Help! We have a biter

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Donz2402

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi can anyone help, we purchased two guinea pigs, one is lovely, so calm and loves cuddles, but the other bites and draws blood every time we hold her. When stroking she sits and makes that rumbling noise and wiggles. I have a 6 year old that she has bitten. I don't know what to do as we don't want to leave her in the cage and fuss the other one but you just can't hold her
 
Donz2402 said:
Hi can anyone help, we purchased two guinea pigs, one is lovely, so calm and loves cuddles, but the other bites and draws blood every time we hold her. When stroking she sits and makes that rumbling noise and wiggles. I have a 6 year old that she has bitten. I don't know what to do as we don't want to leave her in the cage and fuss the other one but you just can't hold her
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Hi and welcome!

Please take the time to read the links below. You will find them very helpful as they address the problems from the guinea pig perspective and in ways that make instant sense to THEM. That is why they are actually surprisingly effective as forum members with their own problem piggies can attest.
You need to work around guinea pig instincts and respect them but also invite and integrate your guinea pigs into a family hierarchy so they do not experience human interaction as random violence and are on edge because they fear for their lives. Mass bred pet shop piggies have had virtually no human interaction before their sale whereas families expect instant animated cuddly toys. That often leads to problems.

Some piggies are much more affected than others and in different ways. Seemingly compliant piggies can just play uninteresting prey to entice a predator to leave them alone; once they start to trust you, they will tell you that they do not like being cuddled. That is the time when we get all the post about 'my guinea pig suddenly hates me' - not, it doesn't; it actually started to make a huge step forward! Pluckier ones will fight back and not submit to picking up and handling because it is cutting so close to their instincts.

You can access our human-guinea pig interaction guides, including understanding how prey animal instincts are working, piggy whispering tips to help work around them and a biting guide via this link here: Settling In And Making Friends With Guinea Pigs - A Guide

These guides are just one section of our very helpful new owners guide collection in which we address specifically all the areas that we get the most questions and concerns about, like understanding behaviour; diet, care, housing; learning what is normal and what and how to spot illness early on as well as some important information that can save you a lot of stress down the line and minimise the risk of accidents and injury or even death. Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
 
Welcome to the forum.
I hope you find @Wiebke has helped with her advice and link to the forum threads.
Every piggy has its own personality- learning to appreciate each one as an individual is part of the way we grow together.
Please can we see pictures
 
I have a biter pig. Shes lovely until you touch her near her cheek area or chin. Its quite common though for guinea pigs to hate the bum area touched
 
Lovely pic! The guides really do work, I absolutely swear by the pig whispering tips, my Silk was a very nervous pig when we first had her but is so different now - still not keen on strangers but very happy and loving with all the family.
 
Lovely pictures!
Some piggies do take a little more time to settle in to family life.
I am sure in time you will have to very happy piggies.xx
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
I have a biter pig. Shes lovely until you touch her near her cheek area or chin. Its quite common though for guinea pigs to hate the bum area touched
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I’ve had a biter pig too but I have to admit that they’ve never drawn blood on a human. Although one pig (nicknamed Suarez for that reason) once nearly drew blood when clipping nails and she was really fed up. It worries me that OP says blood has been drawn - that’s some serious biting of humans, not just a displeased nip. Could there be something else at play like discomfort due to mites or fungal which makes the pigs hurt when being handled?
 
Elthysia said:
I’ve had a biter pig too but I have to admit that they’ve never drawn blood on a human. Although one pig (nicknamed Suarez for that reason) once nearly drew blood when clipping nails and she was really fed up. It worries me that OP says blood has been drawn - that’s some serious biting of humans, not just a displeased nip. Could there be something else at play like discomfort due to mites or fungal which makes the pigs hurt when being handled?
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Hi,
I took her to be checked out just incase she was in any discomfort, and was told no she is fine, she just does not like human contact (she also bit the guy when he was checking her)
 
Also anytime you put your hand in the cage she starts rumble strutting at me! So it's not just the handling
 
Make sure your palm faces away from the piggies and that she sees it coming
 
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