Guinea pig biting me while cleaning cage?

[KatHarvey]

I have two wonderful male guinea pigs, teddy and Harvey. Harvey is 1 year old male.
Harvey loves to be held, kissed, and cuddle. I play with him at least an hour a day. He is extremely friendly, except sometimes when I put my hands in his cage.

Whether I’m changing the fleece, changing his food, or tiding up, he’ll sometimes bite me really fast. It doesn’t bleed or hurt, but it really catches me off guard. It’s just out of nowhere I won’t even be touching him. He had a big cage so that is not the problem and he does not have mites i treated them for that.

Why does he do that sometimes?

 

[Wiebke]

I have two wonderful male guinea pigs, teddy and Harvey. Harvey is 1 year old male.
Harvey loves to be held, kissed, and cuddle. I play with him at least an hour a day. He is extremely friendly, except sometimes when I put my hands in his cage.

Whether I’m changing the fleece, changing his food, or tiding up, he’ll sometimes bite me really fast. It doesn’t bleed or hurt, but it really catches me off guard. It’s just out of nowhere I won’t even be touching him. He had a big cage so that is not the problem and he does not have mites i treated them for that.

Why does he do that sometimes?

Your boy doesn't like you to mess with his territory. He is still in or just coming out of the teenage months and obviously on the dominant/possessive side.

Please take the time to read these two links below. You will find them very helpful and interesting. They tell you how you can tackle the problem from a guinea pig perspective by clearing up the hierarchy between you. The tweaking should stop after you have had a piggy whispering session with your boy.
" Biting" And What You Can Do
Who is the boss - your guinea pig or you?