Advice on if it would be kinder to rehome my guinea pigs

[New_member]

Hi, I hope this thread reaches a place of no judgement as I’m genuinely asking for advice on what would be in my guinea pigs best interests. Thank you in advance for any replies

About 18 months ago I got 2 baby guinea pigs. I did lots of research beforehand and felt that I knew what I was doing. Unfortunately I have been unable to tame them over this space of time at all. They aren’t unfriendly, they’ve never bitten or been aggressive but I can’t touch them at all. As soon as I open the door to feed them they will run and hide. Over the time I’ve had them I’ve spent time sitting with them and they will eventually come out but the minute I move, even slowly they run again.

Not being able to touch them makes it impossible to health check them. So at the moment, I’m caring for them in the best way that I can, making sure that they’re fed and cleaned out. I just don’t feel like they’re very happy to be honest. They have constant access to a run via a tunnel which is on grass but I barely see them outside so they just spend most of their time sat in their hutch.

In my head I feel that they would be happier going to a home where someone would keep them inside so that they would be able to spend more time around people. This isn’t an option for me as I private rent and when I asked the landlord if I could get guinea pigs, he specified that I could but only if they were kept outside. I don’t like the idea of giving up on a pet and giving them away but maybe in this case it would be kinder and give them a better life?

I’m just looking for opinions on what would be best for them please? They’re still young and I don’t want them to live a life of boredom and loneliness.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

Definitely no judgement from any of us on the forum - we will do our best to help you. We understand how piggies can be!
You sound to be a wonderful, caring owner.

Your piggies do sound to be entirely normal. Most piggies do not want to be touched or held and as prey animals they will run if there is a sudden movement.
Your piggies are tamed in that they are coming out to you if you sit in with them. They are confident enough to come out but it really can take years to get to that point, and for some they still will never enjoy being held. The videos you see online, for most piggies, is not the reality.

What I can do is assure you they are not bored nor lonely and they won’t have a better life being elsewhere (they are who they are and living somewhere else isn’t going to change their confidence levels). All they need is plenty of enrichment in their enclosure for mental stimulation, each other for companionship and interaction, and a loving owner and home.

My piggies don’t enjoy being held or handled. I do what I have to do in terms of health checks but we don’t sit and cuddle and even those health checks are a battle of wills!
My enjoyment of my piggies does not come from
my physical interactions with them (because there aren’t any!), it comes from watching their interactions and behaviours with each other. I sit in their shed and watch them go about their piggy business. To them, I serve no purpose other than to feed and clean!

In terms of coming out into a run:
Being out in an open space is scary for most piggies so covering the run with a blanket can help them feel more secure and feel like they won’t be attacked from above.
The other things about a hutch/tunnel/run system is that if they are more nervy then entering a tunnel out into the unknown is not something they are likely to want to do.
Also, they must not be allowed constant access out to the run. Lawn time is exclusively day time during summer months - April/may until around September. It’s too damp and cold for any time
On grass now. So it becomes even more important to provide lots of mental stimulation in their hutch.

I also want to assure you that living inside isn’t going to provide them with any better life - they aren’t loved more or cared for more by being indoors. They are still going to be nervous of comings and goings, and there is an argument that indoors in a busy house can have the potential to be more disruptive to them.
There is nothing wrong with them being kept outside (I keep mine outside) - you just have to make sure you’re keeping them warm enough.

I have added some guides below which may help you further.
Things like never trying to pick them up with your hands - always herd them into a box first and then pick them up from there - can really help both you and them

How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely (videos)
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

You sound like the kind of loving and caring owner who tends to not fall short in terms of care at all but who tends to overthink things because they fear making mistakes and have unrealistic expectations of themselves as a result of the enormous pressure to fit in on social media at all times in order to avoid being bullied. The kind of owner who would rather let them go to another place because they themselves feel defective in their care.

Rest assured that you are not failing your piggies or yourself. What is failing you are unquestioned unrealistic expectations, a low self-esteem as the result of the bullying culture that is currently taking over and the fear to do wrong as a result.

When in fact you learn so much more and more deeply from not getting it right all the time and developing a constructive attitude towards mistakes.
In the end, as a human you do not grow by confining yourself to a safe box; you grow by learning how to get up after a stumble and - as long as you keep making the same mistake - you become a lot more resilient in terms of your own self-respect and but also emotionally mature and much more understanding of the motivations and emotions of others. And you may even learn to be proud of your own growth, how far you have come, be more confident in yourself and learn to trust your instincts as you go through life.

Try to embrace finding your own constructive solutions to problems, don't be afraid if they are not always working out and always question whether what you see on social media is the real, full picture and whether what the online bullies say is actually true and not just for their own gratification and justification or fear of being found out themselves.
Or whether they are just thoughtlessly handing on advice as self-nominated 'experts' that they have no personal experience with and can therefore not judge whether it is right or appropriate.


Unfortunately, social media have also promoted a very unrealistic image of guinea pigs because what they present is in fact entirely human interest and is not pet species driven - who really likes to watch squirming and tweaking piggies, which represent the reality and majority of piggies?
There are some true cuddle piggies but they are actually the exception and not the rule. It also takes months and in some cases even years to win a nervous piggy's trust - often you only notice that you have actually got it when they respond to you during an illness and medication.
And in that area (medical information for guinea pigs) what you'll inevitably find online are all the horror stories and the miracle cures but not the unexciting problem-free recovered; the huge wodge of 'normality' is just taken for granted and is not considered worth mentioning.
Even on this forum there is not a full proportional representation when you do your searches because we are contacted about often complex and serious illness support where the standard vet care is not working and not just by regular members with an ill piggy.
We can help with moral support and practical care tips but we can unfortunately (and are legally not allowed to) replace veterinary care, and with our advice we go strictly by our collective forum or personal experiences.


