please help me ;__;

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gracie

gracie

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okay so my three pigs live in a two storey wooden hutch i bought from P@H
it's this one-

http://www.petsathome.com/find/keyword-is-hutch/product-is-13199


they've got cushions, fruit sticks, a couple of toilet rolls (they love the cardboard lol) a regular guinea pig tunnel, and get fresh veg every day. the dry food bowl and water bowl are also filled up twice a day.
i'm just giving some basic information about their eating as i'm wondering if it might be something to do with my problem. basically, they're just hellbent on demolishing the hutch!
they've ripped most of the wood off the ramp which connects the two floors; i've been woken up several times last night by the noise of them chewing it.
so this morning i put them on the upper level and closed the bottom off so i could get a couple of hours sleep. and woke up to them chewing the lining of the top level.
it's literally driving me mad; i know guinea pigs chew things but the noise of it is so loud and they're literally ripping chunks off their lovely new hutch. they also keep taking turns- i get one to stop it and another just goes ahead and starts doing it!
i can't understand them being bored- i take them out twice a day and put them in a home made run, and like i said they've got plenty of other stuff to chew one. i've tried clapping and making noises when they go to do it, and it has no effect at all. aside from that i'm clueless as to how to stop them doing it. i have to keep going over to the hutch every five minutes to make them run away, and it's scaring them and upsetting me having to do it =[
if anyone knows of any guinea pig friendly repellents i could use to stop them doing this i'd be so grateful.
help please?
 
edit: just to give a bit of a bigger picture, i just cleaned them out, put some clean towels down, made them a nest with a box and some pillow cases, filled up the dry food/water bowls, filled up the hayrack, changed their fruit stick, and put some fresh apple in. it's lasted about 15-20 minutes and then baxter started chewing the ramp again. now he won't stop =[
 
My boys nibble the bars of anything, nibble here nibble there. Because they are outside piggies I only hear them when I go to feed them/play with them/take them out/put them in the run. If I can't them doing this, one quick spray of water stops them. Tobii freezes and then backs away, shakes and goes of to eat some hay. Rocket runs away, then comes out to shake and for a cuddle.. I would just buy a spray bottle like you can get for gardening and spray them if you catch them nibbling :D It doesn't hurt and piggies don't like water but it won't kill them - it might just be a bit of a shock..
 
Rancor said:
If I can't them doing this, one quick spray of water stops them. Tobii freezes and then backs away, shakes and goes of to eat some hay. Rocket runs away, then comes out to shake and for a cuddle.. I would just buy a spray bottle like you can get for gardening and spray them if you catch them nibbling :D It doesn't hurt and piggies don't like water but it won't kill them - it might just be a bit of a shock..
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It is advisable to keep a spray bottle handy when you are bonding guinea pigs- to stop fighting that could draw blood, but not in this way. 'Shocking' guinea pigs purposely, though you are right to say it doesn't hurt them physically, is very distressing to some. :... When a guinea pig freezes, it is not a good thing. Also guinea pigs don't learn through punishment like people- or even other animals such as dogs and cats. Nibbling is a natural urge too- not something that should be punished. To be on this forum means that you obviously love your piggies- perhaps you might consider not doing this?

Gracie- your piggies seem to have tonnes to do so won't be bored, they are just trying to wear their teeth down. I'm sorry I can't remember now (even though I've just read your post!), but do you have some wooden things in there for them to chew- I know you have cardboard but what about a few wooded tunnels/ ramps/ chew sticks? That way you might be in luck...?
 
I have the same hutch and had the same problem, it must be made of really tasty wood or something lol.

You can buy Chew Stoppa Spray from P@H, you spray it on and leave it to dry and it makes the wood taste disgusting so they dont chew it. On the site it says its for cats and dogs, but on the actual bottle it says it can be used for guinea pigs, and I've been using it for years and haven't had problems so I dont think its harmful or anything. :)
 
MissPiggy78 said:
It is advisable to keep a spray bottle handy when you are bonding guinea pigs- to stop fighting that could draw blood, but not in this way. 'Shocking' guinea pigs purposely, though you are right to say it doesn't hurt them physically, is very distressing to some. :... When a guinea pig freezes, it is not a good thing. Also guinea pigs don't learn through punishment like people- or even other animals such as dogs and cats. Nibbling is a natural urge too- not something that should be punished. To be on this forum means that you obviously love your piggies- perhaps you might consider not doing this?
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this is exactly what i was thinking. thanks for your tip rancor but i don't think i could bear punishing them in any way at all. i felt guilty just putting them in the top part of the hutch!
it might work for your pigs but all i wanted to do was distract them from it rather then punishing them, to me it just seems cruel as they're in a word completely defenceless and all it would do is scare them.

MissPiggy78, yes they do have chew toys; fruit sticks, toilet tubes, cardboard boxes and I'm going to be getting them an apple tree branch as soon as I can <3

Poison that's brilliant =D exactly the sort of thing I was hoping would be on the market. As long as all it does is make them not want to chew it? Mine are so stubborn they might still try to demolish the wood underneath and i don't want it to make them ill. And would it be okay to spray, for example, all down the ramp, on the door of the secluded compartment, and on the piece of wood which closes down over the ramp to section off the two floors (these are all the places they chew and I want to make sure it can be used on a large area of relatively enclosed hutchspace)
 
Poison that's brilliant =D exactly the sort of thing I was hoping would be on the market. As long as all it does is make them not want to chew it? Mine are so stubborn they might still try to demolish the wood underneath and i don't want it to make them ill. And would it be okay to spray, for example, all down the ramp, on the door of the secluded compartment, and on the piece of wood which closes down over the ramp to section off the two floors (these are all the places they chew and I want to make sure it can be used on a large area of relatively enclosed hutchspace)
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As far as I'm aware as long as the spray is dry before you give them access to the hutch they should fine, it does have a bit of a smell when it is first sprayed but this disappears once its dried. I found that its fine to spray on large areas, I've had to spray the whole ramp, the piece of wood that divides the dark area, the pieces of wood that keep the ramp in place and the wood that holds the wire mesh in. It gives the wood a bitter taste, sort of like the stuff that people use to stop them biting their nails. :)
 
p@H also do a alfafa based log thing called snak shax. This is really hard and great for their teeth.
 
okay
i bought some of the spray from my local pet store
also got them some chew sticks (i think they're willow but not sure) that came in a bundle- you just untie them and leave them in the cage as separate sticks and they're meant to enjoy chewing them as they would normal branches.
i sprayed near enough every inch of the hutch, and although they licked it they didn't chew it. baxter was a bit sneaky and moved onto a different bit, but i just sprayed that bit until there was pretty much nothing left to chew!
muffin tried it, i clapped and she stopped. ruby's near enough left it alone.
that was about four days ago? they've had a little chew since but not as bad as before, and they don't do it for as long. only thing is they've barely touched the sticks i bought them and idk why unless they're just being picky!
thanks for everyone's advice though the spray really has had an effect and while i was there i picked up a few other toys and treats for them, so they're happy spoiled piggies now =D
 
hi ,smokey and bandit were chewing there hutch so i went out and brought these little guinea pig abc wooden cubes and other wooden toys and it stopped within a few days so maybe just harder things to knaw if you haven't tried that hope your piggys are well:)
 
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