Guinea pig suddenly started biting

Car.nelian

Car.nelian

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi! I have three girls (Michi, Mac, and Mona), and recently Mac has started biting me anytime I try to take her out if her cage. I’ve had her for almost a year now, and she only started doing this about a week ago. She doesn’t act like she’s scared of me, she’ll come up and eat from my hand, or boop one of my fingers when I put my hand in her cage, but anytime I go to take her out for floortime, or to clean her habitat, she’ll bite at my hands to the point of drawing blood. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to calm her down so this doesn’t happen anymore.
 
Perhaps she's in some kind of new pain or discomfort that you're accidently irritating when you pick her up? If you've had them for almost a year, it's a good time for a routine vet check anyway. I'd definitely want to rule something physical out with a sudden behavior change like that in any kind of companion animal.
 
That might be the case, but I’m not really sure. She normally only tries biting me when i’m putting my hands into the cage to get her, not when i’m actually holding her. And I actually took her into the vet a few months ago. Michi had a pretty bad case of upper respiratory infection when I first got her, and I noticed some signs of it coming back around January. So I took both her and Mac to the vet to get checked. From what he said, they were both doing very well.
 
A vet check a few months ago doesn't say anything about the current health situation.
Any sudden change of behaviour can be an indicator that something is wrong.
Or maybe she learned that it's fun to bite your hand when you put it in the cage.

If the vet check gives a clean bill of health you should think back to the situation when it all started. What was the trigger, how did you react?
Piggies learn pretty fast. If the certain behaviour is successful for the piggy, it will show this behaviour more often.
Just look at their ability to train their slaves to feed them on the spot. ;-)
 
Agreed, she could have developed any number of problems during the time since the last vet check. I'm just spitballing here but a couple of the things that come to mind are urinary tract issues and ovarian cysts. Those could definitely make a guinea pig uncomfortable and/or moody about being picked up and squished around. You won't know until you get her seen.

If it's behavioral then that's a pickle. I once had a parakeet who learned that I might drop her if she bit me hard enough. Then she would bite me just for fun. I'm afraid I never figured out the secret to making her unlearn the behavior, and so picked her up with a potholder for the rest of her days.

If that is the case, hopefully you can figure out what reward your piggy is gaining from the behavior and change it.
 
Viennese Furbabies said:
A vet check a few months ago doesn't say anything about the current health situation.
Any sudden change of behaviour can be an indicator that something is wrong.
Or maybe she learned that it's fun to bite your hand when you put it in the cage.

If the vet check gives a clean bill of health you should think back to the situation when it all started. What was the trigger, how did you react?
Piggies learn pretty fast. If the certain behaviour is successful for the piggy, it will show this behaviour more often.
Just look at their ability to train their slaves to feed them on the spot. ;-)
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My vets office doesn’t open again until Monday, so I’ll call them then to see if they can see her soon. And when it started, I was trying to get her out of her habitat so i could clean it and she but my hand. I jerked back, and talked to her for a second, and tried again. She tried biting again, so I went over and got Mona out, and came back to her afterwards.
 
So she bit you once and you took your hand away and didn't pick her up.
She bit you a second time and you caught her fellow piggy.
Biting your hand sure was a promising concept to stop you from catching her.
 
Featheryfriend said:
Agreed, she could have developed any number of problems during the time since the last vet check. I'm just spitballing here but a couple of the things that come to mind are urinary tract issues and ovarian cysts. Those could definitely make a guinea pig uncomfortable and/or moody about being picked up and squished around. You won't know until you get her seen.

If it's behavioral then that's a pickle. I once had a parakeet who learned that I might drop her if she bit me hard enough. Then she would bite me just for fun. I'm afraid I never figured out the secret to making her unlearn the behavior, and so picked her up with a potholder for the rest of her days.

If that is the case, hopefully you can figure out what reward your piggy is gaining from the behavior and change it.
Featheryfriend said:
Agreed, she could have developed any number of problems during the time since the last vet check. I'm just spitballing here but a couple of the things that come to mind are urinary tract issues and ovarian cysts. Those could definitely make a guinea pig uncomfortable and/or moody about being picked up and squished around. You won't know until you get her seen.

If it's behavioral then that's a pickle. I once had a parakeet who learned that I might drop her if she bit me hard enough. Then she would bite me just for fun. I'm afraid I never figured out the secret to making her unlearn the behavior, and so picked her up with a potholder for the rest of her days.

