Cage Beefy the Piggy

Beefy our large male guinea pig, no joke, is the most SOCIAL piggy we have ever owned. He will sit on my lap for easily half an hour without pooping or peeing on me. He also puts his poop into a corner. He is only about a year old. He also climbs up on our shoulders and puts his head down and relaxes.

While we were cleaning his new cage from all the cob webs and dust from being in the garage, we placed him into the tote that we move our piggies to while we are cleaning their cages. He was calm and happy, eating and doing well....

An hour later, you would of thought someone was killing him inside that cage. I tried feeding him his veggies, talking to him. We even decided to try a smaller cage, thinking maybe the bigger one made him panic more...Still not accepting this. The last straw was when I opened the cage with a smaller bowl, thinking maybe a larger bowl wasn't giving him enough room, and he literally jumped through the door and into my arms. Place him back into the clear plastic tote (without the lid on it of course!)...perfectly fine. So, he is in there with all his bedding and necessities. He is even using an old toboggan hat as his bed...loves it! Cries when I move it out.

Has anyone ever had "issues" with their piggies like this?