Bit my son's arm hard

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Dee

Hi haven't been on for a while really busy, the 2 guineas, Bart & snowy have settled really well now we have them nearly 2 months feels longer ;D ;D anyway after all the fighting and them wanting to rip each other apart ;D we tried separating them but they hated it and kept crying so we bought another house for the cage and they are soooooo happy, they have their own space and still play together.

They have settled really well out of the cage, no running around the place, Bart loves the TV and sits watching it ;D ;D snowy always looks for something to hide behind, so we were really relaxed with them and not so nervous as we were in the beginning.

Hubby and I always have them out in the evening and rub and pet them and give them treats, they are not the type of guineas to lie and go asleep on you, they will snuggle, explore for a short while and then nudge you to put them down after usually about 10-15 minutes. I have the out in the mornings when I am cleaning the cage and they are fine, thing is today I was late cleaning the cage and my son was home from school and we started emptying the cage, I gave them their cuddles and they were on the floor then, my son wanted to hold one like he does regularly and he is very gentle and I lifted one into his arm, the guinea was lying on his chest and my son was rubbing him lightly and next thing I just saw the guinea lift his head and he had his teeth showing, I tried to get over to him without starling my son or the guinea but the guinea sunk his teeth right into my sons arm, he drew blood and the 2 big white spots came up on his arm, I used tree tea oil but the spots are quite bad, I am not sure if guinea bites are dangerous ? and how do I prevent this again ?
 
I'm not sure if guinea bites are dangerous, for example not as bad as cat bites (who have extremely dirty mouths!) but I would be looking at getting a tenus shot for your son at least.

I am not sure why the guinea did this, I have never known a guinea be vicious towards a human before but I suppose there are very few out there. He could just have wanted to get down, and this was a (exaggerated) way of showing this. Or he could have been in pain for some reason, if they're ill or maybe have mites. Often young guineas cannot tell the difference between a small nip and a more painful bite.
 
I would take your son and get him some antibiotics just in case as bits could get infected

One of my pigs bite me on the hand (by accident) but the wound got quite inflamed

Children can't always tell as well as adults if an animal is going to bite so are not so good at avoiding it.

My son has been bitten a few times by the hamster because he isnt quick enough to realise that the little beast is going to do it.
 
would get your son checked out to be on the safe side. would also get the guinea pig checked out at the vet incase something is wrong with him. hoping your son is not scared of the guinea pigs now. our girls bite sometimes too, only once did our girls bit like you described and that was the late rosie( 0:)) who had liver problems. she bit the OH's hand and wouldn't let go. hoping things get sorted, hugs to you all piggies and your son too :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: girls send :-* :-* :-*
 
I wouldn't worry too much about the bite - just keep it clean and maybe cover it. I stupidly decided to try and pick Minty up today (which he hates!) and he sank his teeth into the pad of my index finger. Nice one! It's a bit swollen, throbbing and is quite achy, but nothing more. Heard the crunch though! xx0
I initially assumed Minty would have some form of skin problem, but turns out he just doesn't like being touched. As yours are normally OK, perhaps a trip to the vets for a check would be the best idea? :)
 
It is very unusual for a guinea pig to bite a human, they are renowned for their placid temperaments. I think that maybe like a few others have suggested that the guinea is feeling a bit below par, they are terribly good at hiding the fact that all is not well, have you checked for mites? this can make them extremely umcomfortable and sore to the touch.

Anyway whatever the outcome I do hope that it doesn't affect the way your son feels about the guinea and that he will still want to be a part of their routine.
 
This could sound daft but did you soon have food near him before he picked the piggie up, could have smelt the food? I know one of my boys hates me being near his face and hates it if your clapping him and they move your hand across the side of his face and he tries to bite me. he just isn't a cuddly piggie and has issue's about his face. x
 
sarsmccabe said:
This could sound daft but did you soon have food near him before he picked the piggie up, could have smelt the food? I know one of my boys hates me being near his face and hates it if your clapping him and they move your hand across the side of his face and he tries to bite me. he just isn't a cuddly piggie and has issue's about his face. x
Click to expand...

That's one of the reasons I've been bitten by our toby [Hamster.] I guess it probberz could be.
 
i wouldnt worry about the bite. i have a piggy who bits all the time, and has drawn blood a few times and I'm fine. i just put it down to his hyperactiveness, in my piggies case i think he thinks he is playing.

as others said, maybe he smelled food?
 
It may be that the guinea could smell something on your son and reacted to this or even that some guineas like the taste of salt humans (apparently) exude on their hands and was just a bit over-enthusiastic about this, or the piggy may have just been spooked for a second and reacted in a normal way for guineas.

Either way I really hope your son is OK and this unfortunate episode has not put him off the guinea pig at all.

As for the bite being dangerous - I have never heard of this and I have been bitten several times by different piggies (always pregnant, poorly or particularly nervous ones) and never suffered anything more than a bit of hurt pride really. Hopefully this was just a one-off occurrence and peace and harmony will be restored!
 
One of my piggies bit my daughter and it turned out she had just eaten a banana before handling him, so the piggie smelt banana. It has never happened again since.

If you have a pig who is aggressive without provocation, I would be getting rid of it ASAP before it hurts a child again.
 
I have always thought that a bite means that they are really not happy with something and show it by sinking their teeth in.
Certainly this is my experience

I would hazzard a guess that your son was unfortunately bitten as he was unknowingly touching a sore area, either internal or external.

Probably the little pig made a few warning sounds before the bite to let your some know that what he was doing could not continue etc but oftern these noises are low, esp if the telly is on and practically impossible to hear
 
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