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Deleted member 145615
I've been happy with my piggies and they are very healthy and getting everything they need. Even though both are unneutered boars but I've been convinced they're best buddies, haven't been fighting, they sleep in the same cuddle bed every night despite there being 10+ other different hideys.
But I'm not sure what's wrong with the 7 months old piggie, Yumi. (other one is Bomi: 3 months old).
Yumi has been doing lots of chewing on things:
I haven't been picking them up for cuddle time in weeks now since they hate it and show me by their body language since they know I'll let them go away if they don't want to be in lab time. I've been just sitting in their room a few times a day while they climb on me or sit next to me while they eat. Basically I haven't been forcing any unwanted physical contact or doing anything to stress them out. At first he'd bite the tip of my fingers (it bleeds) but I thought maybe they smelled like food, understandable. Now I wash my hands a lot.
Yesterday I was handing him a cherry tomato, he bit my finger so hard it hurt for hours but thought it was an accident since he was trying to take the cherry tomato.
Today while sitting behind the entrance to their room, I put my hand on the floor for them to sniff it hoping for some bonding time and maybe let me pet them (obviously my fingers were protected under my palm), and washed my hands prior. Yumi walked to my hand repeatedly and sniffed it then nibbled on it, then started biting it. It hurt but I guessed he wasn't trying to harm me so I put my hand back and tried not to flinch, then he started biting different parts of my hand as hard as he can, when the bites looked like they will almost break my skin I gave up and removed my hand.
I don't understand what I'm doing so wrong for him to be hostile and try to bite me, he seems to come out and walk towards me when he hears my voice and is only happy if I bring food. I did everything I could to make them as comfortable as possible.
I attached some pictures I just took of the chewed wall, and their current room set up. I took pictures this morning before I did cleaning so its a bit messy.
But I'm not sure what's wrong with the 7 months old piggie, Yumi. (other one is Bomi: 3 months old).
Yumi has been doing lots of chewing on things:
- I got them a maze cardboard house from binkyrabbit, they loved it and always play in it, it is bottomless and it has 3 exits. Yumi kept chewing nonstop for hours at the entrance holes (they fit rabbits but shaped like a donut), he consumed a lot of the bottom part of the entrance holes so I thought he's just trying to get rid of the bottom part or that it bothering his feet when he runs, so I cut all the bottom sides of the entrance holes, so their access is very easy.
- Their room is about 8 feet by 5 feet, but I kept their ex-cage in the room, Yumi kept going crazy biting the wheels of the cage. I removed the wheels from the cage, this week I grew indoor grass in the tub of the cage and let the ramps down so they can go in and out to their own grass lawn whenever they please, Yumi started biting the bottom corners of the plastic tub of the cage (I can cover the outside part of the tub with a bar cover that comes with it but they like to sneak behind it so I removed it.
- There are two wall corners in their room, and I noticed he's been chewing so hard on them that the paint chipped off, I tried covering the walls with paper moving tape but today I woke up to him chewing on the wall again and the the tape has been chewed threw.
- Something else I just noticed was the bookshelf that separates their room from mine is also chewed threw
I haven't been picking them up for cuddle time in weeks now since they hate it and show me by their body language since they know I'll let them go away if they don't want to be in lab time. I've been just sitting in their room a few times a day while they climb on me or sit next to me while they eat. Basically I haven't been forcing any unwanted physical contact or doing anything to stress them out. At first he'd bite the tip of my fingers (it bleeds) but I thought maybe they smelled like food, understandable. Now I wash my hands a lot.
Yesterday I was handing him a cherry tomato, he bit my finger so hard it hurt for hours but thought it was an accident since he was trying to take the cherry tomato.
Today while sitting behind the entrance to their room, I put my hand on the floor for them to sniff it hoping for some bonding time and maybe let me pet them (obviously my fingers were protected under my palm), and washed my hands prior. Yumi walked to my hand repeatedly and sniffed it then nibbled on it, then started biting it. It hurt but I guessed he wasn't trying to harm me so I put my hand back and tried not to flinch, then he started biting different parts of my hand as hard as he can, when the bites looked like they will almost break my skin I gave up and removed my hand.
I don't understand what I'm doing so wrong for him to be hostile and try to bite me, he seems to come out and walk towards me when he hears my voice and is only happy if I bring food. I did everything I could to make them as comfortable as possible.
- Their space is 8 feet by 5 feet, maybe even a bit more
- I bought them 4 absorbent and washable bedding which I placed under the maze house and drinking area where they mainly use the bathroom, got then shaggy bath mats for inside the maze house where they use the bathroom the most, I covered most of the areas that don't have bedding with towels, they have 2 very big cuddle beds that fits both very comfortably and they always sleep together in one of the cuddle beds, as well as other hideys made of hay, wood, cloth, etc. Last week I built them a cardboard 2 story castle with 4 rooms, a bridge, and 2 ramps (its not pretty but they like playing in it), at the beginning of this week I ordered some grass seeds, filled the tub of their cage with soil and planted some grass seeds, its not fully grown yet but its pretty green and tall enough, I kept the cage open all night so they can walk in and out to the grass as they please, they did eat through the grass a bit, but that didn't stop Yumi from chewing on the wall at all. I give them greens everyday with one small cherry tomatoes for each in the morning and evening (they're obsessed with it), I give them a fruit once a week. They play a lot, popcorn a lot, and seem happy, so I have no idea how to explain all this aggressive chewing and wanting to bite me whenever he gets a way to my skin. I always wear new thick socks whenever I walk in their room, that's why he can't bite my feet. I clean their poop everyday and wash their bedding once a week. I just have no idea what I'm doing wrong! Why is he so in need to bloody bite me and chew on everything? I have timothy and veggie crunchy treats scattered around, still some veggies left, plenty of hay, lots of apple wood chews (not sure what they're called, timothy hay chews, different kinds of surface levels so they get a lot of exercise
- I'm just so hurt and confused. Also when I woke up, he hasn't severely chewed through the paper tape on the wall yet, as I was writing this post he bloody murdered that tape like a bolt of energy got into him.
- Paused writing and covered the wall with a towel, he quickly walked towards me and the wall to check it out, tried to bite through the towel then finally gave up.
- There's an open door separating their room from my bedroom, so I even put up a curtain on the door and close it in the evening to give them privacy.
I attached some pictures I just took of the chewed wall, and their current room set up. I took pictures this morning before I did cleaning so its a bit messy.
