Advice on handling Please :-)

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pawsup

pawsup

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Not sure what section to put my questions in so putting them here :)p

As some of you may know from my previous posts, I have recently adopted a pair of piggies, Tango and Lacey.

They are both around 1 and a half years old.

They are settling in very well and both taking food from my hand and getting used to me sitting by their cage. Lacey comes up to me and sometimes I can strkoe her on her head if I move slowly.

I am really nervous of picking them up. They aren't agressive (although Tango does brrrr a bit) but they are so skittish and scared when I go near without a treat in my hand.

I picked up Lacey today and she was ok once I was holding her but it was so hard to catch her I feel like it just stressed us both out. I was shaking and had to put her back! :... I did give her a treat straight after for being so good.

My plan is to try and get them out one at a time everyday and sit them on my lap with some veggy treats but I am very worried about picking them up. Is that the right thing to do or am I going to stress them out too much?
Do they get used to being picked up the more you do it?

Please help, I really want to bond with my new friends but don't want to upset them. :{

Thank you in advance :-)
 
Hi There -

I was exactly like you when I first got my piggies, in fact I was scared to pick them up contrary to most video's you see including some of my own. Guinea Pi'g don't just jump in your hand. Most of my Guinea Pig's accept being patted but being picked up is another story.

CandyFloss has trained her piggies to go into a tent - perhaps you could do something similar like a cozy and then you can just lift it out onto your lap.

Once out - give them lots of treats (bribes) and it's also important to just sit and try to gain there trust so they allow you to pat them in the cage it takes time but honestly it's worth it!

HTH
 
Congrats on the new arrivals

The trick is to take it slowly and at their pace, GP's are naturally very shy, skittish and nervous animals, although over time they will get to know and trust you.

I think gernerally speaking most G's will run at the thought of being picked up, so dont worry too much about that, so long as you do it gently and carefully they will soon start to learn its not a bad thing, to begin with it may be a good idea to scoop them up in something, i.e a pigloo upside down, let them climb into it then pick it up making sure they cant jump out.

As with taming it will take time and patience until they learn to trust you, its good that they are confident to take food and let you pet them, these are posotive steps, however tempting it is, try not to pick them up too much until they have a little more confidence.

Some piggies will sit there, let you stroke them and pick them up without a fuss, others will rarely let you, over time you may find they will willingly put their front paws on your hand if you lay it infront of them, making it easier for you to pick them up.

Maybe joint lap/floor time would be best as they won't be so nervous if they have each other. Sorry i am going on now.
 
AS other have said,, it can take time and patience for a piggie to trust you and allow itself to be picked up. the only piggie I had who truly enjoyed being handled was my beloved Montgomery. When I opened his cage, he laapt out into my arms. He would also jump up on my knee and cuddle into me. Matilda is the exact opposite, she still squeals like mad and I only handle her now for nail cutting as its causes too much distress to her. Each piggie is different so persevere and let us know how it goes..
 
You can train your piggies to go into a contraption of some kind, either a tunnel, cuddle cup, cosy, tent, an upturned pigloo or a padded shoebox with one small end cut off.

Start with placing a treat at the back and give the piggies a day to get comfy and relaxed with it. Only then pick them up gently when they are in there. Block the exit with a hand or your body. Talk to them constantly in an encouraging way and praise them lavishly. Use the same words each time; my ritual ran as "walkie walkie walkie".

It can take a bit until they catch on, but it is worth it. Once they know what to do, piggies will often gladly cooperate, as it takes the stress of being picked up out of the equation.

This was what I used with Llewelyn and his predecessors; Llewi had extremely trigger happy survival instincts, no thanks to where he came from:
 
Definitely go for training them to get into something before trying to handle them. I was advised this about two weeks ago by the lovely members on here and my really skittish guy, William, has come on heaps! Neither of mine like to be handled for long as everything is far more exciting and they prefer each others company but i can still give them a quick cuddle in between moving them from their pens. I used a sleep sack which is lovely and fleecey but also dark and i think perhaps they feel safer in this. Good luck! I was really worried at first it wouldnt get better but it does! xx
 
Walter said:
Definitely go for training them to get into something before trying to handle them. I was advised this about two weeks ago by the lovely members on here and my really skittish guy, William, has come on heaps! Neither of mine like to be handled for long as everything is far more exciting and they prefer each others company but i can still give them a quick cuddle in between moving them from their pens. I used a sleep sack which is lovely and fleecey but also dark and i think perhaps they feel safer in this. Good luck! I was really worried at first it wouldnt get better but it does! xx
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ive got two very skittish boys that I rehomed a month ago, never handled for a year so they really dont like it...I am training them to go into a cardboard tunnel so I can carry them from the hutch to the pen...lets hope in time they will enjoy abit more contact and the odd few mins of lap time.
 
The trick is to take it slowly and at their pace
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Thanks everyone for the advice :)

Lacey let me pick her up quite willingly today! I sat her on a towel on my lap and hand fed her some veggies whilst stroking her and talking to her ^)

I managed to pick up Tango in a snuggle sack and sat him on my lap in the sack for some veggies. He kept panicking and attacking the sack :( So I tipped him gently out onto my lap and .... guess who enjoys a cuddle and was so relaxed?!

I am so happy! I can tell we are going to all be best friends :<>
x
 
pawsup said:
Thanks everyone for the advice :)

Lacey let me pick her up quite willingly today! I sat her on a towel on my lap and hand fed her some veggies whilst stroking her and talking to her ^)

I managed to pick up Tango in a snuggle sack and sat him on my lap in the sack for some veggies. He kept panicking and attacking the sack :( So I tipped him gently out onto my lap and .... guess who enjoys a cuddle and was so relaxed?!

I am so happy! I can tell we are going to all be best friends :<>
x
Click to expand...

Thats fantastic! xx
 
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