Biting me.

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Tayz

Tayz

Teenage Guinea Pig
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My beautiful piggie Charm has been biting me. Everytime I pick her up she bites me. I tried dodging her teeth and put her leg in the way but she started biting her leg. Because of her biting, I hardly pick her up except for when I put her in the grass.....
 
i have never been bit if i used one hand under the pigs rear paws and one under the chest

try wearing leather gloves for your protection are these hard bites do they draw blood
 
Sometimes they draw bites. Sometimes I wrap her up in a towel so she can't bite me and she just starts ripping at the towel...
 
Has she got a sore part on her which maybe hurts when you pick her up? I don't mean a wound or cut, but maybe she bruised herself somehow and it hurts? Has she always done this or just recently?
 
Hmmm .... evidently a piggie who just doesn't like being held. But you need to be able to get her, even if just so that you can take her to a vet if you ever have to. Perhaps continue to pick her up so she knows you're in control, but try Frank's idea of wearing gloves - you needn't use big gauntlets, even just a pair of gardening gloves would probably work.
 
I have had success with very nervous pigs who tended to freak out when being chased/picked up by providing a walk-in transport box. In my case it's an utpurned "pigloo" that came with the cage, which I have put hay in and pegged an old kitchen towel over the top.

At first, I just put a little treat in the box, put it in their cage/hutch and let them discover the box, even have a little nap inside. Then I start the training by putting the box (with treat!) in front of them and say" walkie walkie" and gently prod them in the back to go in. I also may lift the box when they happen to be inside and sit down with her on my lap.

Make sure you speak to her gently and encouragingly all the time, praise her anytime she gets it right and give her plenty of treats! Do not try to touch her in the box at first and never lift her out of it. Only start to gently pet her when she's comfortable sitting in the box on your lap. Eventually, she'll get the idea that it's a stressfree way of getting around and a better alternative to being picked up by you! It takes about 3-5 weeks of daily training, but the result is usually worth it.

Your piggy has probably been really badly hurt and freaked out at one point and is now afraid of being hurt again. As she's a fighter, she'll bite.

I hope that my tip may help you both to have a better time together!
 
My piggie Disney bit me for the first time tonight, only a little nibble but I think it may have been my fault .... I filled up the food bowl with veggies then couldn't resist a cuddle and I think she wanted to get back so just let me know by giving me a nibble mallethead
 
Vickyt said:
Your piggy has probably been really badly hurt and freaked out at one point and is now afraid of being hurt again. As she's a fighter, she'll bite.
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OMG! I KNOW WHAT WRONG! when I got her, it was from school. I had to bring her home on the bus in my jumper as It was a spur of the moment thing and if I didn't take her the girl would have drowned her that night. The bus I took picks up a few kids for a primary school and one of the kids who got on has problems(those type of people with problems and they talk funny, act funny etc)(tries to explain in nice way) and he saw I had her with me and he asked me if he could pat her. I shook my head and told him she was scared and i didn't want to move her too much but he shoved his hand over and pat her. I allowed it angrily, but then he suddenly ripped her away from me. I screamed and the bus driver(who has been a really good friend of mine forever) stopped the bus and my bestie, the bus driver, the teacher(who had been looking after the kids until the bus got here) and me were begging him to give her back. If I wasn't so scared I would have balled my eyes out. I had one job, to get her home safely, and this stupid little kid was now sqweezing the life out of her.
And all of a sudden he just threw her at us all. My bestie and I both leaned forward to try and catch the flying pig. My bestie missed but I caught her, quickly hugging her close. The bus driver started yelling at him and drove off. Several minutes later he came over and asked to pat her again. I dragged her closer to me and refused for him to see her.

Maybe I might have triggered a reminder of that day sometime a few months ago or something...She was barely a month old(the owner had sold her mum already)
 
:( So what do you think I should do.
I really was scared that that dramatic experience would hurt her mentally....and it's all my fault..
 
I saw the kid today at my school. Don't know why he was there, I guess he was looking for his sister. I felt like screaming at him. But in the end, I turned around and walked around the corner until I calmed down.

It is my fault. If I had not let him pat Charm in the first place, he wouldn't have been able to grab her...
 
Yes that would probably explain it! What a horrible, horrible story!

If her trauma goes that deep, you may probably never get her over it completely, but it is always worth trying, even if it may take months! Just take it very slowly, give her lots of praise and try to project as much loving and warm feeling towards her while you are doing it.

She'll probably always have a problem with the vets - being held firmly WILL trigger her trauma. Perhaps you could train her to sit still in a shallow box having her favourite meal while you check her and slowly get her used to being touched all over, even to having her front paws lifted, so, if possible you and the vet can eventually examine her without lifting her up too much while she's distracted with food? It may also help with cutting her nails!

Never stop talking to her and give her as much praise and encouragement as possible - piggies like it as much as any dog! And always try to associate new things with good memories. If she takes fright, step back, let her calm down for the day and go back to the previous level. I always have a treat for my pigs as soon as the vet stops with them, so they know when its over and they can relax.

Or you can use the walkie box for her to walk out on on your belly or the examination table.

But whichever way you choose, you will have an uphill battle on your hands and you will need a lot of patience and persistence. I admire you for saving her and hope that you can help her getting over her bad experiences and win her trust.

By the way, what is the name of your poor lady?
 
Sorry, went just back to the start and saw that she's called "Charm". She's hopefully got both the grace AND the good luck in having come across you!
 
Thanks, she is the most amazing pig ever. I've never met a pig with such a strong will to survive....
 
We think of piggy as fluffy, daft animals that squeek when they are fed, petted or hurt...

But they can surprise us again and again! The fact that Charm is biting you, tells me that she really is a fighter!

I had another biter/fighter as well, once. It took me over a year before I could "accidentally" touch her, and a bit longer until she accepted being stroked. But once she did, it didn't matter to her whether she had a little pet while running free in the garden or sitting on my lap.

I invented the "walkie box" for Minx, so I could ferry her around without regular tussles and bruised skin from her tweaks.
 
My 3 pigs all bite my OH (never me or the kids - its only my OH) and the only reason we can think is that she must give off a certain 'smell' with the medication she takes.

They're really deep bites as well, blood is drawn everytime and every week there's a new battle scar. After today she won't be handling the pigs again, it'll just be me and the kids as having to keep getting anti-biotics for infected bites isn't funny.
 
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