My 8 year old daughters guinea pig

Question
Hi Andy,
 Well, my 8 year old daughter has two adorable guinea pigs. (Sandy and Fluffy) Sandy; we have had a while, and Fluffy we just bought a couple of weeks ago for my daughter Starla's birthday
present.
  The whole family, have shown both pigs the same attention and love. One day, Starla was putting some fresh food in their play-house and Fluffy came out of her "Igloo-play-thing" and bit Starla!
   Should I be concerned? Starla was startled but wasn't upset as I was. Please help. Is there something wrong with Fluffy? Should we be doing something else? I also noticed, the first couple of days when Fluffy first came to us, she seemed rather like a "Bully" towards Sandy.
   After a few more days, she was the most entertaining piggie you could ever seen.....I'm concerned about the whole bite thing. Starla picks both piggies up and plays with them, feeds, them.....and we all do it too....Could it be a possiblity that Fluffy could be jealous at all? Help? Please?
Thanks Andy.....

Jules

Answer
Hi Jules,

personally, I wouldn't be too worried about your guinea pig. Although a nip from a piggy can hurt, they seldom bite and often usually only do so when startled or excited. One of my piggies has a tendancy to nibble (not hard) at my or my wife's fingers when we feed him. Fraser (my piggy) loves his food, as all guinea pigs do, and can get very excited when him and the other piggies are being fed.

Make sure that when you or any member of your family are feeding your piggies that you put the food away from where they are, not directly in front of them. This will reduce the chances of them having a nibble! Also, make sure that you let your piggies know you are there because they can startle and get frightened very easily. Piggies don't often bite but they can do if you "creep up on them".

Another possible suggestion for the biting is that Fluffy is trying to show who is boss and be dominant. If Fluffy has been bossing Sandy around then she is trying to prove that she is the dominant piggy. This is normal guinea pig behaviour and generally seen when groups or pairs of female piggies live together. If Fluffy is seriously bullying Sandy then you may want to consider separating them for short periods of the day. However, guinea pigs tend to make a lot of noise with one another and do a lot of "pushing and shoving" but not seriously hurt each other!

Keep on making a fuss of your piggies and pick them up, play with them, groom them. If Fluffy tries to bite you again then say "NO!" in a firm voice and focus your attention for the next few minutes on Sandy.

Good luck with your piggies!

Andy