My guinea pig bite me and it starting bleeding!?

Question

My guinea pig bite me and it starting bleeding really badly and there was a lot of blood. I want to punish him a little bit and let him relize what he did wrong. How should I do that?

Answer 1

Your guinea pig bit you because he wanted you to stop what you were doing. Guinea pigs will warn you when they are stressed, scared or have had enough and evidently you missed those signs. From your pigs perspective, he warned you that he needed to be put down and needed more space and you ignored him so in a sense, you bit him first. Guinea pigs are not aggressive - he was protecting himself against a perceived threat.

There is no reason to punish your guinea pig. Ever. They do not learn by aversion, to begin with. Secondly, even if he had done something that should be corrected, he would now no longer associate the behavior with the discipline (but again, you should not be disciplining your pig.) If you punish him, he will develop a stronger aversion to you and that will lead to more biting.

It sounds as though you really don't know very much about guinea pigs which is probably how you ended up bitten. Learn what your pig's needs are, what he is communicating to you. Learn to respect his boundaries a bit. Here is a link to a page that gives some of the sounds a pig will make and what they mean.

http://www.mgpr.org/MGPR/Guinea%20Pig%20...

Here is a link about pig biting behavior, possible causes and remedies. Cavyspirit is a very reputable site for guinea pig care.

http://www.cavyspirit.com/biting.htm

Please note that they state:

"DO NOT PUNISH or DISCIPLINE!

Guinea pigs will not understand the good and bad cause and effect. Do not tap them on the nose. Do not squirt them with water. Do not yell at them. Do not blow in their face. Do not pinch them on the back of their neck. You will only serve to make them afraid of you. Your reaction of pain is the only signal that is needed to the guinea pig. Follow a number of these suggestions and over time, you should be able to convert a biter into a sweet, lovable lap piggie."

EDIT: As to your addendum admonishing me about not "getting the facts" - I answered your original message. There was no additional information when I answered it. All you wanted to know was how to punish your guinea pig which does indeed indicate that you have very little small animal experience or knowledge. I never said you harmed your pig - I said that you did not pay attention to his needs and I stand by that. Your desire to go back hours after the fact and "punish" him for biting you is uninformed. Try opening your ears and learning something.

If you want people to answer with "the facts right" you need to include them in your question or find a site that operates on ESP. Pitching a temper tantrum when you add information AFTER the question has been answered is not useful. I am sorry I wasted my time looking up links for you and answering your question with thoughtful care. You aren't really interested in learning - you are thinking primarily of yourself instead of your pig.

Answer 2

If it were me, I'd go to the doctor before I started foaming at the mouth.

Answer 3

Guinea pigs have sort of poison in their teeth or spit it does hurt when they bite my guinea pig just bit me and now i have a plaster on my finger >.<.Well this is because your hand is smelling of food.Try giving your guniea pig some carrots or Cucumbers to calm it down and after he/she has eaten put your hand under it and hold its buttom that will make a sitting shape the nails will rest nicely on your hands.This keeps them relaxed and happy then just wash your hands and put a plaster on.after stoke your guniea pig tenderly and keep him outside on the ground to let him get used to it but dont do it if its raining.If he starts shivering or something like that  get a towel and wrap it around him.Pick him out his cage more and he will never bite again!.The one thing my dad did was hit the guinea pig and gave him a bath now he has never bitten a human.Everyday keep 1 food bowl with guniea dry food and 1 with carrots and cucumber and a few peppers this keeps them feeling quite contented.After they have eaten you might notice that they chew on the bars because they want more but dont give them more or they will get addicted like my gunieas are not to worry if they do get addicted just stop giving it to them until they're not addicted.So every morning you have to say good morning to your guniea pigs and pick them out.Then keep them onto a chair and keep them calm and make sure they dont run and fall of sing some songs and prepare the 2 food bowls u will notice they wil go for the veggies first.In the afternoon just  after lunch keep them outside while laying a towel down and then putting them on it then keeping another towel ontop this will keep them warm while in the fresh air if they are sensible enough you can leave em outside by themselves.In the night just after dinner get your guinea pigs out again and put them into a towel then turn it over like your rocking a baby and rock it sometimes it will go to sleep then everyday do that process.Your guniea pigs will never bite again!

           Hope this helped

Answer 4

Well, he probably doesn't know he did something wrong. But maybe don't give him attention for a couple days. Every time you walk by the cage point at your finger or where you got bit and say your a mean guinea! [or w/e his name is] but don't take him out or something? I'm not really sure, because the guinea pig probably doesn't remember what he did, or that it was bad. He probably just got scared or something.  

Answer 5

No you didn't do anything wrong.

The pig probably smelled the food on your hands, and just had been eating so thought your pinky actually was the food.

You can't really punish the guinea pig because they don't understand it. In all honesty, the best thing you can do is to build an even better relationship with your pig so he's more comfortable around you. That way, even if your hands do smell like food, he'll figure it out and not bite.

The best way to 'train' your guinea pig is to give him rewards when he does things right. They don't really get it when you punish them for doing things wrong.

Oh and about the bite, it's not going to kill you or anything. You could put some triple antibiotic on there, but I doubt you'll need it.

I hope this helps!

Answer 6

you can't punish them because they won't realise what happened.

you can only punish them by making loud noises DIRECTLY AFTER THEY BITE YOU

never do it a couple of hours after because they will getb the wrong impression.

however your guinea pig will start to not like you so i would not recommend it. my hamster used to bite me but when she realised that i brought her food she stopped =]

so don't punish when they do something wrong

encourage when they do something right =]

hope i helped