Guinea pig jumps/twitches when stroked....

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foy465

Hi everyone i am new here, need some advice please. :)

I have 2 male guinea pigs, both of which are pretty tame, have had them both for a couple of weeks now but the last couple of days one of them has started jumping/twitching whenever i touch him, he doesn't seem to be in pain or anything just does this funny dance when i stroke him ?

I have checked him over and his skin hair etc seem ok, and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him, he just does this funny dance type thing, he is fine when i hold him.

Any ideas? thanks in advance :)
 
if its not a skin problem he could just be popcorning?

piggies do that when they are happy or excited
 
Forgot to add, they are about 7 months old, and i take them out of the cage to hand feed them veg, and this is when he does it, could it be an excited type behaviour?
 
Ooh cross post then :)

Thanks for the quick replies, it is quite comical to watch, he sort of jumps and twists at the same time, like flips around, my daughter thinks it is hilarious.

If it was mites, would he have other symptoms at the same time?
 
i think it is popcorning which they do when they are really happy :)

if he had mites, he would be scratching more, hair loss and may not like you touching him :)
 
Thanks so much, i was probably going to take him to the vet tomorrow, so that has put my mind at ease that he is ok :) i will still keep a check on his skin/hair just in case though.
 
popcorning isnt a symtom of mites :) i think it was because you mentioned twitching that we thought of mites :)
 
Ok, so i have really had a good look today, and he has a tiny tiny little red scratch mark/scab on his back, like the size of a pin head, is this mites? and will they both need treating? can you buy the medication online or is it a trip to the vets?

Thanks again. :)
 
could be the start of a skin prob, either mites or fungal infection.

if they twitch when you touch them then their skin is sore. my piggy was like that all the time wheni got him as he had a bad fungal infection
 
my guniea pig (oscar) jumps around in is hutch and i wondered if this meant he wantwd to be the dominant guinea pig? :-\
 
Have just had a pig in that was on shavings and did this when I touched him- he hated being picked up. Removed shavings and 24 hours later he is a different boy and his eyes are not so red.
 
he would be scratching a lot if he had mites I think.

Mine do that funny jumping around when I try to stroke them - they leap around and fix me with their beady eyes as if to say "hey, watch yourself"!
 
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