skinny pig biting

Question
I have a young skinny pig that has been really great.  Just in the past couple of days he has been trying to bite me once in a while if I try to pet him or pick him up.  He has never done this before.  He seems like he is lashing out because he is mad or scared.  He does not do it all of the time but I have had him for two months and he just started this behavior in the past couple of days.  What can I do?

Answer
Your guinea pig may have a fungal infection or another skin infection, that would explain why he's all the sudden behaving this way.

It could be mites or a fungal infection. Since you are the person who knows your guinea pig best, and his normal behaviors etc. I think that you will be able to determine what the problem is better than I can. I recommend that you take your guinea pig to the veterinarian, they will be able to help you further. But before you spend the money(economy is terrible right now, if you're like me then you're probably wanting to avoid potential vet bills as much as possible) you can check your skinny pig to see if it has any symptoms of a fungal infection or mange mites.

For the symptoms of fungal infections go to http://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html remember that your skinny pig's infection may not be as bad as the ones shown on the webpage, but the symptoms will be the same.

For the symptoms of mites you can go to http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html .

If your skinny pig has none of the symptoms for mites or a fungal infection than you can contact me and we can go from there. If you realize that your guinea pig may have mites or a fungal infection than you should take him to a veterinarian for treatment, unless you are able to treat him at home(the treatments are on the links I gave you).

Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions!

                                                            A.Jones