If that is the case, hopefully you can figure out what reward your piggy is gaining from the behavior and change it.
Click to expand...
My vet’s office doesn’t open until Monday, so i’ll call them then to see if they can see her soon. And if it’s behavioral, it wouldn’t really surprise me. She’s always been a little iffy about touch (her previous owner didn’t interact with her very much), but she’s gotten a lot better about it. As long as I don’t surprise her, she normally likes being pet or just chilling in my lap.
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Featheryfriend said:
Oh, and I don’t really grab them when I’m picking them up unless they’re out of their habitat and won’t come up to me. I just set my hands down in front of them so they’ll climb on and then bring them up to my chest.
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Viennese Furbabies said:
So she bit you once and you took your hand away and didn't pick her up.
She bit you a second time and you caught her fellow piggy.
Biting your hand sure was a promising concept to stop you from catching her.
Click to expand...
I’m sorry, I’m realizing that I didn’t include this in the original post. I don’t try actually grabbing them unless they’re outside of their habitat and they won’t come to me. Most of the time, I just set my hand in front of them, and they’ll climb on and then i bring them up to my chest before moving. My hand was just on the floor of her enclose a few inches in front of her.
 
She may simply be saying she doesn't want to be picked up or want you touching her but do speak to the vet to rule out health issues first as that is always the first port of call with any sudden change in behaviour
 
Piggies&buns said:
She may simply be saying she doesn't want to be picked up or want you touching her but do speak to the vet to rule out health issues first as that is always the first port of call with any sudden change in behaviour
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Yes, I’ll call my vet and try to get her an appointment soon.
 
Thick gloves! Or thick skin... don't take it personally.

My Zara came to me at 3 and she was a biter from the start, but I don't mind. She rarely goes in super hard but it's not a nip. She had a vet check when she first arrived and bit all of them. We have a daily routine so she knows when she's going out or in and she never doesn't bite (if that makes grammatical sense?) Yesterday afternoon she had 4 nails trimmed and bit me throughout. I just kind of live with it because all the time she's biting she's also making little unhappy squeakling noises to let me know she's not comfortable with it but that's just tough nuts, Zara, these things have to be done! Sometimes when she's in the garden and she wants to come back inside she stands in a certain place where I can see her - all expectant. When I come out she doesn't run off and often will scamper straight over to the corner where I usually scoop her. Then she waits until she's safely picked up and secure, and then she bites me and I tell her "Clever Girl!"
It's part of her charm 💕

Zaras pretty face.webp Da Boss...
 
Car.nelian said:
Hi! I have three girls (Michi, Mac, and Mona), and recently Mac has started biting me anytime I try to take her out if her cage. I’ve had her for almost a year now, and she only started doing this about a week ago. She doesn’t act like she’s scared of me, she’ll come up and eat from my hand, or boop one of my fingers when I put my hand in her cage, but anytime I go to take her out for floortime, or to clean her habitat, she’ll bite at my hands to the point of drawing blood. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to calm her down so this doesn’t happen anymore.
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Hi and welcome

Is she a single piggy? In this case, she is transferring her cavy social expectations onto you and as a teenager is now standing her ground/trying to take charge.
Please take the time to read this guide here; it looks at single guinea pigs in a range of situations and also at points where mutual but very different human and cavy social expectations come into conflict: Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities

To address the issue in guinea pig social terms (which are instinctively understood), please read these guides:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Who is the boss - your guinea pig or you?
" Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)

Guinea pig development and guinea pigs as a species:
Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs
Guinea Pig Facts - An Overview

All the best!
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome

Is she a single piggy? In this case, she is transferring her cavy social expectations onto you and as a teenager is now standing her ground/trying to take charge.
Please take the time to read this guide here; it looks at single guinea pigs in a range of situations and also at points where mutual but very different human and cavy social expectations come into conflict: Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities

To address the issue in guinea pig social terms (which are instinctively understood), please read these guides:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Who is the boss - your guinea pig or you?
" Biting" And What You Can Do (Biting, Tweaking, Nibbling and Nipping)

Guinea pig development and guinea pigs as a species:
Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs
Guinea Pig Facts - An Overview

All the best!
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No, she’s in a group with my other two girls.
 
Car.nelian said:
No, she’s in a group with my other two girls.
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How old is she? Late teenage (around a year) is generally the time when piggies push their boundaries and get on the career track, if they are so minded.
Try the piggy whispering tips to solve the problem via establishing yourself as a higher ranked herd leader who says what goes and what not.

Please also have her vet checked in case there is an underlying/developing medical problem.
 
Wiebke said:
How old is she? Late teenage (around a year) is generally the time when piggies push their boundaries and get on the career track, if they are so minded.
Try the piggy whispering tips to solve the problem via establishing yourself as a higher ranked herd leader who says what goes and what not.

Please also have her vet checked in case there is an underlying/developing medical problem.
Click to expand...
She’ll be 2 in September. And thank you i’ll check out the whispering tips. I’m planning on calling into my vets office to get her an appointment on Monday.
 
Car.nelian said:
She’ll be 2 in September. And thank you i’ll check out the whispering tips. I’m planning on calling into my vets office to get her an appointment on Monday.
Click to expand...
She could be developing ovarian cysts (which can make an appearance from 18 months onward although you would expect more dominance behaviours with her mates in this case) but it could be another cause. it is always good to close out this angle first.
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
 
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