weird guinea behaviour

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theoloveslotus

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Hi All,
So today i was feeding my guineas and i tend to give them handled forage. when i put my hand into the cage i assumed that marshmallow (one of my guineas) accidentally but my finger trying to get to the forage. Then he bit me again and I thought he didn’t want me in the cage so I went to move my hand and he bit down really hard and tried to run away with my finger in his mouth? i genuinely have no clue what this means can someone help out
 
I'm wondering if he just doubled down on your hand being food and tried to run away with his "treat?" Honestly, the worse bites I've ever gotten was a "mistaken for food" bite from one of our past hamsters who just buried her teeth to the gum in my fingertip... I still have a numb spot on my fingertip years later from that!
 
Freela said:
Honestly, the worse bites I've ever gotten was a "mistaken for food" bite from one of our past hamsters who just buried her teeth to the gum in my fingertip... I still have a numb spot on my fingertip years later from that!
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That sounds painful! 🙁

theoloveslotus said:
Hi All,
So today i was feeding my guineas and i tend to give them handled forage. when i put my hand into the cage i assumed that marshmallow (one of my guineas) accidentally but my finger trying to get to the forage. Then he bit me again and I thought he didn’t want me in the cage so I went to move my hand and he bit down really hard and tried to run away with my finger in his mouth? i genuinely have no clue what this means can someone help out
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My best guess is that your piggy is annoyed with something you where doing. Say, if you where patting it too close to its rear that may trigger a fight response.
Generally, guineas only bite when they feel threatened, mishandled or bullied. Young piggies are usually more likely to bite out of over excitement.
I think the most likely reason why your guinea decided to nibble your finger is because your fingers smelled like food. After handling the forage, your fingers probably smelled very appetizing to your piggy.
Piggies are also more likely to bite when they are ill. Although I doubt your piggy is ill, don't worry.
 
Zorro1 said:
That sounds painful! 🙁
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It was! I actually thought I was going to pass out! What happened was that I used to buy these (human) snacks that were just lightly salted oven-baked lentils and I used to let the hamsters eat some out of my hand sometimes. I was eating some myself, then picked up the hamster about ten minutes later without thinking that I hadn't washed my hands. I clearly smelled like a lentil, I could see her sniff my finger and go in for the bite but not fast enough to get away! I actually thought I was going to faint, I had no idea how to get her to let go without hurting her, so we just stared in horror at each other for what felt like forever. Then I scruffed her and she let go on her own. The irony is that she was really the loveliest hamster, she was ridiculously friendly, she used to go to sleep on my upper chest all the time, she would never have bit someone on purpose. We just had a big misunderstanding! She's gone now, but I'll always have that numb patch on my right index finger to remind me of her! LOL!
 
:btt:

theoloveslotus said:
Hi All,
So today i was feeding my guineas and i tend to give them handled forage. when i put my hand into the cage i assumed that marshmallow (one of my guineas) accidentally but my finger trying to get to the forage. Then he bit me again and I thought he didn’t want me in the cage so I went to move my hand and he bit down really hard and tried to run away with my finger in his mouth? i genuinely have no clue what this means can someone help out
Click to expand...
Whatever the piggy's reason for biting is a mystery. As long as she doesn't bite (unprovoked) all the time there is no problem.
 
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