Pigs that bite, and I don't mean a nip here & there

daj

Post   » Fri Oct 29, 2021 5:51 pm


I took in two hairless males in search of a second home. They were together, but eventually had to be separated. We had an incident where one broke the cage panel loose, and they got after each other. In something of a panic I stuck my hands into the cat fight and had a pig flip around in the air with his teeth in the back of my hand. All three of us were lucky to escape without any serious damage.

This pig's name is Peanut, and he is not like the other 4. He is a little ball of muscle, and he knows no fear. As with my other pigs, I would take him in and out of the cage bare handed. For some reason unknown to me, there were times on the trip back into the cage when he would freak out in my hands and start biting. I don't know if there is something sensitive on his feet or somewhere or what. One day he was on the floor while I was cleaning someone else's area, and I wasn't mindful of him, and I bumped into him with my foot. He freaked out like a scary, crazed sewer rat, attacking my (fortunately shoed) foot. He had his teeth sunk into the shoelaces, and I had to shake him off. Still, he squared off in front of me and was ready for more. I decided he was right to give me hell, as he could have been hurt, and figured he taught me a rightful lesson.

Since then I have been super careful when he's on the floor. Unlike my other 4, he will come and stand not even an inch behind me without making a sound. So, last week I had him on the kitchen floor and was getting some cantaloupe for him when, despite my best effort, I set him off again. This time he went above the shoe and got me pretty good in the front, just above the the shoe line. I was dreading the possibility of infection and the need to go on antibiotics, but it seems like it will be OK. I'm a softy and don't want to deny him floor time, as he wants out pretty much every day. I now wear boots half way to my knee when he's out, and I use a box to get him in and out of the cage.

My concern now is what on earth am I going to do when this pig needs medical care? One of the others is on ear and eye drops. I have no idea how I would manage that with Peanut. And what about vet visits? I would have to warn them about him. I don't know what vets do in such cases. I wouldn't want to handle him without leather gloves, but there no way that would work for something like eye drops where the eyelids need to be separated. Does anyone else have experience with this? He's like a normal pig most of the time, but when he goes into attack mode, it's like a wolverine coming after you.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Oct 29, 2021 8:13 pm


Wow! What a wild little guy!

Read this short paragraph and follow the links. Might give you some ideas:
https://www.guinealynx.info/links.html#biting
Teresa's article is quite comprehensive.

Also, in my limited experience, this hand hold is super for preventing guinea pigs from jumping and hopefully biting:
https://www.guinealynx.info/handling.html

It is possible he could wriggle around and get you but it is a fairly secure grip (firm but gentle).

Might be someone else with ideas. You are a brave caretaker!

daj

Post   » Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:51 pm


That hand hold is what I use too. The woman in the article obviously has experience with biters, but doesn't address doing delicate things on a potentially very aggressive pig. I'm thinking getting him wrapped in a towel would be a necessity. Can I send a pic for you to post? I think you will see from looking at him, how he is cute as any guinea pig out there, but at the same time, not to be messed with.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:56 pm


Sure, you are welcome to send me a pic! I imagine he has a twinkle in his eye!
Image

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Oct 31, 2021 8:26 pm


Here you go!

Image

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Mon Nov 01, 2021 12:07 am


What an adorable face. He doesn't look like a crazy biter at all, which is probably his secret weapon.

daj

Post   » Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:56 pm


There he is, the town bully taking a rest in between rounds! Thanks for posting! Now time to go clean up after him... no rest for the weary.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Tue Nov 02, 2021 2:37 am


Do you have some kind of containment for him when he's on the floor or do you let him just run free? I didn't gather that from your post. It's ok if you don't, as long as the room is guinea pig proof (plugs covered, electric cords removed, no dogs or cats with him who may injure or kill him, etc). It's probably a good idea to have some kind of pen for him if he's aggressive and to avoid accidentally stepping on him. I've found that aggressive guinea pigs usually have a good reason and they are acting defensively. You just have to figure out whats causing it.

If you don't have him in a floor pen, the wide open space of the room may be too much for him to feel safe in. Additionally, nearly every natural threat guinea pigs face come from overhead so if you are standing over him in an open area, he may perceive you as a threat coming from above and he's trying to defend himself. It also might help to put a tunnel, fleece forest or something in the pen that offers protection from above or even a few of them in the room should you decide not to pen him up.

In the case of my guinea pig Mr Bubbles, he bites me when I hold him if I have my hands situated anywhere forward of his front legs, if I have him facing the wrong way or if his feet are dangling. He's very calm as long as I let him face the right, keep my hands in the right spot and his feet are against me. He used to square up on me when I tried to get him out of the floor pen until I gave him a hidey. I could then approach him without him feeling threatened from above and coax him out to be picked up. I've had him for 5 years, so that is a thing of the past. He comes to me to let me know he's ready to return to his cage now.

I wouldn't worry too much about giving him meds or hand feeding him since if that does happen, you'll find that sick piggies don't usually act out. Most of the time they are too sick to be aggressive. If not, they have gloves you can get that will protect your hands. If his vet is guinea pig savvy, they'll have ways to safely restrain him from biting.

I hope this helps and you can get this figured out. Peanut is a very handsome young guy and is well worth your efforts.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Nov 02, 2021 1:53 pm


Some good suggestions, Renonvsparky!

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Tue Nov 02, 2021 10:37 pm


We had a fairly aggressive biter at one time. Lewis. Ended up having to put him on a low dose of Valium to calm him down. He had been abused by his former owners who thought it was entertaining for him to be chased around the house by the family dog. Lewis finally came around, but it took a lot of time, patience, and bandaids.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Tue Nov 02, 2021 11:19 pm


I forgot about Lewis. Poor little man. I'm glad you were able to get him out of there and show him a great life. Don't you just hate people like that? Was Peanut in a bad environment prior to his arrival? Definitely something to check on. If he was, it might be an option to get him on something to calm him down and it would make giving him some covered places to hide when he's on the floor even more important.

daj

Post   » Wed Nov 03, 2021 12:53 pm


He wasn't in a bad home, just one where they had no time for the two pigs they got for a child. When he's on the floor he has the whole space for himself. None of my pigs are intimidated by having free run, and they now wouldn't stand for anything less. And, yes, he definitely was acting defensively. He was letting me know, hey bub, I'm down here, and you need to be more careful. He is just 100% alpha male. Like I said, he's all muscle. My original 3 are more delicate and bunny-like. Peanut's sibling is somewhat like him, but he's smaller than peanut and doesn't have the biting inclination. It's not that peanut's got too much aggression, it's just when he perceives a threat that he reacts. The problem though, is that he's on a hair trigger. I just need to take extra care with him. Most of the time he's as docile as the others. Even when he mixed it up with his sibling, it wasn't Peanut who started it. It was Pinky who broke into his Peanut's space and got his butt whooped (and me bitten). Peanut generally just minds his own business and is pretty easy going.

I will look into the bite proof gloves. I'm sure there will be times when he will need to be handled, but he won't be too sick to bite, as Pinky is now with his eye issue, which we are hopefully at the tail end of. I appreciate everyone's input!

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