Biting

[Leigh P]

My youngest boar piggie, Pip, is now about 8 weeks old and is finding his feet well in his new home with our other boar piggie, Chip. The problem I have is that although he seems to be quite a friendly pig, he has started to nip us. Nothing too serious but definitely more than a gentle nibble! He had hold of my jumper sleeve the other day and was pulling backwards towards his bedroom! Is he just thinking that every time we go to the hutch its feeding time?

Is there anything we can do to stop the biting? We want to handle him a lot but are worried that he may bite our 9 year old daughter and she will get hurt as we know how sharp their teeth can be.

Please help - we've never had a biter before! (although my OH did have one of the pigs bite him once, and it went down to the bone!).

 

[Wiebke]

There is a big difference between "tweaking" or "nipping" to say "I don't like this and am trying to get my way" and biting to the bone if a piggy is suddenly surprised/scared by something.

Tell your boy gently but firmly "no" and praise him lavishly for everything else that is "good" behaviour, and he will take the hint. Guinea pigs explore the world with the mouth.