive in the direction of one another and whoever will get of their method. Though it’s greatest to maintain guinea pigs collectively to keep away from re-establishing dominance, generally separation is the one choice.

Fortunately, there are clear indicators earlier than a struggle breaks out that you could watch. It’s necessary to grasp what to do within the case of a guinea pig struggle. Under are steps to take for everybody’s security.

1. Perceive Guinea Conduct

Up to now, you’ve discovered the indicators and triggers of what causes guinea pig preventing, although it may be troublesome to calculate whether or not they’re enjoying or about to struggle.

The distinction between play preventing and precise preventing are:

No matter in case your guinea pigs are preventing or enjoying, it’s greatest to keep watch over them when they’re chasing or making grunting and rumbling sounds. Typically, a play struggle can flip sideways.

2. Make a Loud Noise

In case your guinea pigs are preventing, you’ll first wish to clap or whistle loudly. Typically, a loud noise can jinx your guineas out of their aggressive state. Nevertheless, if the struggle continues, you could step in. If the struggle stops, checking their surroundings is a good suggestion. Guarantee they’ve sufficient house, an satisfactory provide of diet, their hides are arrange appropriately, and so on.

3. Present Distractions

It’s very important to maintain guinea pigs collectively and use separation as a final resort. If you happen to haven’t already, it’s greatest to get your guinea pigs a cage that has a divider. You possibly can put the aggressor on one aspect so the guineas can nonetheless see one another.

Provide a great quantity of chew toys and interactive toys for distraction. You should present meals, water, and hides on either side of the cage. As soon as your guinea pigs have calmed down, you possibly can open the divider and permit them to roam freely once more.

In case your guinea pigs begin one other struggle, it might be a good suggestion to convey them outdoors in one other pen the place there’s a change in surroundings.

4. Separate Your Guinea Pigs

By the third effort of retaining your guinea pigs collectively, you possibly can separate your guinea pigs. Keep in mind, this can be a final resort after earlier steps have been taken.

Place a towel on the aggressor and put on protecting clothes earlier than selecting it up. Take away the guinea pigs in order that they don’t see or scent one another. As soon as guinea pigs are separated, create a psychological guidelines for the totally different culprits of why they could be preventing.

5. Test for Accidents

Talking of accidents, after your guinea pigs have calmed down, it’s a great time to examine for accidents or indicators of sickness. Guinea pigs are good at hiding their diseases, so quarantining for a few hours and checking their conduct will assist you perceive if they’re sick.

Guarantee they’re properly hydrated, have a gradual provide of vitamin C, and there aren’t bodily indicators involving diseases, similar to watery eyes or drooling.

6. Set Up a Impartial House for Reintroduction

Earlier than reintroduction, you’ll have to create a impartial house with no scents from both guinea pig and an satisfactory provide of hides, meals, and water. You possibly can reintroduce the aggressors if all of your guineas are wholesome and calm.

Whereas your guinea pigs are getting reacquainted, clear their unique residence and arrange their earlier surroundings once more. Additionally, hold a detailed watch in your guinea pigs. You’ll need to repeat the final two steps if one other struggle breaks out.

7. Place Them Again Dwelling

If every little thing is nice, and your guinea pigs have re-established dominance and pack management, you possibly can comfortably put them of their residence. Though, you’ll have to keep watch over them for the remainder of the day.

Remaining Phrases

To stop preventing, your guinea pigs should be appropriate, and every piggie has its wants met. This implies every guinea pig will need to have their very own hides, sufficient house, enough meals, and a vast water provide.

It’s a guinea pig’s wild intuition to create a hierarchy which suggests discovering and submitting to a frontrunner. If this isn’t set, a number of fights can escape. The easiest way to ascertain a hierarchy is to introduce new guineas to the oldest and solely separate as a final resort.

Featured Picture Credit score: Tamara Makhun, Shutterstock