Chat Anyone Else Ever Been Bitten?

[Guineas Galore]

Okay, so some of you may have seen my last post about Archie's weird butt, I took him to the vet and it ended up being just a small build up of gunk, the vet cleaned it out and he's fine

Anyone, I went to reintroduce him to my other boys but him and Gizmo started facing off, I was dumb enough to put my hand in the middle and ended up with Archie latched onto my hand. I got a REALLY deep bite...plus when I lifted my hand he actually hung off of it...

So basically its swollen to the size of a grape, I've been keeping it clean and whatnot but it was quite bloody, and it's still swollen :/

Has anyone else ever gotten a bad bite?

 

[LifeAsItMayBe]

I've never been bitten by a guinea pig, in fact I have had a few incidents where my girls started to bite but let go when they realized my finger was not the piece of vegetable they were after. I have, however, been attacked by a gerbil. They may be tiny, but the little guy made my hand bleed any time I stuck it in the cage. He became a "look at" pet instead of a "play with" pet.

 

[pinky]

I've never been bitten by a guinea pig but I have gotten pretty scratched up by their hind nails. This is what happened to me when a guinea pig tried to get away from me when I was trimming his nails at an adoption event:

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[ClemmyOddieIndy]

Yes. When I tried to trim my Odette's nails about 4 years ago she bit into my thumb and wouldn't let go. I never even got a clip in before she "attacked". I had a nice puncture wound, and I've never tried to trim nails again.

 

[Kelly9]

I have an Abbyssinian, so yes, I have been bitten, lol. She nips when she wants to go back to her cage. Or if I have to give her a butt bath. Or if I trim her nails. Being a female, I do need to watch where she is on my chest because I have been bitten in some not so favorable places.

 

[ClicknCavy]

So far, no.
I am also committed to low-stress handling with my animals and work hard to make sure they are active participants in their own care.

 

[Soecara]

Yes I have been bitten quite badly. One of my pairs of boys went into a flying ball of fury when I accidentally gave them a girls hidey after cage cleaning, having nothing on hand to throw over them I made the decision to just use my bare hands knowing I would definitely get bitten. So I grabbed one of the boys, checked him over tended to his wounds then put him in a temp cage, checked the other boy and tended to his wounds, then finally I got around to checking out my hand.

The bite was quite deep but not bad enough to warrant stitches. It hadn't bleed that much as I never really bleed that much (not always a good thing as it makes blood tests difficult ). I washed out my wound with a sterile saline solution, dried it off, put a small amount of anti-septic cream in it and then put some medical tape from my fist aid kit over it in a way that would keep the wound closed. It hurt for the first few days but it didn't get infected. I made sure to keep it dry while it was healing (advice from a nurse after cutting my finger open on a soup tin - which luckily also did not require stitches). All I am left with now is a scar where it happened. After some time apart I was able to successfully re-introduce the pair of boys (phew!).

 

[animalmadlover]

Yes once when Molly-Ann mistook my finger for a carrot, but she made it up to me by licking it afterwards Twice when Charlie had a play date with my friends guinea pig and they hated each other! I tried to separate them before they hurt themselves and Charlie latched onto my arm and hung on. Charlie is on my avatar! Hard to imagine a sweet little face like that biting anybody eh?
Ouch that looks sore pinky! Nails can get very sharp as well as teeth!

 

[foggycreekcavy]

If it is swollen you probably want to see a doctor.

 

[PopcorningPigs]

YES!!! My newest piggie bites so hard to the point of bleeding every time I hold her so I always have to wear two layers of gloves before getting her out. And a few days ago Acorn, for the first time for ages bit me till I bled! I was carrying her to the other side of the room and she bit me because she didn't want to leave her cage, and the other two pigs where squeaking at her so that didn't help a bit!

 

[Rywen]

Ferb used to nip hard enough to draw blood, I figured out he doesn't like having his left side touched if he can't see your hand coming. Plus he was going through puberty (this was pre-neuter) and trying to alpha me, he was a lone pig then. Penny has never bitten but did put some nasty claw marks across my chest when she got scared and bolted over my shoulder one time (I was sitting so she didn't fall or anything).

 

[Guineas Galore]

Okay, so my finger is allot better.
But for now I've put him in a cage beside the others. He seems better behaved so I hope to attempt reintroducing them again
@Soecara The same sort of thing happened to me once too! Except my boys went into a flurry of mounting and rumble strutting.

 

[pinky]

Ferb used to nip hard enough to draw blood, I figured out he doesn't like having his left side touched if he can't see your hand coming. Plus he was going through puberty (this was pre-neuter) and trying to alpha me, he was a lone pig then. Penny has never bitten but did put some nasty claw marks across my chest when she got scared and bolted over my shoulder one time (I was sitting so she didn't fall or anything).

@Rywen, you raise a good point about allowing them to see your hands before picking them up. Being prey animals, they're probably more reactive than a predator that can take it's time to assess a situation. My vet got bit really bad by a very friendly male I had quite a few years back. He was checking Subway and, although Subway's head was straight ahead, I could see his right eye shifting back towards the vet. (Reminded me of Moby Dick...haha) Within seconds, his head turned around and he really latched onto the vet's hand which caught him completely by surprise. It bled quite a bit.

 

[poop_patrol]

I've never been bitten by my 2 girls. But this thread is making ME skittish!

 

[stray hares]

I agree with @foggycreekcavy -- I'd see a doctor, you might need antibiotics, or even a tetanus shot. I've seen the start of septicaemia from a piggy bite before, and it's always better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Easefirst]

One of my piggies (not the shy one) is a nibbler - she grazes on anything to try. My hands including, but it is not painful, just a gentle bite. I was a bit afraid, when I trimmed her nails, that she wouldn't try more serious biting, but she didn't. The shy one surprisingly was easier to trim, since she became frozen.

 

[PopAndFizz]

Ive Been Nibbled Like Fresh lettuce but never had they bitten me to bleeding point.

 

[Agrimony]

Keep an eye and make sure it is getting better, a friend of mine developed a nasty infection after a guinea pig bite. If it gets worse or feels hot definitely go to urgent care or see a dr!

I've had, along with most owners I'm sure, some harmless nips here and there. But a real, aggressive, nasty bite I have only had close calls and all with my one- eyed abby Pickle. Part of why is because he is very aggressive with other guinea pigs, and while usually he and Bird live in harmony in a split cage being able to see each other and interact minimally, every once in a while he will get really riled up for seemingly no reason. When he is in the state he tends to snap more. Also since his vision is limited and hes a little edgy to start if you are not paying attention and he doesn't see you reaching to pet or grab him touching him on his blind side he will snap as well. I try to be conscious of this but sometimes I forget, I do not blame him at all. He also gets over excited giving veggies sometimes and will go to bite whatever is closest, even if i'm not feeding him lol. But none have totally landed yet thank goodness! there is a lot of force behind them I can tell!

 

[CavyHouse]

I've been bitten bad enough by a guinea pig ( due to my own stupidity) that I needed IV antibiotics. I've also been bitten by a cat bad enough to land in the hospital for 2 days. My fingers were all swollen up like plump sausages being cooked and ready to burst. It was a bit scary.

 

[AnnikasMommy]

I've never been bitten by my 2 girls. But this thread is making ME skittish!

I was just thinking the same thing!!!