Biting the dustpan and brush?

W

WoolCat

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi all,

My girls are definitely settling in now but I noticed something new and a little curious last night during cleaning. They always go together into the same hidey house (it's big enough for both of them, but I'm looking into getting a larger one since I never anticipated they'd both choose the same one) whenever one of us approaches the cage and especially for cleaning time, so I always clean everything else and leave the house until last. My bolder piggy, Cocoa, is always in the entrance watching what we're doing, and I've noticed she often twitches or moves her head a little whenever I'm sweeping.

Last night though, she actually came out of the house while I was sweeping and bit the handle of the brush! They've both been out sometimes during cleaning and have come over to inspect and sniff my hand and the dustpan and brush, but they've never bitten it. Cocoa bit the handle of the brush, let go, and then bit it again and kind of pulled on it like she was trying to pull it out of my hand and toss it aside. From the moment she came out of the house I stopped moving completely so she could feel more comfortable investigating, and talked softly to her (like "Oh, what are you doing, Cocoa? Are you having a look around?"), so I don't think it's because I moved and startled her like that. Since I was holding it she obviously couldn't pull it away from me, so she went back into the house and after giving her a moment I went back to tidying, still talking gently to them. Then she came out again and bit the edge of the dustpan itself, before going back inside the house again after a moment.

My question is: is this normal behaviour for a guinea pig? Am I doing something wrong and upsetting her? Or is she just trying to express her displeasure over being disturbed? Is it playful? I checked the forums a little for advice and saw other people's piggies have done similar things before, but I couldn't find any explanation as to why.

Thanks in advance!
 
WoolCat said:
Hi all,

My girls are definitely settling in now but I noticed something new and a little curious last night during cleaning. They always go together into the same hidey house (it's big enough for both of them, but I'm looking into getting a larger one since I never anticipated they'd both choose the same one) whenever one of us approaches the cage and especially for cleaning time, so I always clean everything else and leave the house until last. My bolder piggy, Cocoa, is always in the entrance watching what we're doing, and I've noticed she often twitches or moves her head a little whenever I'm sweeping.

Last night though, she actually came out of the house while I was sweeping and bit the handle of the brush! They've both been out sometimes during cleaning and have come over to inspect and sniff my hand and the dustpan and brush, but they've never bitten it. Cocoa bit the handle of the brush, let go, and then bit it again and kind of pulled on it like she was trying to pull it out of my hand and toss it aside. From the moment she came out of the house I stopped moving completely so she could feel more comfortable investigating, and talked softly to her (like "Oh, what are you doing, Cocoa? Are you having a look around?"), so I don't think it's because I moved and startled her like that. Since I was holding it she obviously couldn't pull it away from me, so she went back into the house and after giving her a moment I went back to tidying, still talking gently to them. Then she came out again and bit the edge of the dustpan itself, before going back inside the house again after a moment.

My question is: is this normal behaviour for a guinea pig? Am I doing something wrong and upsetting her? Or is she just trying to express her displeasure over being disturbed? Is it playful? I checked the forums a little for advice and saw other people's piggies have done similar things before, but I couldn't find any explanation as to why.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Hi

I think she is trying to figure out whether the brush is an intruder, predator or an inanimated object and whether she can get to make it go away. It is a mix of denning area protection and explorative behaviour.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

I think she is trying to figure out whether the brush is an intruder, predator or an inanimated object and whether she can get to make it go away. It is a mix of denning area protection and explorative behaviour.
Click to expand...
Hi, thanks for replying!

That's very sweet! Should I just continue as I have been, letting her investigate the brush until she realises there's no danger?
 
With mine they also first were scared of the cleaning and now they bite the brush and dustpan for funsies.

They also first tried to get rid of it by biting it with more attitude but when they realized this is something that happens every time and that it isn't dangerous they stopped being suspicious and now my oldest Lakrits doesn't even move when I try to push him out of the way with the brush :))

So I'd say just continue as usual, I think the stopping to let her inspect it was wise, when she's become comfortable with it you can consider slowly starting to continue cleaning even if she comes to inspect :luv:
 
Piggie Mom said:
With mine they also first were scared of the cleaning and now they bite the brush and dustpan for funsies.

They also first tried to get rid of it by biting it with more attitude but when they realized this is something that happens every time and that it isn't dangerous they stopped being suspicious and now my oldest Lakrits doesn't even move when I try to push him out of the way with the brush :))

So I'd say just continue as usual, I think the stopping to let her inspect it was wise, when she's become comfortable with it you can consider slowly starting to continue cleaning even if she comes to inspect :luv:
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for your reply! It's helpful to know other piggies do it too, and I'm not doing anything wrong 🤣 I'll see what she's like tonight, we might get a few more nibbles!
 
Polo piggy tries to eat the bristles and Truffle literally eats any silicone parts and trim as well as gloves (even on my fingers) 😯 so I keep them where he can't get hold of them and have to remind myself not to leave them in the cage ❤️
 
Gaia takes no notice of the dustpan and brush whatsoever.

Minerva likes to sit in the dustpan (especially if I'm trying to use it at the time), tip the dustpan over and to slip under dustpan handle, headbutt it into the air and then look stunned when it hits her back.
 
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