Behaviour change?

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Beautifulmess

Beautifulmess

Adult Guinea Pig
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The past week or two I've noticed one of my pigs change, almost like his personality is changing.

Anyhow, Cally is my most tame pig and suddenly whenever I approach the cage, he's charactering his teeth loudly and acting aggressive, whenever I hold him he lets off this horrible, gag worthy smell that I can't stand and have never smelt before. I was a bit worried about him and his cage mate but even though he starts my other pig with chattering, he doesn't rise to it, he doesn't ver away from Cally and doesn't stand up against him, even though he's dominant, it's like he knows not to rise to it so Cally doesn't get out of hand, but he's lunged at me once or twice but not much.

Can pigs personalities change, or can they get p*ssed off at you? I don't think I've done anything wrong, I've even started holding him less so I can giev the others more attention. It's just a bit weird how loud his chattering is when i go near the cage, the only hing that stops it is food, he has no other changes other than he doesn't always notice me until I'm very close, if that makes sense, like if he's asleep. No weight change, no appitite change, no health problems just this behaviour change.

Any help welcome. Experience of this would be good.
 
My first question would be how old is he? Because sometimes their behaviour can change dramatically when their hormones start kicking in! Also try to continue to handle him you dont want him to think that he is getting the upper hand by behaving aggressively towards you. If you are worried you could try wrapping in up in a towel so he cannot get at you then try feeding him some treats so he knows you mean no harm. Baths can also be good with problems with behaviour change get his grease spot all clean so it reduces the smell. But remember always bath cage mates together! Or you might get some fighting. Hope this helps you! I have a few boys and they can get like this so dont worry too much. Good luck with everything :)
 
2.5yrs, he doesn't bite me in the cage although he looks like he wants to lunge at me but he nips a few times when I hold him, but not unless I offer him my hand or I'm not watching him. It's just the sudden 'I want to be dominant towards you' (towards me) thing... his cage mate and him are good friends and I doubt that'll change, Cally's behaviour has just changed quite a bit in the sense when it comes to me... it's like he hates me now :S
 
Mites? Maybe a vet visit is in order? Mites can't be seen but mine had a tiny bit of hair thinning on their backs & were diagnosed at the vets. Apparently mites can make them nippy :( They didn't change my girls' characters but it could be he is in pain or irritated by something :) Hope you find out whatever it is though!
 
I'll ring my vet in the morning and ask them. I'll have to go Monday now as we're busy over the weekend. Unable to cancel any of it. Where do they catch mites from? x
 
tabelmabel said:
They can be present in hay
Click to expand...

They can catch hay mites/lice from hay but the sellnick/mange mites can just be dormant under the skin, you can't actually see them, they cause hair loss & gradually get worse & can eventually cause fits when the piggy scratches so much. Mine got theirs after being boarded in the summer whilst we were on holiday & I put it down to stress at being away from their slave rolleyes

We caught ours early, they were fine when we dropped them off but I noticed the very slight hair loss when we picked them up :( A trip to the vets & some Stronghold & they were fine afterwards. Mine had a very mild case, caught very early on so I didn't notice any more scratching than usual or temperament changes.
 
See thats the thing, no scratching at all, no other behaviourly changes but Cally's chattering but he's actually not done it for two days straight and i wonder if it's because I'm giving him food when I come to the cage now... I didn't get any chance to ring the vet so I'll do so today, i did the whole put on white paper and brush his fur backwards to see black specs but nothing came out and he was alright with the feeling until I did it on his backside which is a thing all pigs seem to hate anyhow. I haven't held him for a long time (just quick cuddles) incase I upset him, I'm going to start rebonding him with me just incase somehow he's become less tame lol, perhaps I've just made him sick of me :o
 
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