Need Help Asap - Cage Biting

Status
Not open for further replies.
jessiewarry

jessiewarry

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
23
Reaction score
6
Points
75
Location
Telford, Shropshire, UK
I am in serious need of help! The past week all my 5 month old boar has done is chew on the bars of this cage :( not only is it stressing out my other guinea pigs but I just can't sleep and I am genuinely going insane :eek:
I have tried everything I can from my house, he has LOADS of toys to play with and his twin brother. He always has lots of hay pellets and water and has been happy up until this last week! I have tried taking the leveled platform off but he still jumps up and chews the bars. I have tried zip tying cardboard onto the main areas but he either chews through this or finds another area!!
I NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS ASAP! Because if this doesn't stop I'm going to have to send them both into an outdoor hutch (I really do not want outdoor piggies) I bred them myself (unintentionally) and he is a lovely piggie apart from this which is why I want him indoors! Any suggestions PLEASE?
 
is the cage large enough? could he be bored? once they get something in their head they tend to take a while to stop again! have you changed any feeding times so he may be confused and asking for food?

the other thing to consider is a possible illness, especially if it's a new behaviour. it could be through frustration. does he have any other symptoms recently?
 
I don't know the exact measurements of the cage but I know it's not huge! It's made for two piggies which is how many are in there and once they are neutered they will join my females in a two teir cage. I do get them out a bit, say an hour or so every other day. There is no way he could be bored he has soooo much to do! And his feeding times are all exactly the same :)

As for illness, I'm not sure. He hasn't exactly acted strangely or anything, he's always breathed weird like with a wheeze but nothing else noticeably

Thanks for your help!
 
Biting the Cage Bars
Some guinea pigs are prone to biting the bars of their cage. Three of my piggies will only do this when they think its veggie time or they hear something that makes them think veggies are on the way. They first start wheeking, but if 'The Chef' is taking too long, they will bite the bars to make sure I've heard them. A few guinea pigs may bite the bars because they are bored and they are wanting some attention. If they persist on doing it, you could try placing a new toy in their cage. If your guinea pig is living on their own they will naturally become bored and lonely, even if you spend a lot of time with them. They really do need a cage mate, so please always consider keeping two guinea pigs. You will find more information on my Companionship page. If your guinea pig is living in a small cage and isn't getting any much needed free range time, they will become stressed and bite the bars out of sheer frustration. Please try and provide a larger cage or certainly increase their free range time. You wouldn't like to be locked up in a small cage without any freedom would you! so please think of your guinea pigs happiness.

Have you taken him to the vets about the wheezing? I don't know what other people thing but sometimes it could be a URI. Guinea's sadly don't show they are ill because they are prey animals.. they only tend to show it when they get quite ill. I'm now paranoid because we lost two guinea's this year.

Cage size is important, if your cage is shop bought it may not be big enough. Here's the link to cage size's so you can measure and see if your cage is the right size for two :) I'm not 100% sure but aren't shop bought cage 100 cm max? I could be wrong.. but I ended up getting a Liberta R6 when the shop bought cage we had was too small, only 100 cm, I then went to C&C cage :)

The RSPCA one shows the minimum spec.

http://www.rspca-online.co.uk/guineas/needtoknow/accommodation/

http://www.guineapigcages.com/

I hope you manage to sort the bar chewing out. We have one that does it but... it's because he's next to the sows! We're having him neutered so he can hopefully go with one of them if not all three :)
 
One other thing, you have to be careful when putting two males in with sows together... I think someone on the forum said it doesn't work very often as the boars end up fighting... Unless your making two separate herds of course.
 
Kerrie74 said:
One other thing, you have to be careful when putting two males in with sows together... I think someone on the forum said it doesn't work very often as the boars end up fighting... Unless your making two separate herds of course.
Click to expand...
I will be careful of this, thank you. The boys are one of my girls babies and they are always in contact and we get them out for supervised time together to stop any unwanted babies so maybe this will help :)
 
Kerrie74 said:
Biting the Cage Bars
Some guinea pigs are prone to biting the bars of their cage. Three of my piggies will only do this when they think its veggie time or they hear something that makes them think veggies are on the way. They first start wheeking, but if 'The Chef' is taking too long, they will bite the bars to make sure I've heard them. A few guinea pigs may bite the bars because they are bored and they are wanting some attention. If they persist on doing it, you could try placing a new toy in their cage. If your guinea pig is living on their own they will naturally become bored and lonely, even if you spend a lot of time with them. They really do need a cage mate, so please always consider keeping two guinea pigs. You will find more information on my Companionship page. If your guinea pig is living in a small cage and isn't getting any much needed free range time, they will become stressed and bite the bars out of sheer frustration. Please try and provide a larger cage or certainly increase their free range time. You wouldn't like to be locked up in a small cage without any freedom would you! so please think of your guinea pigs happiness.

Have you taken him to the vets about the wheezing? I don't know what other people thing but sometimes it could be a URI. Guinea's sadly don't show they are ill because they are prey animals.. they only tend to show it when they get quite ill. I'm now paranoid because we lost two guinea's this year.

Cage size is important, if your cage is shop bought it may not be big enough. Here's the link to cage size's so you can measure and see if your cage is the right size for two :) I'm not 100% sure but aren't shop bought cage 100 cm max? I could be wrong.. but I ended up getting a Liberta R6 when the shop bought cage we had was too small, only 100 cm, I then went to C&C cage :)

The RSPCA one shows the minimum spec.

http://www.rspca-online.co.uk/guineas/needtoknow/accommodation/

http://www.guineapigcages.com/

I hope you manage to sort the bar chewing out. We have one that does it but... it's because he's next to the sows! We're having him neutered so he can hopefully go with one of them if not all three :)
Click to expand...
My cage is defiantly 120 length :) and he does have his brother with him so it can't be companionship! I'll try and get them out more and see if that helps.

The wheezing has been there since he was born and it's only when I pick him up, could it still be a URI?
 
Umm not sure now you've said that... I think @Wiebke may be able to advise you better. I think it's worth having him checked over :)

Remember to post pictures as people on the forums love love love piggy pictures or pigtures as they call them on here :D
 
Five months? Could be hitting the start of the hormonal phase and if the laydeez are about he will have only one thing on his mind:luv:. Think the wheeze should be checked out for definite, just for your peace of mind and for the sake of the piggy.
 
Kerrie74 said:
Umm not sure now you've said that... I think @Wiebke may be able to advise you better. I think it's worth having him checked over :)

Remember to post pictures as people on the forums love love love piggy pictures or pigtures as they call them on here :D
Click to expand...

I may take him to the vets soon then, thank you! I'll get a picture of the nibbler and his brother :)
 
Last edited:
jessiewarry said:
I will be careful of this, thank you. The boys are one of my girls babies and they are always in contact and we get them out for supervised time together to stop any unwanted babies so maybe this will help :)
Click to expand...

You really do need to be ultra careful in these kinds of situations and not just in relation to unwanted pregnancies. If boars can even smell sows it can cause them to fight and this may well be what is causing the bar biting in this instance.

If you try putting the two boars in with females after they have been neutered you are likely to face the two boars fighting over the sows and could end up with the whole group falling out with each other.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top