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Behavior Guinea pig keeps biting “pigloo” at night

julifhy

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My guinea pig, Coco, started biting and moving her plastic house (the “pigloo”) before I go to bed. She literally movies everything in her cage around for some reason and her biting the pigloo drives me crazy. She’s in a 3x2 cage, she has chewing sticks that she’s not interested in, so it makes me think she either likes the sound of her biting her pigloo, it could of maybe been she was hot?? (I provided her with a frozen water bottle wrapped in a towel because it was pretty hot this weekend) or maybe she’s doing it for attention? So I guess my question is, why would a guinea pig want to move everything in her cage around at night and why is she biting her house?

(I’m writing this at 3 am, so sorry for any errors or if it doesn’t completely make sense. I will make sure to clarify anything in the morning. She is not biting right now. She stopped when I went to bed, but even the thought made me want to ask about this.)
 

bpatters

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My pigs worked for Atlas Van Lines, and all were champion cage-furniture movers. They do it because that's what guinea pigs do.

All I can suggest is that you put the cage in another room, or get some silicone ear plugs.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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All but one of my pigs have also loved to move their furniture. Leo really doesn't care at all, but all the others loved it. All of them figured out how to have a little privacy. They would go in a pigloo, and spin it so that the door faced a wall. I always laughed and said they'd "closed the door and gone to bed".

Simon doesnt chew his pigloo at all, but again every other boy I've ever had has liked to at least "taste" them. It got to the point where Pooper just HAD to sample the taste of his pigloo before he would go into it. Later on, Punkin developed that exact same trait. I had to buy Staybowls because Punkin would physically lift a heavy ceramic bowl in his teeth and dump out his pellets.
 

spy9doc

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What else do they have to do all day besides sleep? >( What else is there to do for excitement besides chase your brother, run zoomies, and wait for dinner?

I finally figured out how to thwart the little buggers. I bought some flat weights and hot glued them on the litter pans and the hideys.......no more moving them across the cage. They sometimes move their tunnel around because it is simply a bent grid covered with a jumbo book cover and very light.

When Rafi goes to bed at night, he goes into his hidey and turns his butt outward facing. I say that Rafi has gone to bed and put out his "do not disturb" sign. He is serious about it. I saw Rascal go over and poke his head in.....and promptly get snapped at.

I too have metal bowls that they can't pick up with their teeth nor slide them across the fleece. Say, can we adult humans outsmart a two pound guinea pig? :cool: Where else but on this forum would other rational humans find this amusing?
 

ItsaZoo

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Mine loves to move her hideys in straight lines one in front of the other or parallel so she can run through them to escape any predators. It’s good to have 2 openings because they sometimes get wedged in a corner and have trouble getting out.

As far as food dishes, I just bought a thrift store coffee cup that is the shorter old-fashioned style. I hang it by the handle from the side of the cage. It hangs at an angle so she can reach in and not tip it over or use it for a toilet.
064BD912-23F7-41BB-9187-52BD10CA6D5C.jpg
 

julifhy

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My pigs worked for Atlas Van Lines, and all were champion cage-furniture movers. They do it because that's what guinea pigs do.

All I can suggest is that you put the cage in another room, or get some silicone ear plugs.

All but one of my pigs have also loved to move their furniture. Leo really doesn't care at all, but all the others loved it. All of them figured out how to have a little privacy. They would go in a pigloo, and spin it so that the door faced a wall. I always laughed and said they'd "closed the door and gone to bed".

Simon doesnt chew his pigloo at all, but again every other boy I've ever had has liked to at least "taste" them. It got to the point where Pooper just HAD to sample the taste of his pigloo before he would go into it. Later on, Punkin developed that exact same trait. I had to buy Staybowls because Punkin would physically lift a heavy ceramic bowl in his teeth and dump out his pellets.

I put 2 rocks on top of the house for now lol (I made sure they're safe to be there)... I'm planning on getting a wooden house soon, since it will look much better and hopefully she won't be able to move it haha. Are wooden houses okay for guinea pigs? Any recommendations on guinea houses?
The cage is in the living room and I noticed that she only bites the house when she wants attention lol. It's not a big problem, like I thought it was when I was writing this (at 3 am :rolleyes:)

What else do they have to do all day besides sleep? >( What else is there to do for excitement besides chase your brother, run zoomies, and wait for dinner?

I finally figured out how to thwart the little buggers. I bought some flat weights and hot glued them on the litter pans and the hideys.......no more moving them across the cage. They sometimes move their tunnel around because it is simply a bent grid covered with a jumbo book cover and very light.

When Rafi goes to bed at night, he goes into his hidey and turns his butt outward facing. I say that Rafi has gone to bed and put out his "do not disturb" sign. He is serious about it. I saw Rascal go over and poke his head in.....and promptly get snapped at.

I too have metal bowls that they can't pick up with their teeth nor slide them across the fleece. Say, can we adult humans outsmart a two pound guinea pig? :cool: Where else but on this forum would other rational humans find this amusing?

Mine loves to move her hideys in straight lines one in front of the other or parallel so she can run through them to escape any predators. It’s good to have 2 openings because they sometimes get wedged in a corner and have trouble getting out.

As far as food dishes, I just bought a thrift store coffee cup that is the shorter old-fashioned style. I hang it by the handle from the side of the cage. It hangs at an angle so she can reach in and not tip it over or use it for a toilet.
View attachment 87332

I used double sided tape to prevent her from moving her bowls too lol. She tries to move everything in her cage except for the toys that I bought for her to specifically move around lol.
 

bpatters

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Be careful with tape in a guinea pig cage. They LOVE the stuff, and it can kill one pretty quickly by causing a GI tract obstruction.
 

julifhy

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Be careful with tape in a guinea pig cage. They LOVE the stuff, and it can kill one pretty quickly by causing a GI tract obstruction.
It's on the bottom of the bowls. There is no way she will be able to reach it. I only used a small piece to make it stay in place. Even I had trouble taking it off when I had to move the bowl lol
 

peanny77

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Mine loves to move her hideys in straight lines one in front of the other or parallel so she can run through them to escape any predators. It’s good to have 2 openings because they sometimes get wedged in a corner and have trouble getting out.

As far as food dishes, I just bought a thrift store coffee cup that is the shorter old-fashioned style. I hang it by the handle from the side of the cage. It hangs at an angle so she can reach in and not tip it over or use it for a toilet.
View attachment 87332
I also have some problems with the pellet bowl. My pigs keep pooping in it and stale their pellets. My 2 month old pup Cocoa tips it over all the time! It’s a small ceramic bowl. Do you have any suggestions?
 

TheGuineaPigGal

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I use this bowl, and my pigs can´t tip it over.

(broken link removed)
 
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