victor meldrew of guinea pigs.. :S

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ellie_jo3213

ellie_jo3213

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hey i have a 8 month old female pig, and lives on her own, who wont stop biting me.

it started off nibbling jumpers and arms which i took to mean she wanted to go back to the cage. but over the past month or two shes started biting me when i stroke her in the cage, she'll be happy to be petted for a few seconds and willingly come towards me to be petted, but then turns quickly and bites me- quite hard.

when i try to pick her up she will bite me then too. i have tried all different ways - from differernt books, pig sites, etc but she just bits and runs away. i have taken to putting the cage on the floor and letting her jump in and out of her own freewill as she wont be picked up.

dont really know what else to do..
she gets lots of running about time everyday where she jumps and races up and down the room (she tneds to nibble things out of curiosity eg my slippers and uni work!) so i take it shes happy with that, shes got pleantly of hay, lots of chewy things, i mix in food with the hay so she has to find her own food and hopefully reduce boardum, fresh carrots, cucumber and some spinage everyday.

anyone have any advice on what i can do with this grumpy guinea pig?

thanks
 
Is she aiming for skin?

I realise I'm just guessing here, but is she aiming for skin? It sounds as though she's trying to tell you something - and I know this may sound truly stupid - but if she's aiming for skin then try picking her up with gloves and long sleeves on. I bet it hurts when she does bite - but see if she starts searching for skin. This may be her way of communicating! (Please bear with me if I've put this reply on wrongly - this is my first time on a forum!)
 
I had a biter, I say had because he doesn't any more!
Like you, at first I would put him down/back in his cage straight away when he bit me. I became extremely wary of picking him up-I called him my nutty pig :))

I was advised to pick him up twice a day for 10 minutes each time at first. Make sure your hands dont smell of veg and talk to her first. Corner her and dont put your hands in front of her face. She has come to realise that when she bites, you stop stroking her or put her down.

The gloves could be a good suggestion, after having lap time for 10 mins, reward her with a piece of her fave veg or herb. Keep doing this every day for a little longer each time and talk to her gently. If she bites, dont put her down.

My biter is now the sweetest piggy and comes forward for head scratches and chin rubs all the time. It took several months and fair few bites but I think it is down to trust and he trusts me :)
 
It seems a shame as deep down I think most piggies like a cuddle. keep your hands / arms away from her if carrying her from her cage. intially I was very careful with george as was unsure if he would bite me. A couple of times he was having a sniff of my fingers when I was cuddling him and he would have a little nibble (but it never hurt). As a result he never has bitten me and enjoys being tickled and having a stroke and a cuddle (at first he just sat on my knee looking a little cross when I was stroking him).
 
Lack of trust

Hello again.

I really liked the 10 minutes at a time suggestion and the treat, that was fab. I mentioned skin because guinea pigs nip each other as communication - often love nips in fact which is why they can have raggy ears - and to us these can hurt as we don't have fur. If she's just biting for the sake of biting then it's being scared and a lack of trust so the 10 minute advice is brilliant. If she's heading for skin then it's communication and you'll have to work out what's being said - love nip, scaredy nip, unhappy nip, trying to be top piggie and do as I tell you now nip and so on. Guinea pigs can draw blood easily if they want to, anything which is just a bruise isn't a truly frightened/angry bite!

My Carmina nips me on the chin whenever she's near my face to tell me that she loves me, and very slowly and carefully (almost in slow motion) nips me on the arm to let me know when she needs a wee! It took me a little while to work that one out....?/
 
Just a thought - if she lives on her own, I'd have thought she might be lonely and lacking in piggy company - no matter how much time you spend with her, they need company of their own kind unless there's a very good reason not to (the odd pig won't bond with any other, but usually sows will accept another sow, depending on personality matches!)

Sophie
x
 
Sorry to hear that you are having trouble with your piggy.

The only time that I have had nippers, but not biters, is when piggies are young. Frisky and silly.

I have had a sow, Holly, who lived on her own because she would not live with anyone else. Boars or sows. She lived happily until six years old on her own, but wasn't particularly bothered with a cuddle from me either.

Just make sure that you haven't got any nice smells of veg or fruit on your hands before attempting to pick her up.

Does she bite out at you when you go to pick her up, as this could be out of fright ... a defensive mechanism? Or is it when you are holding her?
A bite out of aggression is different to a nip.
Have you owned her for long?
Sorry, lots of questions but I am just trying to help.
 
wow so many replys! thanks. pigs been up to mischief this week... chewed through my slippers :( chewed through my printer cable! and chewed my Anatomy notes! guess this will teach me not to leave things lying around! lol

ok replys..

[*]Goldie[/*]: she does nip then runs away when i go to pick her up. but she doesnt mean to bite as it just feels like a scratch. to pick her up now i normally take off the top of the cage and herd her towards where I'm sitting and she just jumps onto my lap. thought this might be a bit less stressful for both of us! she doesnt go to bite me if i do this. when shes out i normally let her run round for about 2 hours before trying to pick her up, shes normally worn herself out and alot easier to handle. normally tempt her onto my lap with carrots and just scoop her up then. shes fine like this too. only time she really gets nasty is if shes in the cage and I'm petting her. so possibly might be territory thing? dunno if pigs get teritorial..
ive had her since she was weaned so from when she was about 6-7 weeks. got her from my friend whos pigs had babies.

[*]sophiew[/*]: i have thought that she might be lonely too. so have been to b&q on weekend to get some of thoes cube cage things to build a bigger cage. didnt quite realise how big they were and my roon in uni is only small. but have been thinking about extending upwards on my current cage (pets at home nero one, 3 i think). so we'll see how that goes. but defo plans on the horizon to get a friend for her.
only concern i have is if she will get on with another one, or if ive left it too long.

[*]Sarah from Chucklebunnies[/*] normally wear a jumper when i pick her up as shes got really sharp claws! lol normally cover my hands with the ends of my jumper just in case she fancies a snack.
when shes out on the floor she will nibble my toes and try to get at my fingers if shes on my lap. i normally hold my palm flat and i think she licks my palm? possibly, but then she tries to bite me, but she cant get hold of any skin as the skin is quite stretched, if that makes any sence... so all i feel is a scratch. but she very much likes the taste of my fingers...

i'll defo try out the 10 minute thing. i think her issue is more with the actual process of being picked up, because she'll quite happily sit in my lap, sleep on my lap, she loves running over my bed and jumping on to me and sit to be petted, then jump off again and runs over my fluffy cushions, then pee on my bed(lol) then runs back to me.

thank you everyone! will let you guys know how it goes.
 
My boar piggy MONTGOMERY has nipped me a few times but it is usually when I put him back on the floor after a cuddle and he then tries to double back and nip me before leaping on my knee again and purring away. He seems to want to be petted all the time.
 
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