Bar Munching

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*Nibbles&Nugget*

*Nibbles&Nugget*

Adult Guinea Pig
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My piggies chew on the bars of their indoor cage whenever they want their eleven o'clock snack or when we're getting their food. (Sometimes they do it when the telly is on but I don't know why!?) It's frustrating and we have to leave the cage open for long periods of time to stop them.

They get lots of fresh veggies and hay, they have loads of willow twigs and mineral licks, they are exercised daily for a least an hour and get cuddles whenever possible. I don't understand it. We're now going to have to buy a new cage for them because the bits they have chewed are sharp and dangerous.

Why are they doing this? Is it dangerous? And how can I get them to stop?

Amy
x
 
Our guinea pig is always biting the bars of his cage,specially in the morning when he wants some brown toast for breakfast !
He does stop if you cover the cage with a blanket though,not completely cover the cage ,just the place where he bites the bars,the corner of his cage nearest to us.Usually stops him and he stops biting the bars and goes and eats what hes already got,hay and guinea pig food etc.
 
Darwin does this to annoy my other boys. It drives me insane. :))

They do this usually from boredom, for attention or food (usually id your not bein quick enough lol). We blow gently in Darwins face and he gives up and goes away sulking to his bed.

You could try and distract them. Have you tryed things like putting veg in a kitchen roll tube/toilet roll tube. It keeps them busy :)) You could try putting some hanging toys on the bars (if you dont have them already), they might chew the toys rather than the bars.
 
One of mine does this, probably not as bad as the sound of yours, but every now and again he likes a good chew on the c&c grid.

I put a guinea pig stick in for them, one honey & nut and the other a fruit stick - just those standard ones you buy from the petshops. He likes having a good old gnaw on that. You hang it on the cage, so maybe it hang it where he likes to gnaw.

Since guinea pigs like to gnaw on things, but often never bother with their toys or chews.....annoyingly! This might help him tofocus on gnawing something that's actually food!
 
My Sparky was a terrible bar chewer, he's a piggy that has to be the centre of attention and take part in everything. I am convinced part of the problem for him was that they restricted his world as he adores hanging over the side of the cage watching the world go by and getting a head scratch when I walk past so and this might not be a practical option but I bought a stand for his and his friends cage and took the wire top off, using a c and c grid to hang their water bottle from. The result was a much happier Sparky. It has come at price, he has tumbled out in his enthusiasm and on one occasion injured his back costing me near 80 quid at the vets but its worth it as he's living the life he wants to live.
 
It is a frustration thing. George will bite the bars if I take too long to get breakfast. Bob bites the bars when Penny wiggles her bum in his direction from the otherside! Bless him, he's so in love with her. I saw him lying with his nose sticking through the bars to her side.
 
Yeah my boys only do it when they want out to play... which is occasionally in the middle of the night. The only bars on the cage they have are on the roof so Suilven stands on the roof of his hidey and knaws them.

He is much better when he's got plenty to keep him busy so try toys or hanging his food from the roof in a ball or stuffing tubes with hay. Some piggies need more stimulation than others.

I have 2 very playful boys who cause havoc and one relaxed one who just likes to chill unfortunately this leads to the excitable one standing on the fleecy tunnel (with his brother in it..) and bouncing up and down! They are always up to mischeiff and it sounds like yours are too.

Brown paper bags are a good way to keep them occupied too.
 
Smudgy is a bar chewer, he does it when he wants food or some love
Ive tried ignoring him when he does it but it only seems to make it worse ¬_¬
 
Yep, my Darwin does it too, mainly if he thinks he's not getting enough attention i think - if you go up and say hello he usually stops. One of my others has a habit of chewing the correx (despite all the things to chew in his cage) - i find the correx noise a lot more annoying, as nothing you do will make him stop! :))
 
One of my boars is a real bar chewer and it does drive you slightly bonkers after a bit (and i am already pretty bonkers so don't need encouragement:)). I try hay in loo roll tubes, wooden sticks or just get him out into the play pen for a run - as others have said, distraction seems to be the way forward. Good luck
 
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