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

Keeping handling to less than 10 minutes to start, then gradually increase handling time.

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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

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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.

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Originally Posted by llovelace

Keeping handling to less than 10 minutes to start, then gradually increase handling time.

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Ok.So is it possibly saying its had enough or ? lol.

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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.

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Ok. So place like a sock of each of ours or just one at a time?

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Originally Posted by joepythons

Ok. So place like a sock of each of ours or just one at a time?

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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.

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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.

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Ok i will give it a try :gj:

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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.

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ahhhh, this works for babies also :), to help them sleep

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

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.

Guinea pigs also have a tendency to freeze when they're frightened, so maybe the pig was just freezing when you were handling him, and when he realized it wasn't going to get him back into the cage he bit.

I learned that if you get bit you should never put it back in the cage right away, because it teaches them that if they want to go back they should bite you. Wait a couple minutes after he bites you to put him back in.

Try giving him treats when you handle, and just get him used to you. Eventually he'll come around.

Get a green anaconda?

Thanks everyone (except the stupid anaconda comment :mad:) for the help :gj:.We will try the treats and the not placing him in his cage after he bites right away.

hahah sorry, i thought it was funny =) yea, minimal handling should do the trick until he gets more comfortable, work up the amount of time you spend holding him each day, so that he doesn't notice the difference but eventually it'll be at a point where you can hold him for as long as he likes. positive reinforcement is a good idea but if overused can be harmful as they rely on this too much.