Chewing Cage Wire - Problem?

[Wichita&Abilene]

Question - Sometimes one of my pigs stands on his hind legs with his front ones on the side of the C&C cage and chews on the organizer-box-wire-sides (the Organize-It cage sides from Target).

He mainly does this when I open the fridge (because he knows it's veggie time ) but I hear him do it some other times too.

Should I be worried about this? I don't want him to crack a tooth or anything.

Advice? (if needed?)

[gr8kvs]

Hi, unfortunately my piggy, who pass away last January, did chip a bottom tooth from biting the cage. I don't know what kind of cage do you have, but if it's one of those C&C cages then maybe the coroplast is too low.

You can rub a little vinegar on the bars because piggys don't like the smell of it.
Good Luck

[Ruftybear]

One of my boys does this too!! He starts chewing (not just the bars, but the coroplast too sometimes) when he wants me to get up and feed him in the morning, and that is his way of letting me know it is breakfast time. He will also do it when I go to the fridge and open the containers the vegetables are in.

They usually chew for a reason, so you will have to see if you can find out why he is doing it. Mine has never chipped any teeth, and we have a C & C Cage. I just have to keep replacing the grids because he takes all the coating off them.

[d0rked]

Yeah, one of my pigs likes to gnaw on his bars too.

[Ruftybear]

Is it a boar thing, or do the sows do it too?

[Snowflake]

My two females chew on the cage wires as well sometimes. I assumed that's because they want something to eat, because I notice that a lot when I'm preparing their food or when their bowl is empty. (Maybe they're getting not enough food? My boyfriend used to have cavies before and he told me about how much food they are supposed to get. But maybe he's wrong.)

There might be different reasons why they do that, but at least when it comes to eating, I suppose it doesn't matter what sex the piggy is.

[PiggleLove]

I have 2 females, only one of them ever chews on the wire. That's usually her way of saying she wants some play time out of the cage.

As far as food portions go DAILY for EACH pig
1. unlimited hay
2. 3/4-1 cup veggies
3. 2-3 Tablespoons of pellets

I don't give them many treats bc they have little nutritional value & are costly

[aqh88]

Make sure they have unlimited hay to chew on. Pigs should never be without food.

For those that still insist on chewing the bars for veggies or attention try weaving some small sticks through the bars to chew on instead. Make sure it is of safe wood like apple or other nonpitted fruits(pitted fruit trees like cherry are toxic). You can often get lots of little apple twigs off ebay.

[PiggleLove]

sticks don't work. my pig knows that the sound of her chewing the wire irritates me enough to get me out of bed in the night just to give her a good cuddle. when i tried the sticks, she ignored them.... because they didn't irritate me =)

[aqh88]

If you give into them you are only teaching them to chew and then the sticks definitely won't have an effect. It works the same with all animals. If they get a reward or what they wanted for a certain behavior they will repeat it. They don't know that behavior is bad or good until you show them. Since punishing a guinea pig doesn't work just ignoring them is the best course of action. If they are really seriously chewing nonstop or have chipped teeth in the past I'd try attaching some extra coro or cardboard up to the top of the cage temporarily to see if they'll give up the behavior. Under no circumstances do I feed or hold a pig for chewing. I wait until they stop or at least pause. I only had 1 pig that would do it for hours on end and within a few months he gave it up because it got him nothing. Then he'd only chew on rare occasion and soon found the stick to be more interesting than the bars since his original purpose for chewing was gone. Pigs are smart enough to recognize rewards and not so much punishment but just being denied what they want or not getting their way until they try a different behavior.

[CavyLover94]

My two boars chew as well. Mo does it when I let Sammy run around in the enclosure in front of their cage. I think he wants to fight with him. Mo's brother, Cupid, chews on his cage when one of the other boars starts to rumblestrut. Cupid is a very submissive pig.

[PiggleLove]

If you give into them you are only teaching them to chew and then the sticks definitely won't have an effect

good point. i will make an effort to stop paying so much positive attention-