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Male Ginuea Pig Keeps Wetting

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Bronwen

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Hi

I have two male ginuea pigs of the same age, and purchased together. They are about 8 months old.
Every time we bring them into the house or just pick them up to cuddle them, the one wets on us, or on the bed/sofa etc. The other ginuea pig has never done it.

Does anyone have any advice as to why he keeps doing this. It has been suggested to me that it might be a dominance thing. He is the bigger of the two and more aggressive. Unfortunately it is affecting us wanting to bring him into the house for cuddles etc.
 
haha out of my first pair the elderly lady (around 2 years old when I first got her) did this every single time. Over the years she did it less than less but she always had a certain look on her face so it was almost like she was showing displeasure at humans :)) She was also the dominant pig so there might be something in what you are thinking. It's well worth having a towel on you when its laptime or even better and get a lap blanket (I have a fleece one that has an absorbent layer and below that is a waterproof layer so it doesn't get me soaked).
 
:)) I'm sorry for laughing, it definitely isn't fun to get peed on every time...but yup, been there! I think my situation was probably similar to @Lady Kelly in that he most likely did it for badness, out of protest. He always seemed very pleased with himself afterwards, the little sod.

I second the blanket or towel suggestion. Or maybe even both - towel then blanket!
 
Yup, it's a constant joke on the forum I'm afraid, being pee'd on :)
Many of us use a water-proof pee pad, you can use disposable puppy pads, old towels, anything suitable really.

Some are more polite than others. It doesn't occur to many piggies not to pee on their humans, some actually do notice. I had one, my first adopted piggy, and I think she thought that the pad I used was part of me, so she would always poke her bottom off the pad to wee away from it. It tended to land on the person sitting next to me (usually Mr Critter) or onto the settee, and then the pee would make it's way down-hill, down and to/under my legs where I was sitting. Nice.

Guinea pigs in the wild wouldn't have a permanent territory. They don't make nests and even when giving birth they don't have a nest as the babies are so well developed they follow the herd around from birth. They would move from one grazing place to another, so in terms of evolution there has been no reason for them to have to hold in their pee's or 'water' a particular area and keep other areas clean.

Sometimes a nervous piggy will pee. I have noticed when I take mine to the vets they will hold their pee in all the way, and then do one while being handled by the vet. My Penny is relaxed most of the time, but fusses about some things. She is a squirmer when it comes to nail and fur-clipping and it often results in a wee.

It can be a stress response, and some even do it deliberately when another piggy keeps bothering him/her, the botherer may end up with wee in the face!

Piggies CAN hold their pee for a short while, and some actually do realise that they are sitting on someone who doesn't want to be pee'd on (and some never realise). The ones who are needing to pee and don't wish you to get wet will often try to warn you by fidgeting and nibbling at your clothes. Take this as a sign to be placed on some litter or back in the cage for them to pee, and both of you will get used to the 'routine' of it.
For the ones that don't grasp that you don't like to be pee'd on, they may never understand, so it's best to place a towel or pee pad over your lap.
I recommend one to either side of you too (incase you have a polite one like my first who pee'd off the side).

Please don't be put off - they may get better with age, with learning to relax, and through you learning their pre-pee signals (for those that tell you), and have a pee-pad always! :)
 
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Oh, and to follow on from what @Critter said, I had another pig who signaled when he needed to potty with a very agitated, urgent wheek. If you didn't click on straight away, he'd get louder and more agitated til eventually, he'd pee on you. Worked, though - people rarely made that mistake with him twice.

But of course not every pig will signal.
 
Thanks for the advice. I guess I am just going to have to layer up my lap or invest in puppy pads and hope I have more success with them than I had with my dog when he was a puppy!
I do get the feeling he is just being a bad boy but my fear was that it's a medical issue!
 
It's not likely to be a medical issues, it's most likely that he just can't help it and doesn't understand or perceive any reason to hold himself in :) He may learn :)
 
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