guinea pig nipping (biting)

Question
Hi,

my friend has given me a male cavy, Sparky a few months ago. In the beginning, he was a very quiet and nice guinea pig but recently, whenever i hold him, he starts to bite. It doesn't seem like he's biting for defense or attack becuase he just chews everywhere and then goes for my hand. Is there anyway i can stop this.  Also, he seems to move around a lot during laptime after only a few minutes. what should i do to calm him down? thank you.

PS- is the purring sound a sound of liking or disliking. And what about short chirps.
thanks

Answer
Hi

I got sent this question twice, but fortunately, I forgot to answer about purring and chirrping first time round.

If purring is accompanied by dragging bottom on floor, around another male, it is a sign of "I'm the boss piggy". Don't worry about this. The slightly quieter purring whilst a pig is being stroked etc is the same as purring in a cat.

Nobody knows what the chirrping sound means exactly, but it is not likely a bad thing. Most piggy sounds are good.

Andy