Behavior Guinea pig acting weird when I scratch his back

[Fei2143]

So for quite awhile now, I’ve been noticing that whenever I scratch my guinea pig’s back or just stroking his back, he’d keep turning his head back... not sure if it’s ticklish or just his sensitive spot. Any guinea pig owners notice this with their piggies? I’m just worried there might be something wrong with him.. Couldn’t upload the video so i took some screenshots.

 

[stray hares]

It might just be his sensitive spot, some of my piggies get a bit squirmy when I tickle them around there. However, if this is a recent change in your piggy's responses it may need to be investigated further. Your piggy is a satin piggy (he has the very obvious satin pig translucent coat) and therefore more prone to osteodystrophia fibrosa (OD) which is a painful condition where bones gradually become fibrotic. It would be worth taking him to a cavy savvy vet to establish his bone health via x-ray.

 

[stray hares]

Here is a link on satin piggies:

(broken link removed)

And more in-depth:

https://lib.ugent.be/fulltxt/RUG01/002/165/467/RUG01-002165467_2014_0001_AC.pdf

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

My oldest boar Sly, does something similar. When I scratch lightly near his bum in a certain spot, he'll twist his head from side to side, and if he's sitting on my chest he'll start to lick and nibble my face.

In Sly's case, it just appears to be a "tickle spot".

 

[spy9doc]

It's probably perfectly normal behavior......I wouldn't worry about it. Most cavies have an area(s) where they are particularly sensitive to being stroked. Best advice i can give is "don't touch the tickle spot".

 

[FailedFoster]

My boar did that as well! To me, it seemed he didn't like it and was doing the piggy "reprimand". Most piggies don't like their backs being scratched, so that's also normal.

 

[spy9doc]

Most piggies don't like their backs being scratched

That hasn't been my experience. Most of the cavies that I have had in the past eight years have had a sensitive spot on their flank just in front of the back leg. Sparky will wince and cry out if that area is touched too firmly. Same with my previous boys.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Sly's spot is at the top of his right rear leg, very close to his spine. Petting his backside is ok when you're holding him, but one finger with a very light scratch causes him to twist his head, and nibble and lick my face. He won't allow his backside touched if you aren't holding him. I had a couple of cats that would do something similar in almost the exact same spot, one to the point she would bite the air and meow when scratched.

 

[Fei2143]

Thanks for the links!! Really helped me a lot. Didn’t know satin piggies are more prone to OD... will be more on the lookout for that!!

thank goodness it’s nothing serious and other piggies does this too. I seldom stroke his back until now, maybe that’s why I’ve just realized his behavior. I won’t scratch/pet his back (or rather his sensitive spot, now that I know exactly where it is) too much now then.

thanks all for the replies! I really appreciate it ^_^