Mean piggy. Help?

[pattycakes]

A few months ago, I got my little baby Patrick a buddy. Not knowing about the option of adopting a pig, I purchased Travis at a pet store. He's the most beautiful little thing I've ever seen, but right away we had a biting problem. He just loves to chew on me. I gave him some time to adjust to my house and slowly tried to bond with him, but he kept biting. He got my roommate pretty bad, actually. I was nervous about introducing him to Patrick, thinking he might bite him, too, but they get along WONDERFULLY. They became the very best of friends.

Travis still doesn't like me very much, though. It got to the point where I only felt comfortable petting him in his cage and moving him quickly to floor time. There, he would even come up and bite my toes! I blamed it on his age and his especially nervous nature, but recently he's taken a turn for the worst. Every time I go near the cage, he chatters his teeth. But I hadn't noticed any issues between the pigs.

Then, I built them an even bigger cage. This was a couple of days ago, and Travis just today found the courage to come out of the pigloo every now and then. But he's been especially aggressive. He's been making threatening gestures at Patrick, which is really making me nervous.

I suppose this could be a case of a rare meany-pants pig having trouble adjusting to a new home. But what can I do? Again, I don't bother him too much, but I try to bond with him a little bit at a time when I can. He has a lovely home, plenty of food, water, and hay, and an incredibly friendly playmate. I don't know what else I can do for him or where to turn for information.

It's getting so bad that we're not sure we're going to be able to keep him. I don't want to put Patrick at risk and I honestly can't go near the cage without Travis freaking out. Please give me some suggestions!

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Have you read http://www.cavyspirit.com/biting.htm ?

Very few pigs are mean. He likely was mistreated at the breeder's and/or pet store. Have you tried treating for mites like suggested on that above page? It makes them irritable.

[Nelli]

I think some piggies may just be nibblers. My girl is a nibbler. She bit my son the other day very hard when all he was doing was holding her and watching tv. We usually hold her in a sleepsack but that day he was just holding her in his arms. His hands were washed so there wasn't any scent of food but she just bit him. I thought he was going to drop her because it brought tears to his eyes but he didn't. He gently put her back into her cage. Maybe your piggie is just a nibbler.