Bite

[Deleted member 151640]

You may be thinking, isn’t this more behaviour and bonding, the answer is no.
I infact was the one bit, apparently my finger looked like a cucumber.

I was feeding my recently bloated boar so he hadn’t had veg in a little while, so he was very excited for his first cucumber since, and when he was making his way along the cucumber he ended at my finger.

Unfortunately our bond has failed and we will need to be separated immediately (Bonding Joke)

But in all seriousness i’m just wondering if I can be transmitted anything as I realised in all my years of guinea pig looking after I have never been bit, and do not really want to turn into a rabid guinea pig person, sounds like a pretty lame superhero.

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

Depending how deep he bit you it is possible you could get an infection. I was once bitten by a boar when I was cleaning him out. I had put him in a crate where others had been and stupidly put my hand in to pick him up without paying attention and he mistook it for an other boar and latched onto my knuckle. It was seriously painful and I even screamed and when I pulled my hand away in reflex he was still clinging on on mid air! We both had a big fright! The next day my hand swelled up and I started to feel a bit feverish and had to have a course of antibiotics. It was a very deep bite tho.

 

[Deleted member 151640]

Depending how deep he bit you it is possible you could get an infection. I was once bitten by a boar when I was cleaning him out. I had put him in a crate where others had been and stupidly put my hand in to pick him up without paying attention and he mistook it for an other boar and latched onto my knuckle. It was seriously painful and I even screamed and when I pulled my hand away in reflex he was still clinging on on mid air! We both had a big fright! The next day my hand swelled up and I started to feel a bit feverish and had to have a course of antibiotics. It was a very deep bite tho.

I don’t believe it was as deep as that, it wasn’t scream worthy and was about as painful when I am cleaning them out and one of them “nip” lunge at me, thinking I am a pig invading their space, but it did draw blood.

I may just keep an eye on it, and definitely give it another check tomorrow morning.

 

[Wiebke]

You may be thinking, isn’t this more behaviour and bonding, the answer is no.
I infact was the one bit, apparently my finger looked like a cucumber.

I was feeding my recently bloated boar so he hadn’t had veg in a little while, so he was very excited for his first cucumber since, and when he was making his way along the cucumber he ended at my finger.

Unfortunately our bond has failed and we will need to be separated immediately (Bonding Joke)

But in all seriousness i’m just wondering if I can be transmitted anything as I realised in all my years of guinea pig looking after I have never been bit, and do not really want to turn into a rabid guinea pig person, sounds like a pretty lame superhero.

Hi

Just disinfect the bite wound but you have to be really unlucky if you catch an infection from a deep bite which can be dealt with by an antibiotic. There is actually not too much that can be transmitted between guinea pigs and humans but guinea pigs always have some gunk in their mouths. I have had bites (two of them deep instinctive defence bites to fingers when I was a teenager) but I have never had an infection.

To be honest, I have had a lot more trouble from rose thorns than from piggy bites over the years.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

A very long time ago, I was bonding boars and had read online that you should first introduce them on your lap, with one facing one way and the other facing the other way! NOT RECOMMENDED!

The teeth chattering started immediately and Jippi lunged at the inside of my arm and his incisors sliced down it, just like a Stanley knife! The blood gushed! I managed to get the other piggy back into his cage and Jippi into the bathroom and grabbed a towel to wrap around my arm. I phoned my daughter to ask her to come and take me to hospital! She thought I was exaggerating until she saw how badly injured I was. She was then more worried that Jippi would need to be put to sleep! Err no! There isn’t a dangerous guinea pig act!

Anyway, when I arrived at the hospital and explained what had happened there were lots of giggles, until a nurse noticed the amount of blood seeping through the towel. I was quickly fast tracked through and my arm was stitched. Initially I wasn’t given antibiotics, but within a couple of days I had to go to the GP to get some prescribed!

