Help! Why is my guinea pig so aggressive towards me?

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esther_lovespigs

Junior Guinea Pig
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My 3 year old boar has been very aggressive towards me recently, this has been going on for many months and involves excessive and hard biting, pulling at my clothes and restlessness whenever I handle him. He isn’t aggressive towards his cage mate and other than hating lap time his behaviour is normal. His biting has been getting worse recently, when I first got him he was fine with lap time but a year or so ago he started a biting habit. His cagemate is also a bit bitey but not as bad as him. I’ve considered getting him treated for mites but he has no other symptoms and seems very healthy. Does anyone have any advice or theories on why he’s behaving like this?
 
It may just be him telling you that he does not want to be held or have lap time and he is now confident enough to tell you.
i would suggest stopping all time and instead increasing mental stimulation and enrichment within the cage and seeing if he is happier with you just offering snacks from your hand while he is in the cage.

You don’t need to treat for mites unless a vet actually diagnoses him with them.

I’ve added some guides below which may help you further

A - Z of Guinea Pig Behaviours
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
" Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)
 
I used the advised methods from the link on one of my boys. When we adopted him he was very nippy (not hard bites though) It's now very,very rare for him to nip me but he still does it to my OH who has never tried to tell him in "guinea pig"
 
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