Biting guinea pig help needed
Ok we got this 7 week old guinea pig this past Friday.We let it calm down until Sunday before we started picking him up.Well he is cool for the most part during these holding times but after about 10 minutes he bites me :O.Then Laura gets bit within a couple minutes when she tries to get him out to hold him.So does anyone have any suggestions on how to make him stop this biting.Or any ideas why he is doing it :confused:.Thanks ahead of time
Re: Biting guinea pig help needed
Keeping handling to less than 10 minutes to start, then gradually increase handling time.
Re: Biting guinea pig help needed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
joepythons
Ok we got this 7 week old guinea pig this past Friday.We let it calm down until Sunday before we started picking him up.Well he is cool for the most part during these holding times but after about 10 minutes he bites me :O.Then Laura gets bit within a couple minutes when she tries to get him out to hold him.So does anyone have any suggestions on how to make him stop this biting.Or any ideas why he is doing it :confused:.Thanks ahead of time
One trick i learned was tossing in a article of clothing with your scent on it in the cage. Be sure its something you dont want as it'll end up tore up, but it helps them recognize the smell as non threatening.
Re: Biting guinea pig help needed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
llovelace
Keeping handling to less than 10 minutes to start, then gradually increase handling time.
Ok.So is it possibly saying its had enough or ? lol.
Re: Biting guinea pig help needed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RichsBallPythons
One trick i learned was tossing in a article of clothing with your scent on it in the cage. Be sure its something you dont want as it'll end up tore up, but it helps them recognize the smell as non threatening.
Ok. So place like a sock of each of ours or just one at a time?
Re: Biting guinea pig help needed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
joepythons
Ok. So place like a sock of each of ours or just one at a time?
you can try anything but id suggest more of a shirt. Who ever will be handling it will need their scent in there. This trick helped on a aggressive hedgehog i had.
Re: Biting guinea pig help needed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RichsBallPythons
you can try anything but id suggest more of a shirt. Who ever will be handling it will need their scent in there. This trick helped on a aggressive hedgehog i had.
Ok i will give it a try :gj:
Re: Biting guinea pig help needed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RichsBallPythons
One trick i learned was tossing in a article of clothing with your scent on it in the cage. Be sure its something you dont want as it'll end up tore up, but it helps them recognize the smell as non threatening.
ahhhh, this works for babies also :), to help them sleep
Re: Biting guinea pig help needed
Besides placing an article of clothing ie your shirt, also make sure that when you feed your guinea pig, make sure to mix the food with your hands, this will also put your scent on the food letting the guinea pig know you are the one that feeds him. It's a little trick my vet told my sister and we had to be patient but it took awhile and it worked. :D
Re: Biting guinea pig help needed
I use to raise guinea pigs. If the cavy will tolerate minimal handling, incorporate treats with handling. Accompany the treat with petting. I've seen that once they think they will get treats when they come out and they have nothing to worry about, instead of getting bored and biting you, they will be in constant anticipation of receiving a treat. They may start head butting though, but that's far better than biting.
This method will also enfoce them to want to come out of the cage which can also be a bad thing. At one time, I had about 8 adults and the entire "herd" would flock to the front of the cages when I'd walk into the room and start their wheeking. That does get annoying after a while, though maybe it was because I had a bunch of them.
Good luck.
