Stroppy Male

[sue.]

Hi all. I'm completely new to forums and guinea pigs too, so I hope I'm posting in the right place.

We have a 14/15 week old male pig, who we have hhad since 3rd dec. We bought for our 5 year old. Hes a house pig, and is very spoilt. Although he is really relaxed around us all and is very confident, he really does not seem to enjoy lap time at all. I have done all the recommended things like, make it quiet, talking to him, feeding him his favourite veggies, he even has a snuggle blanket for lap time...but all he seems to want is to get away from me. I know when it's because he needs the toilet so I always put him back when hes making them signs and signals, this last few days he's started nipping too when he can't get somewhere or wants my hand to move, I don't want to end up with a biter so i try to respect his wishes but i also don't want a stroppy pig that you can't go anywhere near and him get worse as he gets older, do any of you have any advice on how to turn this stroppy boy into a relaxed laid back piggy that everyone else seems to own? as ideally I would like to keep all 10 of my fingers
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[piggie.slave]

yes of course you have come to the right place! I do know that 14/15 weeks is when piggies are hormonal so that might be why, also if he has only suddenly started being like this it might be worth taking him to an exotic vet, (an exotic vet is a piggy vet that specalises in them) as he might be ill therefore sudden behaviorial changes, I'm sorry I'm not the best at this kind of subject, I hope someone else can help you some more!

 

[sue.]

Thank you for the speedy reply. My only worry is that this nipping will turn into biting and he will become really antisocial despite all my efforts :-/
We went for a guniea pig as everyone said they were one of the friendliest pets you could opt for!
Tbf the little dude has had a pretty rubbish week or two, he's had mites and a fungal sore on his nose that he's being treated for, and he also endured first bath and encounter with a hairdryer last week too (part of the recommended treatment) so I probably am not his favourite person atm. But his lack of enthusiasm with lap/handling time was before his mites/fungal appeared!
Dispite the past two week he's still really confident around the living room and will still come upto us for food, I just don't know wether I should continue to try to handle him dispite his protest or if I will make matters worse and create a monster in doing so lol!

 

[Sian25]

One of my pigs was like this for the first year or so of his life. He was well socialised and had lots of daily cuddles so it wasn't due to not being used to being handled. He would nip when we put our hands near him and had a habit of running up to our neck when being handled and biting out neck - sometimes making it slightly bleed. He's almost 2 now and hasn't bit for about a year so I don't know what his problem was. The point of what I've said is that he may grow out of it

 

[lauraboara]

Try and focus on the good things - you say he is very confident with you which many young pigs are not so that is good. Often young boars are much keener on exploring than sitting on someones knee for any length of time so you have to keep that in mind. Try a short lap time offering veg to nibble on and then put him down before he gets nippy and just gradually build up the time. Is he underneath the blanket on your knee or just on top of it? Some pigs prefer to be inside something eg a snuggle sack. It does take patience and each pig is different so you have to work with them to find out what suits. And he has had the annoying fungal treatment to deal with which is difficult when you are trying to bond.
Have you any plans to get a companion pig for your young boar?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome!

Your boy has hit the teenage hormones. Stroppy behaviour is par for the course, especially as he doesn't have a companion to react with.

In order to curb the tweaking, you need to gently tell your boy in piggy body language that you are the undisputed top piggy that says what behaviours are tolerated and what not (shouting etc. won't work!). Once you have established dominance, just some calm sounds of disapproval will do the trick whenever he tries to tweak, but it should stop pretty immediately.
At the same time, you can reassure him that you love him (in piggy language) and reinforce any behaviours that you want to encourage with lots of praise.
You may find the this thread here helpful: How To Understand Guinea Pig Instincts And Speak Piggy Body Language

In the longer term, it would be great if you considered getting your boy a companion. Whether you want you go down the route of bonding at a rescue that offers this service with a character compatible companion (in order to minimise the risk of ending up with two piggies that don't get on) or whether you want to go down the neutering route, so he can live safely with a sow after a 6 weeks post-op wait, is up to you. Cross gender bonds are the most stable once initial acceptance has happened, but you need to find either a general vet with lots of practice in guinea pig neutering or a small animal vet with experience in small furries operations.
Neutering just for the sake of it won't solve your problem, as vital social behaviour is bound up with it. You have got a fairly dominant character who is currently trying to see how far he can push you and how far he can climb in the hierarchy.
Companionship

As we have got members from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can tailor any advice to what is possible and available spefically for you. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. Thank you!

 

[Hayley86]

I have a stroppy male. To be honest I just let him be. He'll eat out of my hand and loves running around the floor he just hates being held. My other male is the sweetest friendliest cuddly thing on earth. The friendly one I tiny and bosses his quite frankly huge great stroppy ball of a brother around. I pop a sock of hey in with the friendly one just for company.

 

[sue.]

Thank you all so much for the advice, it's much appreciated. I'm sorry for the late response my Internet has been having alot of problems :-/
We are definitely looking into getting Bob a cage mate very soon. On the up side though now he is fungal free, he seems to have become a much more laid back little piggy (apart from his moans of protest when inspected or groomed) so all is good! Thanks again for all the help. :-)