 

[Deleted member 151640]

A very long time ago, I was bonding boars and had read online that you should first introduce them on your lap, with one facing one way and the other facing the other way! NOT RECOMMENDED!

The teeth chattering started immediately and Jippi lunged at the inside of my arm and his incisors sliced down it, just like a Stanley knife! The blood gushed! I managed to get the other piggy back into his cage and Jippi into the bathroom and grabbed a towel to wrap around my arm. I phoned my daughter to ask her to come and take me to hospital! She thought I was exaggerating until she saw how badly injured I was. She was then more worried that Jippi would need to be put to sleep! Err no! There isn’t a dangerous guinea pig act!

Anyway, when I arrived at the hospital and explained what had happened there were lots of giggles, until a nurse noticed the amount of blood seeping through the towel. I was quickly fast tracked through and my arm was stitched. Initially I wasn’t given antibiotics, but within a couple of days I had to go to the GP to get some prescribed!

You know, in all my years I have never heard of on the lap bonding, thankfully..

I am glad to hear you and Jippi were okay in the end!

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

You know, in all my years I have never heard of on the lap bonding, thankfully..

I am glad to hear you and Jippi were okay in the end!

It’s amazing that boar/boar bonds are my favourites to do! You’d have thought I’d have been put off for ever!

 

[Wiebke]

You know, in all my years I have never heard of on the lap bonding, thankfully..

I am glad to hear you and Jippi were okay in the end!

It was a rather short-lived fad that didn't live up to the hype since it resulted in a quite a number of deep defence bites from stressed out boars landing both on boars and on any human parts - it is a split second instinctive reaction triggered by any sudden movement. And it certainly didn't do anything to promote a successful bonding.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

It was a rather short-lived fad that didn't live up to the hype since it resulted in a quite a number of deep defence bites of stressed out boars landing both on boars and on any moving human parts. And it certainly didn't do anything to promote a successful bonding.

I was just relieved it was me who got injured and not the other boar, as it was such a deep and nasty wound

 

[Deleted member 151640]

It’s amazing that boar/boar bonds are my favourites to do! You’d have thought I’d have been put off for ever!

Honestly hats off, I do think I would be quite put off after that.

I hate to imagine what possibly might have went down with other affected piggies that have/had less informed and caring owners because of a stupid fad.

 

[Wiebke]

Honestly hats off, I do think I would be quite put off after that.

I hate to imagine what possibly might have went down with other affected piggies that have/had less informed and caring owners because of a stupid fad.

In the USA, for a 'biting' or 'aggressive' boar ending up back at the shop or a temporary holding/killing shelter (the equivalent of a pund in the UK), it is usually a death sentence.
Most deep bites are actually triggered by fear/stress and not aggression.

If you want to find out more about the different types of biting and what is behind them, then you may find these two links here interesting:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
" Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

In the USA, for a 'biting' or 'aggressive' boar ending up back at the shop or a temporary holding/killing shelter (the equivalent of a pund in the UK), it is usually a death sentence.
Most deep bites are actually triggered by fear/stress and not aggression.

If you want to find out more about the different types of biting and what is behind them, then you may find these two links here interesting:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
" Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)

The bite I received was 100% a defence attack, a case of mistaking my hand for an other boar suddenly right in his face and entirely my fault.

 

[Wiebke]

The bite I received was 100% a defence attack, a case of mistaking my hand for an other boar suddenly right in his face and entirely my fault.

One of my teenage bites was also a clear defence bite and my own fault.

The other bite happened right out of the blue during cuddling but I assume that it must have been a sudden sound or smell out of my own range that must have upset him and my hand (which was not moving at the time) was just the closest thing to go for. That one was really deep and hurt!

But I have been at the receiving end of quite a number of much more shallower deliberate skin breaking tweaks to fingers and arms from adopted stuck in rescue piggies that I have rehabilited but I never got an infection from them. I've just disinfected as soon as I finished piggy whispering (or working on how to best deal with the problem in the years before).