Mean Biting Piggie

[Kohl]

So I've had my guinea pig for about 6 months now and at first he was fine, no issue at all, but recently (maybe a month) he has started acting very aggressive. He bites my hand for no reason, and bites hard. He bites me if I try to pet him, or if I give him food or
Water. He has drawn blood. He will even bite my hand if I just gently lay it in his cage for him to sniff. He immediately bites it. And I do wash my bands beforehand. I adopted him when he was 9 months old so I don't know his history from before. He was very very sweet and loved to be held. Now He won't let me hold him and he acts as if hes starving. Hes always weeking, and when I do give him food, he scarfs it down. I feed him a cup of vegetables a day as well as pellets and fresh water and hay. But he acts like I don't feed him at all. Tonight he got under the carpet in his pen and started to eat the doggy pad under it. When I put my hand in the cage to try and stop him, he bit me several times, and drew blood. I know not to discipline him, so I haven't. But I'm afraid to interact with him if hes going to keep biting me. he has a huge 3 story cage as well that was built by me so its not like hes in a tiny home. Also, he has been to a vet before because I was afraid of mites, but the veterinarian said that she wouldn't treat him for them because she didn't see any hair loss or sign of mites no matter what I said. She is an exotic vet however, and she sees everything ranging from cats to reptiles to rodents. I went to her becasue she had great reviews and she had even seen 17 guinea pigs the week I went. I don't know if I should be looking for a new vet, but it's very hard to find one. he had a cold When I took him, it was a month after i got him.

 

[biscandmatt]

it sounds like he could be in discomfort/pain and doesn't want to be touched because of it. i'd definitely get him to the vets again for a full health check.

chewing unsuitable things like puppy pads could either be a frustration sign, but also a sluggish gut, and/or teeth issues.

if the vet has great reviews and is experienced with piggies then i would go back to her again. especially if it's hard to find someone piggy-savvy in your area.

 

[Guinea Slave]

This must be so frustrating for you.

Animals are'nt born mean. His only way to communicate with you is to do this.

As said above, the fact that he has changed behaviour and is chewing stuff up, says to me that he is one unhappy boy and he is trying to tell you something. One of mine licks her left front paw madly if something is bothering her, I know it's her sign to say 'mum something hurts'.

I would go back to the vet and get another exam. Maybe ask to trial him on painkillers and if he improves then you know it's pain related? Work back from there?

 

[Stayc1989]

I adopted a guinea pig for free off gumtree and I don't think he had a very nice life at first, the house was an absolute dirt hole and he was in a small ish cage with just hay sawdust and a bowl so anyway I took him home and was fine for a while and then he turned like this just went psycho, he attacked my boyfriend my brother, and me as soon as we picked him up he would lunge for anything he could bite, he would rip holes in our clothes, and he bruised me all over my arms. Once he was layed on my chest and my OH was sat next to me and he started playing with my hair and fudge ran up and bit him under arm pit and layed back on my chest again like nothing happened. Anyway with a lot of love and attention he is now Mr perfect piggy he licks and loves been picked up and I hand feed him and when we come in the house he squeaks so I open cage door and he stands on back legs and I stroke him for ages doesn't attack anymore I absolutely love him to bits, I think maybe something bad could have happened to your piggy in the past that's made him like this maybe how the previous owner handled him or something but I don't understand why your piggy or my fudge acted this way ages after getting them, I must have had him a few months before he turned like this but like I said he's perfect now, he wasn't Poorly he was just bad tempered at that time and I'm so unsure why maybe they find it hard to trust or something may be a reminder of something bad that happened to them like a certain smell or certain food, I would take him to the vets to check him over and if they say he is fine then you've just got to be persistent with him, wear thick jumpers/ dressing gown when handling him and make sure you handle him as much as you can even though he will probably will hurt you you've just got to show him that your still going to pick him up even when he plays up and has a mood swing he's not going back in that cage until he has had cuddles just don't let him get his own way or he could be a nightmare but if you carry on with him he will turn out to be an angel like my fudge has done, good luck with him x

 

[Stayc1989]

Oh and just another thing, a couple of times he attacked it was because we tickled him under the chin which my other guinea pigs love but he hates that so once we realised that was 1 reason he turned Nasty we stopped tickling him there, I suppose we just assumed he'd like it as all my others do but it must have just wound him up and after doing research I realised he might not like it because in the wild predators would attack prey under the neck, So must have been his natural instinct to attack us, but he did do it loads of other times too it wasn't just been tickled that made him attack he would just do it for no reason too but I haven't done it since and gradually he has stopped biting, it took a lot of hard work and patience but we got there in the end and he's changed his ways now x

 

[Adelle]

Hi there sorry to hear u are having problems. If it where me i would get him checked out, make sure hes healthy. I would then start from scratch with the handling as if hes a new piggy, take time and be patient. Lift him out by coaxing him into a box or carrier, and the same for putting him back. Give him lots of treats and reassurance when hes out, maybe keep veg time for lap time- that way he associates being handled with a good thing. Is a single pig? Once you have tried everything else and calmed him down it may be that he needs a friend if he is lonely and fustrated.. There is a rescue locator on the forum that will help with "dating" your piggie to find him a match.