Ouch! She drew blood

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Gemma McD

Gemma McD

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I was having a snuggle with Saffy and had been petting her. She was on my chest while I was lying on the sofa and I was stroking her side which she has always seemed to like. Next thing I know she's bitten me on the thumb and drawn blood :0 Not sure why oe what I did to upset her, was she just being naughty? Previously she's always been quite sweet and has licked me, so this was really unexpected. Any ideas?
 
Maybe something startled her? That happened to me with Enrico. I was just stroking him on the back, then the wind blew a door shut and startled him and he bit me.
 
HairlessWillow7 said:
Maybe something startled her? That happened to me with Enrico. I was just stroking him on the back, then the wind blew a door shut and startled him and he bit me.
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She is a bit nervy so although I didn't notice anything, she may well have done. I'll see how she is next time we have a bit of lap time
:))
 
She may have just got carried away nibbling you. Sophie will often do that!
 
It happens now and then, thier teeth are so sharp that it takes very little pressure to draw blood. Tufty recently swung his head round quickly while his mouth was oped and gave me a little 'paper' type cut.
 
Piggy when i first brought him home I held him and he would often bite me but its cos he was a bit wild and not handed or socialised before me - he was cruelly treated i think too cos he was very scared of everything
 
PiggyLove said:
Piggy when i first brought him home I held him and he would often bite me but its cos he was a bit wild and not handed or socialised before me - he was cruelly treated i think too cos he was very scared of everything
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I think nerves is Saffy's problem. Neither her nor Ginny had been handled that much but Ginny is much more laidback, let's you handle her and wants to be loved. Saffy is the opposite and quite a scaredy cavy! During floor time she follows Ginny where ever she goes and wheeks like crazy if they get seperated. She needs lots of careful and patient handling. Hoping she'll follow Ginny's example and gradually relax
 
Probably just worried herself bless her. I was recently bit, 'really' hard by a piggie. They panicked and tried to start a fight so i put the piggie back to bed and they turned around and bit me so hard it went all the way through my skin layer down to my muscle and it killed, i now have a lovely scar as a keepsake. But i know she didnt mean it to hurt me that much. Poor little scared girly. : ( Just sounds like a worried bite to me.

x.
 
Abi_nurse said:
Probably just worried herself bless her. I was recently bit, 'really' hard by a piggie. They panicked and tried to start a fight so i put the piggie back to bed and they turned around and bit me so hard it went all the way through my skin layer down to my muscle and it killed, i now have a lovely scar as a keepsake. But i know she didnt mean it to hurt me that much. Poor little scared girly. : ( Just sounds like a worried bite to me.

x.
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Think it must have been as now if I go to pick her up and start to put my hands underneath her she'll swing her head at me. Before that happened she had started to settle and I'd been able to pick her up and she'd relax but something's changed :(
 
One of my boys chewed my arm the other day whilst I was butt amd nail trimming him, at the same time he was licking as if he knew he'd drawn blood :{
Said to my OH if it leaves a scar, am going to have a guinea pig mouth tattooed around it :(|)
 
Perhaps something to bear in mind is mites. When piggies get mites they can be super sensitive and get very annoyed at being touched, especially down their back/rear. I've not been bitten myself but my pigs have been very agitated at being picked up, whenever they've had mites. Just a thought.
 
Guinea pig slave said:
One of my boys chewed my arm the other day whilst I was butt amd nail trimming him, at the same time he was licking as if he knew he'd drawn blood :{
Said to my OH if it leaves a scar, am going to have a guinea pig mouth tattooed around it :(|)
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That I'd like to see! :(|)
 
missy said:
Perhaps something to bear in mind is mites. When piggies get mites they can be super sensitive and get very annoyed at being touched, especially down their back/rear. I've not been bitten myself but my pigs have been very agitated at being picked up, whenever they've had mites. Just a thought.
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How can I tell, and if they do how do I treat it? Definitely worth checking into by the sounds of it. Thank you :))
 
Gemma McD said:
How can I tell, and if they do how do I treat it? Definitely worth checking into by the sounds of it. Thank you :))
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The biggest telltale sign that a pig has mites (burrowing/mange mites, rather than ear mites) is the constant scratching! They'll be very itchy and their hair will often be thinning in places or breaking off partway down the hair shaft.

Mite treatment is usually Ivermectin; administered either as a 'spot on' drops type treatment (like Xeno 50 or Xeno 450, depending on age) OR some Vets give ivermectin by injection instead.

As with anything, obviously it's important to be sure of what you're dealing with before you look at treatment, especially as fungal skin infections are also very common in pigs and can also cause pigs to bite and/or become very agitated when touched, so that's also definitely worth bearing in mind too!

