Bitey boy

[baleofhay]

Jack is a bit of an a. He tries to bite me, a lot. He is not aggressive, he isn't chattering, strutting etc. I've never found any bite marks on his sow, Sylvie, in fact he is more respectful than other sow/boar pairs I've had.

A bit of history, Jack started life as a child's pet with another boar. He wasn't handled the best and learnt that biting got him out of being handled. He then bit the child hard enough they had to go to hospital and have surgery. They were thus scared of him and he couldn't stay. They offered him to me and I had to take him as the next person they'd give him to had no piggy experience. This happened the day after the child was hurt, so no warning. He was also apparently quite aggressive to their other boar so I knew I'd have to get him a sow.

I don't think he has ever broken my skin, but I get nipped every time at weighing, boar cleaning, nail trims, cuddles, picking up and carrying. I just anticipate the bite so I don't react. He also had a terrible infection after his neutering that made me have to irrigate his stitches out, and that strained his bond to me early on. That ended up saving his life, so those bites were worth it.

I really feel like he is not necessarily more aggressive than any other guinea pig, more that he has learnt this behaviour to stop things he doesn't like from happening.

I am completely comfortable with regularly handling him, providing necessarily care and I am definitely not scared of him. I try to tailor my response to him, not putting my hands near his face for one! Other pigs let me reach in and stroke him, but nope, not even gonna try.

Now if he was any other animal this behaviour would be unacceptable, god if he was a dog he'd have been PTS. As he is a guinea pig, I kind of have been accepting that this is just who he is and I am fine with it. You can't really train a guinea pig. They don't respond to the word "no".

Does anyone have ideas of how to curtail this behaviour? I will always be his forever home, I'd just like to be bitten less. lol

 

[Betsy]

There is a guide on biting under the behaviour and bonding and bereavement guides. Can't link in on this device.

 

[baleofhay]

You know, I had a look through the guides, but somehow missed that. Gee I'm good. Got it, thanks.

 

[Free Ranger]

My girl Zara was a biter and it was also from fear. She was a feisty little fuzzball and I miss her so very much, although she only arrived here last December. She was completely normal with her friend Louise but ferocious when I tried to introduce them to gentle George. She sadly ended up with a cracked incisor as her tooth was a bit mutant and she got an infection at the root meaning that it had to come out. My poor girl just couldn't recover from the anaesthetic. She'd actually had a good home but was handed in to rescue because her owner had to downsize. But the owner apparently used to breed and show piggies so it made me wonder if she'd been washed and groomed too much for her liking - Louise certainly is very frightened of a brush or comb.

She never broke the skin on me but she did bite hard - it wasn't just a nip. I used to respond with 'ouch!' or similar while I was talking to her or handling her to let her know I appreciated her efforts... I thought if I stayed silent it would just make her try harder! She bit all her vets and there was a warning on her notes there. But I did handle her, and more than I would normally have done, because otherwise you're just picking them up to trim nails and poke them around. We got to a point where she would sit on my lap in the enclosure to eat a bit of veggie and have her chin tickled. When she wanted to go afterwards I just let her go: little and often built up the trust. When I knelt in the enclosure to spot clean in the evening she would come bustling straight out as if to say, "What's this big fat human doing in here?!" and she would nudge me firmly out of the way with her nose until she could walk all the way round. I think if you just keep talking to them and interacting with them and being kind they learn you are different from the last one - it can calm down. I used to do Louise's nails first so she could see that nothing bad was going to happen and then when it was her turn I just kept apologising all the way through and then there was a veggie reward. We reached a point where her bite wasn't her 'Hello' - instead she saved it for her 'Goodbye' to let me know she wanted to go back on the floor now

 

[baleofhay]

Thanks for your story about Zara. Sounded like she was a real character, love that fluffy white butt. I used to have a Zora once btw

I think after reading yours and the guides, I just need to handle him more more more. I need to verbalise, just say something to let him know I noticed. The guides mentioned fondling his ears and rubbing his chin up, as it's possibly a dominant thing. But really I think he's just scaredy boy under that tough exterior. Just trying to find a line between providing good care, not making him dislike me and teaching him what is appropriate behaviour. He behaves jovially to the usual exciting events just those interactions where I infringe on his personal space he nips.

 

[Wiebke]

Jack is a bit of an a. He tries to bite me, a lot. He is not aggressive, he isn't chattering, strutting etc. I've never found any bite marks on his sow, Sylvie, in fact he is more respectful than other sow/boar pairs I've had.

A bit of history, Jack started life as a child's pet with another boar. He wasn't handled the best and learnt that biting got him out of being handled. He then bit the child hard enough they had to go to hospital and have surgery. They were thus scared of him and he couldn't stay. They offered him to me and I had to take him as the next person they'd give him to had no piggy experience. This happened the day after the child was hurt, so no warning. He was also apparently quite aggressive to their other boar so I knew I'd have to get him a sow.

I don't think he has ever broken my skin, but I get nipped every time at weighing, boar cleaning, nail trims, cuddles, picking up and carrying. I just anticipate the bite so I don't react. He also had a terrible infection after his neutering that made me have to irrigate his stitches out, and that strained his bond to me early on. That ended up saving his life, so those bites were worth it.

I really feel like he is not necessarily more aggressive than any other guinea pig, more that he has learnt this behaviour to stop things he doesn't like from happening.

I am completely comfortable with regularly handling him, providing necessarily care and I am definitely not scared of him. I try to tailor my response to him, not putting my hands near his face for one! Other pigs let me reach in and stroke him, but nope, not even gonna try.

Now if he was any other animal this behaviour would be unacceptable, god if he was a dog he'd have been PTS. As he is a guinea pig, I kind of have been accepting that this is just who he is and I am fine with it. You can't really train a guinea pig. They don't respond to the word "no".

Does anyone have ideas of how to curtail this behaviour? I will always be his forever home, I'd just like to be bitten less. lol

Hi!

I have found that 'piggy whispering' techniques are very effective with tweaking piggies because you frame and solve the term in cavy social terms in a way that makes total sense for guinea pigs. You do this by taking on the role of a 'super-pig' that is gently telling off a misbehaving youngster. Piggy whispering key behaviours mimic the way that socially savvy piggies deal with problematic group mates and babies in a very efficient way.

Please take the time to read these links here for the practical details, which you will find very helpful:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
Who is the Boss - Your Guinea Pig or You? (including ow to deal with tweaking)
" Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping) (the different forms of 'biting'; what they mean and how to best deal with them)