However, you can have a great relationship with your piggies by entering their world instead of training them to sit still and be bored with you on the sofa and share their fun within their own world - this puts your interaction on a whole new level and you can build up on that to bring them out fully because each piggy is different and has their own quirks.

You may find our Enrichment guide with lots of ideas for how many areas of enriched interaction are possibe helpful - generally, the simpler and the more piggies can let loose their destructive side, the better. Expensive toys from the shop are usually ignored but having to work to get at their food is so much more fun.
This kind of inter-species interacting where you are a participant and watcher goes quite a long way to build up trust but it also opens up a much wider world for you to form a bond that is not human-centric but where your piggies can show you who they are - and you can share the fun together.
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

As to what your piggies have come from, you may find this thread here rather thought provoking: Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs


Please be assured that we are a friendly and supportive place; we look after owners as much as their piggies and we respect each other. What we offer is a community in which you can ask any question, as consequential or 'silly' as may be (silly questions are actually the most thought provoking ones and anything but 'silly). You can be assured a friendly and helpful answer or ongoing support during stressful settling in, bonding, illness or end of life/bereavement times. Our own information is based on our nearly 20 years of collective experiences and questions. We are doing all this for free in our own free time and anybody is welcome to join our community.

We have actually really tested what is making the round online as to whether it works or not and all of that has and still is going into our forum guides. The guide format allows us to add and update our extensive information resource so - unlike books - it is not outdated but new developments and real-life practical experiences with them are going to make their way into them. Since we cannot repeat everything in full in every thread, we link in our guides for further practical how-to tips, advice or in-depth information into our posts.
But you may find our New Owners information collection very helpful for bookmarking, browsing, reading and re-reading as you go along since you will pick up on different things at different levels of experience.
Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners

I hope that this helps you? No question or problem is too small to be asked, and you can always assured that there are quite a number who have the same question but not the courage...
Our Care sections, especially our Support Corners, are monitored by staff to ensure as much as possible that they are answered when one of us is coming on.
The Chat sections are for that; for talking about our piggies, other pets or anything else. Quite a number of our forum regulars have a little blog thread for their piggies and some other pets. You are welcome to do it for your own but we recommend to bookmark any blog or ongoing support thread so you can always pick it up easily again.

 

[Wheekallweek]

We absolutely wouldn't judge you for thinking about finding them a new home.
It just shows how much you care about them!
It sounds to me like they are just typical piggies... I have to say all our piggies are indoors and I find they come around to us much more quickly, but I suppose that's because they are with us all the time. I think your piggies will come around too - it will just take a little more time!
I'd also agree with covering the top of the run with something like a tarp to provide a bit more cover for them. It may help them feel more secure and encourage them to use it.

 

[VickiA]

You have been given excellent tips and advice above, and I really haven’t got a great deal to add other than the fact that you sound a very caring owner, and that a great number of us who keep piggies have learned over time that they rarely enjoy the sort of handling that social media would lead you to believe is the norm. Occasionally you will come across a pig who genuinely wants to engage with you and sit peacefully on your knee while you watch TV. But the majority you do have to chase around and catch in a corner or a tunnel, even if they are used to being well handled. Some of my piggies have mellowed with age, others detested being caught and handled throughout the entire entirety of their long and Happy lives. So please don’t feel that you are failing your piggies in any way.

 

[Truffolo]

Don't be upset by piggy drama, they are extremely adaptable and if you insist on picking them up for lap time, they will adjust. You just have to do it. It might take a bit of scrambling around initially, but things will get better. Rescues are inundated and passing them on to a family for the kids via small ads risks them being passed on again if the family falls out of love with them. Not judging, but they are much better off with you. Cable tie some cardboard boards together and gently put them over piggy to make a corral. Then put one hand in front of piggy and the other around him or her. It may take a few misfires to get to actually picking piggy up. Put piggy into a smaller box or carrier and haul him / her off with his friend for lap time. Using a sling or snuggle sack can be good too. Be gently insistent about personal care. As P&B says, it is a battle of wills, but it will get better. Grooming them with a little comb will help them to relax. If you have girls, you are lucky, no boar pouch to clean But really, I adore my boars, even the pouchy bits They have improved so much. Once they realise that you are in charge but can be trusted, they will stop being drama pigs. Being relaxed yourself really helps. You just have to enjoy them. I hope you decide to keep them, they can be very affectionate and cuddly with a bit of taming. Piggy society isn't really democratic so if you decide you are the herd leader, they will fall in line with that. Don't be discouraged if you get a tiny nip. The nice thing about guinea pig society is that they can say no even to senior pigs. But they stop nipping quite soon, it's just a phase. Really, if you want to handle them, just do it ❤

 

[flowerfairy]

I have two fairly young sows (unsure of exact age as the online person I got them from wasn't sure how old they were when she was given them).

They hide most of the time. I bribe them out with food to take pictures. I cover half their cage with fleece and leave the other half uncovered but with places for them to hide.

I make sure they have food, scatter fed and plenty of forage (they love willow).

I don't handle mine much at all, only for nail trims (at the vet's) or health checks.

Good luck with your choice it sounds like you really do care about them.