my guinea guinea pig

Question
dear Patvan Allen,
  i think my guinea pig is sick because he is always sneezing and he doesnt squeak anymore. Also when i try to rub under his chin he gets angry and bites me ; i have no clue why he does that. any ideas ? thank you so much!
         sincerely ,
         Lena

Answer
That doesn't sound like illness Lena. Some pigs will sneeze now and then or make a noise that sounds like sneezing but actually isn't in the same sense that you and I do. We sneeze now and then but that doesn't mean we're sick either. Just dust in the air or a minor irritation or allergy. Now and then is meaningless.

Not all pigs enjoy being tickled under the chin. If he's nipping at you he's trying to tell you he doesn't like that.

I find that mine seem to like being right up close to your face where they can bury their head near your neck and hair. When you stroke your pig be sure you're petting in the direction the hair grows. Otherwise it's irritating, just as if someone came along and rubbed your head from your neck upward to your forehead. It doesn't feel good.  Slow soft strokes are the most comforting to them.

So pay attention to his 'body language' and he may be telling you what he does and doesn't like. But it really doesn't sound to me like he's sick.  He may just be reacting to the shavings in his cage, but that doesn't mean anything more than a minor irritation for the moment. If he's got mucous coming out of his nose that's entirely different. That means he's sick. But plain sneezing, unless it's very very frequent, doesn't mean he's sick.