Advice Needed: Biting

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Isaanne

Isaanne

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We have a new guinea pig named Bilbo who is now about 3 months old. He was rescued from being a classroom pet and now lives in our home. We were not planning on getting a guinea pig but have found it a great experience in many ways and are excited to have him and want to do the best by him. We love the daily care and giving him the best veggies and hay. The ritual of it is great for me, but also my son.

The cage is likely too small for him but we need to save $$ to get a bigger, proper cage. He is our very first guinea pig, and we are learning all we can from reading articles but most articles simply say that guinea pigs don't bite. That is not our experience unfortunately.

Bilbo is a cute guy and lets us pet him when he is in his cage, but hates being picked up and will bite. When in his cage he will try and bite as we are petting him but we make sure to be very calm and back off slowly if it seems like he will bite. I try and make sure that my hands don't smell like his food, hay or veggies when I pet him. If we take him out of the cage it is usually to transfer him to a playpen on the floor where we like to put him while his cage is cleaned. Most times it is best to let him climb into his house and move that - but at times we do just handle him which he apparently hates. The advice we have read states that we should handle him each day so he stays used to us.

If we are handling him, we hold him while seated and pet him and all seems well but many times he has bitten me hard and it makes it difficult to imagine him being the cuddly pet we hoped for.

Mostly we are just sitting next to his cage and talking to him so he can get used to our sounds, his name etc.

Questions:
Should we stop trying to hold him at all?
Is it because he is so young and perhaps he will just grow out of it?
Is it because he is in a too small cage?
Is it because he is alone? (note if we could afford it we would want to get him a friend but fear that finding a friend for him would be difficult)
Articles say we should trim his nails but honestly I can't imagine holding him for that long and not getting seriously injured by the biting. Should we still try? The long nails make handling hard too.

Any advice or help would be appreciated. I really hate the idea of giving up. We want to make a loving home for him and not leave him to himself in his cage.

Thanks!

Isaanne
Oakland CA, USA
 
It is true that guinea pigs don't normally bite, but there can be exceptions. He is probably scared.
You should only try to hold him more! Make sure that if he does bite while you are holding him, you stay calm. Be sure to rinse any bites that look even somewhat deep with soap and water.
It is partially because he is young and young piggies are almost always skittish.
I think that him being alone is not entirely the reason, but maybe a bit. Even if it is not the reason, he should still have a piggy friend. Use the rescue locator to find a rescue near you, and try piggy dating. (Piggy dating is when you introduce your guinea pig to another one of the same gender and see if he/she likes the other one.)
A good way to cut his front nails is to get him to put his paws on the bars of the cage, then clip them. You could try a treat and someone with gloves holding him while you cut his back nails. It only takes a few seconds, but remember the quick! (The quick is a vein in a guinea pig's nail. If you cut it they will bleed a lot, but it won't injure them.) PLEASE do not leave his nails for too long, they could start growing into his pad making it harder for him to walk.
Please keep trying! Another reason may be that his cage is too small. C&C cages are a cheap but rewarding alternative that gives your guinea pig(s) enough room. I promise that whatever love you give to your piggy, they will give back to you.
May I add I have my own piggy who was just like this, it only took time, patience, and a lot of treats to make him into the tame and loving piggy he is today. :)
 
All very helpful thanks! It is nice to know that if we continue with trying it will get better with patience. The tips are great and we are already doing a lot of that so being patient is the most important.

Right now I am sitting near his cage (which is up on a table) with the door open and typing and he is purring. He popcorns all the time and never hesitates to come up when we approach the cage. We feed him hay and treats, I think he just uses biting to tell us to back off if our hands are too much for him.

He was never in the classroom thankfully. I think it was that they bought him from a store and then parents complained about allergies and they posted that he needed adoption. There is another class at the school who has a guinea pig and I think the poor thing gets no care on weekends. Hard for me to imagine since Bilbo needs 2x daily care at least.

As for the nails - I have made an appointment at the vet next week and will ask them to trim the nails and see how they do it and perhaps I can take that over (wearing gloves) for the next time.
 
Try to establish your dominance with him (see ear licking/nibling), then you are in a better position to tell him what is accepted and what not in the group you are leading in a firm, but gentle way (I use praise, an expression for disapproval and one for disappointment).
 
I'm glad! :) I hope your piggy eventually becomes used to you. Good luck!
 
Thanks for all the advice. I have tried some things over the last few days.

1) I am making sure to get him into his hidey place and then pull that out of the cage instead of trying to pick him up
2 ) I have him hang out on a fleece blanket on my lap and hand feed him hay and just hang out. He seems to like it and does not seems scared. He bites at the fleece and I am sure that he would be biting me if it were not there. I am able to pet him - just being very careful. Today I was able to hang out with him that way for a good long time and I swear he fell asleep for a bit! It was so cute!
3) I feed him veggies twice a day (small snack in the am and full salad in the pm) and always hand feed the morning snack.
4) Counseling my kids to hand feed carefully some hay and talk to Bilbo and say his name a lot.

The hard part is making sure that he is calm when I put him back in his cage. He is so scrambly and tries to jump back in! yesterday I got him to freeze (not really relaxed exactly) before setting him in...

I think I want to keep this up and see how it goes. Over time I hope that he feels comfortable hanging out and not trying to bite. If he never likes being picked up I guess that is just his personality. He is so young I still hold hope that he grows out of it because caring for him would be a lot easier if he could be handled without biting!

Looking into a friend but that is going to take time since rescue centers are very few and far between here! And then we need to find someone he can bond with. Lots to contend with but it is the plan...
 
You are doing really well. Even in a slightly too small cage he will have a much nicer life with you than he would as a class pet.
 
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