Cage Chewing

[Reggie&Chunk]

Hi all

My little Reggie has always been a prolific cage chewer. Whether it’s for food or just because he feels like it, he chews.

He has snapped incisors before from the force he chews with and I just don’t know why but at the minute he is non stop! My boys are in a C&C cage which means he can get to bars everywhere. We have resorted to putting up a bit of cardboard at his favourite spot and this does stop him for a little while.

Is there any reason he could be doing it so much (other than being a greedy piglet!) or do some pigs just chew? He has plenty to chew on and has constant access to good hay and sticks to chew etc. We try and ignore him but sometimes you can’t hear the telly over him!

 

[ChiefJustice]

Would it be possible to cover the bars with a thin plank of wood or something similar? Assuming you're feeding home enough it might be that he's just naturally a little pest. My girlfriend's rabbit will tolerate being in his cage for so long but if it goes even a minute past half 5 when he's usually let out he won't stop rattling the bars until you let him out!

 

[Seven7]

My Finn stopes chewing when he is let out in his big playpen. He lives in his indoor hutch and everyday, he is put in to his big playpen to run around and he stops chewing all together. After playing in his playpen, he quietly goes back to his own indoor hutch and minds his own business, so he eats his veggies dinner, chews on hay, chews on his wooden toys and etc.

The fact Lara lives in another cage close to him makes him chew, but he is entertained throughout the day so he doesn't get bored and doesn't chew much. Finn is a chewer though.

 

[Reggie&Chunk]

Oh he is just being a little pest, he is definitely getting enough to eat. I’m not sure if I’m putting human emotions on them but I kinda think he is a bit jealous of Chunk getting all the attention with him coming out for feeds and meds. Reggie used to be the one who needed meds every night but touch wood, his cystitis seems to have vanished after a course of Zithromax for a URI!

Hopefully once Chunk is feeling better, I can get them out for floor time, I’ve been really failing with that.

 

[Willow&Sky]

My pigs tend to cage chew when they want something. Willow is usually so sweet and placid but when shes out for floor time and decides its time to go back in for her veggies she turns into a wild thing on the cage bars! And sky vary rarely cage chews but when she does its because i'm taking to long to give her a pea flake. That makes me think its an attention seeking thing?

 

[blueredgreen]

My Guinea pig just does it when he's bored, I've tried giving him food, playpen time and hugs and he goes straight back to it after

 

[Wiebke]

Piggy chew bars when they want something and they know they may get it that way. Mine chew while I am preparing their dinner in the kitchen. It is an official position that is handed down over the generations. Whenever one notable chewer passes away, another Tribe member will step up. A couple get so carried away, they do not even notice that food is already served!

this is how it looks at breakfast time in my room (and that just for starters...)