Bitey Guinea

KaitlinH

KaitlinH

Junior Guinea Pig
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Location
West Midlands
We have had our new guinea pigs for a few weeks. We have been handling them but in short bursts and in quiet places so they don't get as nervous. Marmite is super friendly already and just lets you pick him up. Although he prefers to be in his hutch (most guineas do), he will sit calmly and take food off of you. Our other piggie, Crumpet, is a lot more nervous when being handled so we are trying our best to build up trust with him. They're both getting on swimmingly too.

This morning, I had to clean out the hutch and, because their hutch is only one floor, I decided to leave them in their run with my mum and sister, who they are both used to being handled by. They were having a great time in the run: playing with chew toys and eating veggies. When it was time for me to put them back in the hutch, Marmite was fine but Crumpet got really bitey on me. We are used to nibbling as all guineas do it to explore surroundings but he was biting and pulling. He shows no aggression to other guinea pigs. When he's on your lap, he is fine. It's only when he's being picked up and taken somewhere. Is it just because he's scared or is it something we need to try and sort out.
 
One from each of my 2 pairs used to get a bit bitey in the beginning when I was returning them to their cage. I just saw it as they were trying to tell me that they wanted to get down urgently to the safety of their cage , sort of a "Now! Now! I need to get down now!" kind of thing.
Ronnie and Geoff are now like little dogs and hop into their beds to be transported to and from their run ( with a bit of persuasion needed on the return run!)
Samson and Weasel are newer and don't quite have the same temperament as the other two, so when Weasel wouldn't get into something for transport and I had to pick him up, if he started to nibble I would warmly and gently (but a bit firmly) say "No biting!" and briefly stop moving toward the cage or lowering him in so that he would associate biting with the opposite of what he wanted to happen.
They cottoned on very quickly so think it was just about communicating needs rather than being stroppy!:D
 
In my experience they use biting to communicate with us, a few of my pigs bite my clothes if they want to use the toilet and are warning me to put them back or be covered in wee lol.

Iggy bit me because he was in pain initially and fed up of his treatment. He still does it occasionally but I think he does it when he wants to go back too.

The main thing to remember is that it is not personal, they're not doing it because they don't like you. We can't speak to them so they need to communicate in a way that gets our attention, that's what they would do with each other. So don't be offended :)
 
spock said:
One from each of my 2 pairs used to get a bit bitey in the beginning when I was returning them to their cage. I just saw it as they were trying to tell me that they wanted to get down urgently to the safety of their cage , sort of a "Now! Now! I need to get down now!" kind of thing.
Ronnie and Geoff are now like little dogs and hop into their beds to be transported to and from their run ( with a bit of persuasion needed on the return run!)
Samson and Weasel are newer and don't quite have the same temperament as the other two, so when Weasel wouldn't get into something for transport and I had to pick him up, if he started to nibble I would warmly and gently (but a bit firmly) say "No biting!" and [you]briefly[/you] stop moving toward the cage or lowering him in so that he would associate biting with the opposite of what he wanted to happen.
They cottoned on very quickly so think it was just about communicating needs rather than being stroppy!:D
Click to expand...

Thank you so much. Mine only bites when I'm transporting him around so thank you for the reassurance.

Cavy Kung-Fu said:
In my experience they use biting to communicate with us, a few of my pigs bite my clothes if they want to use the toilet and are warning me to put them back or be covered in wee lol.

Iggy bit me because he was in pain initially and fed up of his treatment. He still does it occasionally but I think he does it when he wants to go back too.

The main thing to remember is that it is not personal, they're not doing it because they don't like you. We can't speak to them so they need to communicate in a way that gets our attention, that's what they would do with each other. So don't be offended :)
Click to expand...

He had bitten my clothes beforehand when I went to stroke them for a few minutes before putting them away. Maybe it was just his way of telling me he needed the toilet.

Thank you both so much! xx
 
One of our pigs bites when carried, it is a fear reflex. You can always use a technique like below video
 
Yes sorry I rambled on a bit in my post! I meant to say that transporting in something could be the key!
:doh:
 
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