Gorgeous Guineas has lots of useful info about piggy skin issues:

http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/indentification.html
http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/parasitic.html

Hopefully Saffy's just nervous and will settle down soon but in the meantime I'd keep an eye on her skin/body in case it's something else which is troubling her.
 
missy said:
The biggest telltale sign that a pig has mites (burrowing/mange mites, rather than ear mites) is the constant scratching! They'll be very itchy and their hair will often be thinning in places or breaking off partway down the hair shaft.

Mite treatment is usually Ivermectin; administered either as a 'spot on' drops type treatment (like Xeno 50 or Xeno 450, depending on age) OR some Vets give ivermectin by injection instead.

As with anything, obviously it's important to be sure of what you're dealing with before you look at treatment, especially as fungal skin infections are also very common in pigs and can also cause pigs to bite and/or become very agitated when touched, so that's also definitely worth bearing in mind too!

Gorgeous Guineas has lots of useful info about piggy skin issues:

http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/indentification.html
http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/parasitic.html

Hopefully Saffy's just nervous and will settle down soon but in the meantime I'd keep an eye on her skin/body in case it's something else which is troubling her.
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Thank you, that's a very useful site. I'll keep an eye on them both, especially as I don't know their history and suspect they didn't get the right care.
 
could she have smelled something on your fingers like food? If i take mine out and feed her on my lap she will sometimes sniff my fingers and try a nibble by mistake
 
I know exactly what your going through, as you know, we have been piggie mummies for the same amount of time...I thought we were getting good results with our piggie boys, showing signs of being alot braver, feeding from our hands and even managing a few mins on a lap on a towel with out struggling to get down and away from us...but 2 days ago I let my daughter sit with one piggie on her lap and for some reason he bit her arm....it didnt break the skin but left her in tears with a bruise...now she is more reluctant to sit with them. I said all along that it will take time to get them used to us but it feels like ive taken a step back rather than a step forward :0 I love my piggies and will continue to take it slowly, I have begun to use a cardboard tunnel to pick them up with as it was recommended by another owner that it can help so thats what we are trying now x. My piggies groom themselves alot but dont scratch alot so I am hoping that its normal clean piggie behaviour rather than mites! but I will be keeping my eye on them.
 
EL60 said:
could she have smelled something on your fingers like food? If i take mine out and feed her on my lap she will sometimes sniff my fingers and try a nibble by mistake
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Not this time, I hadn't been handling food. I think she either got a fright and nipped me cos she was scared or she was just being a naughty girl!
 
Oh piggieowner40, that was exactly how I felt as it really did seem a step back! I use their pigloo now to catch them, don't even try to do it by hand. I make sure they are handled regulalry, they have floor time and I will feed them treats and I try to give them laptime in the evening as well. Up until that point Saffy had started to relax and he'd even licked mex) She has recently started to relax again with me, so maybe things were going too fast for her. Did wonder if she was in heat and that made her cranky? Ginny hasn't changed other than to get calmer and more relaxed around me, she's a soppy girl :(|)
 
lets hope its not mites....thats the one thing I dread! @)

Ive got a few nice little treats for the boys, and will try to give them lots of attention and a few mins lap time every day. Now Ive just got to convince my daughter that the piggies wont hurt her ....sigh
 
piggieowner40 said:
lets hope its not mites....thats the one thing I dread! @)

Ive got a few nice little treats for the boys, and will try to give them lots of attention and a few mins lap time every day. Now Ive just got to convince my daughter that the piggies wont hurt her ....sigh
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Must say mites concern me too, but Ginny is OK with me picking her up and stroking me, so thinking it hopefully isn't. Every night, after my son is in bed and it's nice and calm, I bring them out for a snuggle and they have started to relax. Ginny stretches out on me and Saffy did last night as well. Have had some lovely snuggles with them and I do enjoy feeling a piggy stretch out on me
x)
 
Just another thought....not sure if anyone else has mentioned it but some guinea pigs will give a little nibble/nip on your skin or tug at your clothes when they want to be put back in their cage (usually for a wee!) Normally it wouldn't be a proper bite or enough to break the skin though but do you think it may have been something like that?

Do you have any fleece cosies/cuddle cups for your pigs? That type of thing is brilliant for getting new/nervous piggies used to lap time and are also great for kids to use. You can still stroke the piggy but they will feel more secure and relaxed when they're slightly enclosed and snug. I'd definitely recommend getting one (or making one) if you don't already have one. My pigs especially like the type which are like a pocket/sleeping bag rather than the more open 'bed' type but it's just personal piggy preference! Audioheart and Threelittlepigs both sell homemade cosies etc - see this forum's For Sale/Wanted section :)
 
I hadn't thought of that. I did pop her back in her hutch shortly after it happened so if she did need a wee I wouldn't have seen. She's been much better the last few days but I have altered the way I handled her as she was also having issues with her mother :)) I will be getting them cosies or something similar soon, just need to decide what. As they are outdoor piggies maybe a pocket/ piggy sleeping bag type of thing would keep them warmer at night. She's made no attempt to nip me since so hopefully she's settling in nicely now.
 
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