Advice On Handling My Piggies

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HelenB

HelenB

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OK, stupid newbie alert! Ha ha!
Just wanted to pick your brains about handling your piggies. So I've had my Myrtle and Posey for a month now and they're 12 weeks old. They've really settled in, wheek when they hear my voice and the fridge and are much less jumpy when we approach their cage. I'm really happy with the progress they're making. I'm just finding it quite stressful to catch them so that I can do cuddles and get them used to being handled.
I read the post about using something to herd them into first and catch them this way. I've got a fleece bag that I've been using for this. Do you catch your piggies like this, then take them out of your 'catching device' to cuddle on your lap? Do you do both piggies at the same time or just one at a time? My piggies properly freak out and I'm not sure if they're getting any happier about it!
What age will they start to chill out or is this how they'll always be?
Thanks!
 
Because they're prey animals, generally piggies don't enjoy the picking up process

I use the trick of letting them climb into a fleece cosy and it seems to take the stress out of the situation. I carry them in the fleece cosy to my lap and give them some yummy veggies once they're on my lap.

Sounds like they're settling in well though!
 
HelenB said:
OK, stupid newbie alert! Ha ha!
Just wanted to pick your brains about handling your piggies. So I've had my Myrtle and Posey for a month now and they're 12 weeks old. They've really settled in, wheek when they hear my voice and the fridge and are much less jumpy when we approach their cage. I'm really happy with the progress they're making. I'm just finding it quite stressful to catch them so that I can do cuddles and get them used to being handled.
I read the post about using something to herd them into first and catch them this way. I've got a fleece bag that I've been using for this. Do you catch your piggies like this, then take them out of your 'catching device' to cuddle on your lap? Do you do both piggies at the same time or just one at a time? My piggies properly freak out and I'm not sure if they're getting any happier about it!
What age will they start to chill out or is this how they'll always be?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hi!
You lift or herd your piggies out of the walk-in "shuttle" for lap time and depending on what you are using, you can handle both at the same time. the shuttle can be a tunnel, a walk-in cardboard box with a rug on bottom, and upturned hut or pigloo etc. To encourage them to come in, place a tiny bit of their favourite veg or a little fresh grass at the far end. It helps if you place your conveyance in a corner of the cage, as that makes the herding easier and cuts off most escape routes.

Give them lots of praise and reassurance, as well as a little treat veggie treat when they are back home. It also helps if you create a little phrase with its own melody for each action ("Walkie walkie walkie" or "walkie home now?" etc.), so your piggies learn to expect what is up and it looks less like randomly perpetrated violence to them. Guinea pigs listen less to your sounds as to the tone/emotion and melody.

You may also find the tips in these threads here useful:
How To Understand Guinea Pig Instincts And Speak Piggy Body Language
How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?
 
I've just done a fleece bag shuttle, but didn't worry about taking them out. Popped the bag on my knee and did some scritches on top of heads, lots of of talking etc while watching a bit of tv. Much calmer! Put them back and did some veggies and had another chat. I'm going to stick to this every night this week. Thanks for your advice!
 
Hello, this technique is great

 
We still use the above techniques now. Piggies are prey animals and hate being picked up there are some piggies that are an exception to this rule... but most of them you have to chase around. Cookie knows to go in the chube when it is put in the cage to come out
 
I think the problem is that I'm comparing them to my Ratties which were my last small pets. They were so squidgy and loved to be picked up and handled. It's reassuring to know that this is just the way GPs are. I was beginning to worry that I was doing something wrong! It was so much calmer using the fleece bag so I'll stick to that.
 
Even once they get used to being held, a lot of piggies don't like the sensation of being 'caught.' They are prey animals... in the wild, nothing catching you is doing so to snuggle with you! So the cozy method is a good one. Whether you want to hold them together or apart is totally up to you (and your pigs.) I tend to hold mine one at a time because out of my original pair, Linney and Frenzy, Linney was extremely dominant and would not share the humans! This meant every cuddle session devolved into her trying to chase Frenzy away from 'her' people. It went much better separately, and since then it's just become a habit even though I doubt the two current pigs would have an issue being held together.
 
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