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Hair pulling!

Guinea Slave

Guinea Slave

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Oct 27, 2010
Messages
2,900
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Points
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Location
Hampshire
So this ones a bit funny and I am more curious than anything. I have two adorable Aby‘s both came for terrible rescues and were adopted by me last year. Very nervous and once the rescue got them healthy they then needed careful care to get them to trust people again.

thank goodness, Since we have had them they have thrived and grown more and more confident and are now the biggest cuddle monsters I have ever had. One in particular, would spend her whole life being cuddled if she could. she is like a real live teddy bear!

However, she has been fixated with human hair! When I hold her she wants to lick my face all over. If she finds a tiny hair on my face she will find it and pull it! You know the tiny ones you get occasionally that I cannot even see! if my husband has not shaved for a day she tries to pull the stubble. Last night she tried an eye lash and then started pulling my fringe!

it’s hilarious and she doesn’t do this to her sister, just me and my husband. its very sweet but we are gently trying to stop it as clearly it’s a little unhygienic and I do like my eyelashes lol. just wondering if anyone else has experienced this little quirk! I am hoping it’s just very cute grooming behaviour as she only does it to us. I’m not concerned just curious.
 
You can rent her out! I've got a proper witchy hairy mole that I can't focus on to tidy... and I know I'm not the only one!
 
Free Ranger said:
You can rent her out! I've got a proper witchy hairy mole that I can't focus on to tidy... and I know I'm not the only one!
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Hah! What good idea! She does find the most innocuous ones lol. its the bizarrest thing. It’s like ‘mum, you have a stray hair let me take it out for you and btw I’ll wash your face while I am at it’
 
Guinea Slave said:
So this ones a bit funny and I am more curious than anything. I have two adorable Aby‘s both came for terrible rescues and were adopted by me last year. Very nervous and once the rescue got them healthy they then needed careful care to get them to trust people again.

thank goodness, Since we have had them they have thrived and grown more and more confident and are now the biggest cuddle monsters I have ever had. One in particular, would spend her whole life being cuddled if she could. she is like a real live teddy bear!

However, she has been fixated with human hair! When I hold her she wants to lick my face all over. If she finds a tiny hair on my face she will find it and pull it! You know the tiny ones you get occasionally that I cannot even see! if my husband has not shaved for a day she tries to pull the stubble. Last night she tried an eye lash and then started pulling my fringe!

it’s hilarious and she doesn’t do this to her sister, just me and my husband. its very sweet but we are gently trying to stop it as clearly it’s a little unhygienic and I do like my eyelashes lol. just wondering if anyone else has experienced this little quirk! I am hoping it’s just very cute grooming behaviour as she only does it to us. I’m not concerned just curious.
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Hi!

Affectionately social overgrooming in new piggies (especially youngsters) is not at all uncommon. This affects mostly long-haired companions, especially those that have taken them on as guardians, but it can extend to humans. The best thing to do is to bind up your hair and keep it out of reach while cuddling.

You may find it interesting to learn more about the different facets of barbering, which is a far more complex behaviour than you'd expect: Barbering ( Eating Hair)
 
Fascinating thanks Wiebke as always! It does look like it’s affection and bonding which, having been through what she has (hoarder rescue) , doesn’t surprise me. She started climbing up my face to try and lick my eyes last night! If I put my face down to her level in the cage, she will run over and lick my nose. Very cute but I won’t be encouraging the eye licking or hair eating...hair bungee it is!

btw some of that barbering on the link is incredible! Omg
 
Guinea Slave said:
Fascinating thanks Wiebke as always! It does look like it’s affection and bonding which, having been through what she has (hoarder rescue) , doesn’t surprise me. She started climbing up my face to try and lick my eyes last night! If I put my face down to her level in the cage, she will run over and lick my nose. Very cute but I won’t be encouraging the eye licking or hair eating...hair bungee it is!
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Try and use our piggy whispering tricks to respond to her needs - you will find that they mirror what she does and explain what it means. And how you can reassure her in her own social concepts that she welcome in your herd and much loved. Getting piggy kisses (licks) is always special. She is very happy to be in a place where she is loved but getting that reassurance back from you can also help with the barbering issue. You can also use piggy whisping to wean her off eating your hair in the way a piggy teacher tells their youngsters off.
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Who is the boss - your guinea pig or you?
 
Oh I will have a read. I do gently rub her between her eye and ears, they love that. And she loves a good rump massage!
 
So we have now moved on to ears! Ears are now the new object of her continued fascination with my face and she thinks they need a good clean :love:....glasses are just the most exciting thing ever, she nibbled them and tried to remove them, clearly they should not be there. She is such a funny little girl.

I did practice putting my nose under her chin to stop her biting my fringe. She just then rested her face on mine ;-). Also pretended to groom myself in front of her as a mutual bonding thing...she gave me the weirdest look ever as if to say 'what the hell are you doing mum, do you know how weird you look'.

She is a constant source of amusement as I suspect I am to her lol! Just love these little fur babies.
 
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