young piggy nipping - will he grow out of it?

[rachelsharp]

Rufus is a bit of a nipper basically. He's only 5 months, and the reason he was handed over to a sanctuary was because he apparently gave the lady who had him a bit of a nip. He was very very timid when I got him but has now made himself quite at home and seems very content and a lot more confident. My two girls would never ever nip at anything but I got them when they were a bit older and don't know if this is a factor. He seems to 'feel' things out by sniffing and nibbling on them - anything from my leggings to his plastic carrier he hangs out in on my bed. This also mean he nibbles on hands, definitely not anything I'm bothered by as I can tell when he's tempted but I just wondered if this is just one of his quirks or something that young piggies do and tend to grow out of? x

 

[ghostbusterbunny]

Most guinea pigs will nibble on fingers and any bits of skin they can get their teeth around if that's the way they're programmed; they'll lick things and nibble things as their way of working out what's around them. I've found that you often get pigs that are somewhat rougher than others when they're doing it, boys especially in my experience. Chip, my only boy, is about 6 months old and he will chew and pull on pretty much everything; jeans, tops, fingers... and he is very rough in doing it!

Whether he grows out of it, only time will tell. I had one lad, Fudge, who never grew out of it, but he was just a big mean monster anyway, loved nipping and tugging on my fingers...That said, I've had pigs that've grown out of it too! It does tend to be a boy thing really, the rough nibbling. Girls do it too, but nowhere near as rough!

 

[alikateross]

My piggie grew out of it

 

[Freela]

I would just pull your hand away when they being to 'explore' with their mouths. One of my pigs, Sundae, is a nibbler... she will begin by licking your hand or arm, which is kind of cute... but then proceeds to gently nibbling... and then to harder nibbling... we've never been maliciously bitten but it does seem that if we don't pull away she thinks we may well be edible! I would also try to have tempting scents off your hands when you handle him... even the pig who doesn't normally nibble will lick my hands and arms if I'm sweaty or have any sort of lotion on my skin!