Nibbling Babies! Please help :(

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StannyUK

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We have too new additions Mocha and Latte who are sisters. We introduced them to Moet and Shiraz and 99% of the time they all get on and cry out for each other if we seperate them (good sign they are bonding methinks).

However, my missus and I are trying to bond with the new babies as much as possible by giving them cuddles and feeding them things like Spinach, QCumber and lettace. The try and nibble our hands. I'm not talking about accidently nibbling them cos they smell food or because we arent watching where our hands our. I mean actually trying to turn round to nibble us. 98)

Why do they do this?

How can we stop it?

Is it something that is genetic and weve got 2 very naughty piggies?
 
How are you holding them? Piggies must be held very gently. Always support their back legs - as too much pressure on their tummys will hurt/strain them. Maybe they just aren't comfy yet. Cradle them rather than hold them in your hand. You might be pushing them to bond with you a little hard.. they won't fall for you right away; they need to know you're ma and pa!
 
Timmy has always done this with me since I got him at 6 weeks. He is now 4 months and while he loves the top of his head scratched gently or tickles under the chin, when he has had enough he nips me! I guess some piggies are just like this. None of my others do it. Patience patience is the thing, a little at a time. They will get used to you O0
 
We let them sit on our shoulder (completely supported of course) as it seems guinea pigs like to survey all that they own ::)

They are never held tightly and sometimes are held in our hands but mainly they sit against our chests, hand under their bum and the other to stroke..... I might try and get video of it and post it.
 
Aw, sounds like you holding them just fine, they probably just need to get used to you, or maybe they are saying they want to get down and play! (or wee!)
 
what about if its almost straight away. I could understand after about 5 mins but it is sometimes straight away.. I'm just worried that we might have 2 vicious piggies and whilst the bites dont hurt at the moment, they could end up really doing our fingers damage
 
I think if they wanted to bite and hurt you they would.. maybe they just need to get used to your hands without being picked up? Are they very skittish?
 
harry does this quite a lot and one of our new 2 day old babies does this too...could be the way you are holding them, or they are just uncomfortable.

Sometimes with harry he needs a wee or wants some food so i put him in, he goes his stuff then i pick him back up again.

I wouldnt worry about it too much, just take note of what you are doing/how you are holding them when they do it!

lso, when they get used to your smell i would imagine this will not be as frequent :)
 
cheers for all your help people. I'm only worried cos the elder two when they were this age didnt do anything like this. They werent as skittish (or adventerous) but seemed to enjoy cuddles alot more than Latte and Mocha
 
I agree with everything thats been said. Sounds like you're holding them just fine for piggies, but maybe they just aren't comfortable. Do they like to be set down more oftent than not?


You have to realize that no piggy is the same. ^-^ So something that your older piggies do, will probably not be something that another piggy does - you see?

They're all just different.. as far a "vicious piggies" go, I think you're fine. piggies don't tend to want to bite, Do you have anything tasty on your fingers? Have you washed them recently or are they a little salty?

I for one have never had a mean piggy - I've had scared and timid piggies.. but I think you're fine and should not worry about them intentionally trying to bite you. just adjust and try new things.. maybe they just don't want to be held. Maybe they'd rather sit on the table and be stroked and sweet talked.. try some things and let us know! :smitten:
 
I have a rescue and have had lots of different piggies with varying characters, also....younger babies like to have a look around an a bit of an adventure, particularly in new surroundings! :)
 
I have a very naughty, noisy, fiesty 8 week old teddy, he nips all the time! he is not at all skittish, he is very confident for his age! Even when he is in his cage and I stroke him he turns to nip me! But he is so cheeky with it! BUt I am sure he will grow out of it! I am actually looking for a friend for him too!
 
I got Spike at about 8 weeks old and his biting was so bad he drew blood on a number of occasions! I couldn't hold him for longer than a couple of seconds without being bit.

He's about 6 months old now and he is so much easier to hold but he still will nip occasionally for no reason at all (i.e. he might just be sat on my lap and he hunts for fingers!)

Even though he has improved massively I'm resigned to the fact he is just going to be nibbler.... I wouldn't change him for the world though!
 
All of my boys nibble to a certain extent, Gus gets way to excited with the licking and nibles instead, Jasper cant see very well so he nibbles everything to make sure on what it is, why he cant just smell it I dont know. Jack was the worst when he was younger, he used to hate being carried or any manhandling of any kind, he used to nip hard if you carried him aorund or if you stroked his rosettes. He doesn't nip any more really, I cant rememer the last time he did it. My OH probably can since he thought it was funny to ignore Jacks rumbles and kept strokin his butt, got a bite for his troubles, but as I told him, he should have listened to the warning.
 
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