Chewing on cage bars?

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Jojoba

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My older guinea pig, Silvio, has just started chewing on the bars of his hutch incessantly.
It's driving me mad! I've checked his teeth and they seem fine, he's now also using his paws and scratching at the bars as though he wants to get out? His cage is freshly cleaned out, he gets regular cuddles, I don't know what else he might want? When I open the front he looks out (he's on the second storey) and peers around a bit, then goes away, then comes back... He doesn't seem desperate to escape or anything.
He has food, water, fruity gnaw stick, hay and blackberry nibble sticks. He lives alone as won't bond with another pig and now too old to neuter (he's been alone for a couple of years now).
I have two other males who live below him but he couldn't be less interested in them. They have been there for 5 months now.

Any ideas as to why he is doing this?

Thanks
Jo
 
maybe he can smell the other piggies below and wants to see them. Archilles one of my lone boys is the same, fell out with Merlin big time, but if he can't see him chews the bars and eats the coroplast, as soon as he can see him it all stops...
 
Rub vicks vaporub on the bars, they hate the smell of it so it acts as a deterrent. This works wonders with my bar chewers, the only downside is that it only works for 12 hours then will need refreshing!

It could be that he's just bored or is trying to grind his teeth down. If you or anyone you know have any apple or pear trees then try giving him a fresh piece of wood cut from a branch, mine much prefer this to a shop bought wooden accessory. Xx
 
I have a spray that i got from pets at home that stops chewing. Its made for small animals and is completely non toxic! And it works!
 
My piggy did this when I had him in a seprerate cage to the other pig - as soon as I put them together he stopped doing it.
Its ok trying different sprays etc to deter him from chewing the bars, but its best to find out the reason he's doing it in the first place, incase its that he needs piggy company.
 
I'm worried that he is saying he does need company, but he is too old to neuter now and he has been tried with a baby boar before and they fell out badly and had to be separated. If I introduce a baby again I'm running the risk of ending up with two single boars again when the little one reaches puberty :/. I looked online about neutered females, as this is the only viable option I can see, but they seem to be extremely rare. Does anyone else have any other suggestions?

Ps if I show him the piggies below he doesn't even register them - they come up to the bars but he just acts like he can't see them.
 
It can just be a habit that they pick up, they just like chewing, or it can be because they want something one of mine does it when he wants more food, they learn pretty quickly if a behaviour is rewarding. I try to distract him with willow and apple sticks, make sure he has everything he needs but ultimately I found covering the bars the only way to stop it completely. Giving them more space can help a bit, if you're able to put him out in a run for a while every day (particularly on grass) then he may be less inclined to bar chew.

As for finding a friend, there are rescues that do 'boar dating' so he can be matched up with a suitable companion at the rescue. If you let us know whereabouts you are I'm sure someone will be able to recommend one.
 
KaitRoo said:
Rub vicks vaporub on the bars, they hate the smell of it so it acts as a deterrent. This works wonders with my bar chewers, the only downside is that it only works for 12 hours then will need refreshing!

It could be that he's just bored or is trying to grind his teeth down. If you or anyone you know have any apple or pear trees then try giving him a fresh piece of wood cut from a branch, mine much prefer this to a shop bought wooden accessory. Xx
Click to expand...

Thanks for the Vapor rub tip. My neutered boar has been driving me mad with his chewing the bars. He has a female companion but she doesn't get on with my other 3 girls so they're just separated by bars. I've just put some vapor rub on the bars & straightaway he turned his nose up in disgust and backed off. A very good tip.
 
Another thing to consider when looking at bar a chew is that it can damaged their gums

If you look at these two photos of a chronic bar chew are of mine, the tooth with a calcium deposits on its outside was caused by repeatedly breaking the tooth whilst bar chewing, it subsequently became infected and my vet first treated with Zithromax,

But unfortunately the pulp was killed off of substantially weakening the tooth and my vet extracted the lower incisor

Unfortunately she was only able to manage to get 2/3 of the tooth and the root is still in their, But my vet considered as long as the pigs immune system was strong enough the remaining piece of root would not be a problem, luckily she was right, up to now anyway

this is nearly a year ago now,

I will sort out the set of photos to show you what I mean



 
It's weird my pig chews of the bars of her hutch, it's only when she knows someone has come outside and wants to be released, or when she's displeased about being locked back in the hutch. But it has never been a constant thing or obsessive.
 
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