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Unruly guinea pig

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lizzie_71

lizzie_71

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I am having a bit of trouble with Ruffle, who is a boar aged about 5 months now.

I know I don't handle him much because of allergies, but I do pick him up a couple of times a week (although it brings me out in a rash). Today I tried to put him on my lap and he kept jumping around and also tried to eat a button off my blouse. He is always lively but he's getting out of hand now. He also tried to bite my 7 year old but I saw it in time and moved her hand away. If he draws blood on one of the children he is so out of here.

He spends an awful lot of time squeaking for no apparent reason and is generally a real trouble maker. Is this all normal behaviour or is he a delinquent piggie?
 
Hmmm not sure really but have you checked him for mites, lice or a ski. Problem?
Hopefully someone will come along with more advice soon,
Good luck
Sophie
X
 
He is your typical teenager and probably a bit boared... (sorry for the pun).

Could you try and cuddle him in a cosy, so you get as little physical contact with him as possible. That way, he will also be jhopefully a bit boisterous.

If he suddenly doesn't like to be touched, it can be a sign for mites.
 
One of mine is going through his teenager stage, sometimes he's such a menace :(|) I can't help but laugh though :)) he seems to have settled a bit and enjoyed cuddles tonight, without trying to escape/nibble :(|) I do handle them alot though so perhaps this is why mine has settled
 
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One of mine wasn't too keen on being handled and use to nibble,but now after regular handling,she is very calm and sits for ages with me.As someone has already advised,use a towel or something you can wrap him in so you don't get too much skin contact,might be worth a try.I know it's difficult,my son is allergic to my guineas.
 
Wrapping him up is a great idea thanks, will try that. I can't believe he has lice or mites because we have had him for 2 months and he has no contact with other piggies to catch anything, except our other piggie Jack who we have had for 4 years.

I would love to get him to a stage where my kids can handle him. My 7 year old can hold the older boy no problems but I can't trust Ruffle with her. I can't handle them as much as they deserve and it would be good if the children could do more.
 
Mites can come in with hay (as eggs) so it may still be worth checking that. But if you aren't handling him much maybe he thinks he's head of the house. You could maybe try handling him with gloves - maybe a cheap pair of gardening gloves.
 
All my piggies have been through the loveable handling phase, and this goes on up until about a year old, and then they get stand offish about it, as if to say, I'm all grown up now, put me down!"..
He sounds like he needs a bit of handling time everyday, with food involved, so he gets to associate cuddly time with rewards.. it'll take time, but it always settles my newbys..
I always find leaving the room where the cage is helps too, maybe sit at pc, with piggie on your lap, he may settle better ;) My youngest girl transforms into a log on my shoulder when I do this, my eldest gets really comfy on my lap too.. If I sit near the cage, they get restless, as if they 'know':))
 
i have to say out of 133 guineas i have rehomed i have never been bitten once, i think its poss he is picking up on your anxieties which is making him even more fidgety,, does he have a little boar friend ? for company as some very load guineas do it as a sign of loneliness?

he will need doing with ivermectin for mites! you can either go the vets to get some stuff or buy bephar spot on but make sure it sez ivermectin on the box, and check the age can be used from on the box too!
as ivermectin is the ingredients that kills mites! if its lice i use xenex from the vets each tube is around £3, has ivermectin doesnt kill lice only mites x

also my friend has 20 guineas and is allergic to them but when handling them wheres long sleeved tops and also has a dose of piriton before, these seems to help her a great deal!
 
My girl Eliza occasionally nips when she has had enough of being handled but it isn't exactly a bite. She has never drawn blood.

I have never heard of a guinea pig who bites although I suppose it can still happen.

Eliza does like to be handled but not for very long. She will become fidigity and will attempt to eat my hair.

I really do think you should get him checked for lice or mites though just in case that is the reason he doesn't seem to like being handled much.

Good luck
 
Sweep doesn't like lap time, he always tries to jump off my lap so he can run on the floor and if he's not getting his own way he will try and bite me or my buttons, so he gets most of his cuddles when I'm standing up (he's too far away from the floor to jump). Fudge is hyperactive and has to run in circles round my lap and up my shoulder. It's taken us months to get Daisy to accept cuddles.
 
I'm afraid I think the pigs normal, some are active, some aren't. Age helps (the oldest they seem to get the quieter they are) Africa used to be like that and now he sleeps on me.
 
Thanks for all the helpful hints. I will keep persevering with him. He hasn't actually bitten anyone yet, only my buttons! He lives with a much older boar, Jack who is 4, and he is much easier to handle, partly because he is used to us and partly because he is too lazy nowadays to protest much!

I will check him for mites but I haven't seen any symptoms such as scratching. I think he's just a wriggly little so and so :))
 
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