Always scared?

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brandi.dan

So ive had peanut for..4 months? 3 months? well...at first he used to be obviously, very skiddish. now he is better but he still runs away when i want to hold him.

and squirt is HORRIBLE. he sees me come in the room and hides. i have to like wrestle with him to get him out.

ive read a few of you guys/gals mentioning your piggies wanting to come out and be held.

am i doing something wrong or is it just the older ones? =[ it makes me quite sad.

if i bend down to peanuts size, he will come over to the side of the cage but once i open the door, he runs away. i think only 2 times i have picked him up and not had him scratch the bejesus out of me.
 
All piggies are different. i dont think your doing any thing wrong. Some of mine run to the cage door to have hugs and some run away as soon as i enter the room. I have found that spending time feeding them veg through the bars helps them trust you. Take your time and slow movements and even my most skitish piggie has now started darting out to see me. Once you have fed the veg leave them alone sometimes. so then they realise they can come to the bars and not always be taken out. hope it gets better. x
 
That sounds really good advice, Lincolnsmummy.

I would just add that I think piggies have really poor eyesight, and may be running away from the scary big thing looming over them (sorry - you may not be BIG, but anything is big to a piggy!).

I always talk to mine softly when feeding them, and then when ever I go near them I talk to them as I approach them so they know that this particular big scary thing is the nice one that brings them food - it quickly makes them wheek at you instead of running away all the time.
 
all the same. Try to approach the cage slowly. Have you noticed anything when they'll come out? Mine come out if I rustle (sp?) a plastic bag or when I open the fridge door (it squeaks) as they've programmed their little brains as that meaning food, so they wait by the door expectantly.

Mine never come to be picked up but if I put my hand in the cage, they'll come and sniff if, chew it maybe and let me pat them on the head.

All the piggies I've had over the years (I've had some for 21 years) have always been skittish, I just think it's their nature. Don't fret... And remember they have very distinct personalities, learn to accept them the way they are and don't expect them to be how you want them to be...

Hope this helps.
 
I've just re-read my post and it all sounds a bit obvious - sorry! I've also just realised that you're more after help about picking up your pigs.

Mine are still a bit skittish when being picked up but slowly getting better. I've only had them 7 weeks or so, but I know from having pigs previously that it just takes time. I never pick mine up when I've just fed them - I'll wait until they might be a bit hungry (not necessarily at feeding time as then they can get scared to take food from you), and often try to feed them a small tasty treat, like a bit of lettuce. I don't do this every time though, just enough that to hopefully associate cuddles with nice things.

However, it does just take patience and time. Hope this helps.
 
Pigglywink was very skittish when I first got her, but I brought one of the kitchen chairs over by her cage (which put my head about the same level as her), and just talked to her softly and calmly (told her the story of the Three Little Pigs among others) for a while. She came out of her house and almost seemed to be listening, so I then very slowly put the tips of my fingers through the bars. She'd come and sniff them, although if I forgot to move very slowly, she'd run and hide again. After about a week of this, she got to the point where I could pet her through the bars. Then started the whole process again with putting my hand into the cage. After about three weeks of spending a mimimum of 40 minutes a day trying to socialize with her, she was finally willing to allow me to pick her up and cuddle her without me being afraid she was going to have a heart attack. Oh, and I should mention that I reduced the number of times I tried to pick her up while I was doing this, so that she wouldn't associate my hand in the cage always meaning being scooped up. Only took her out as necessary to clean her cage.

So I guess all I can suggest is just taking it really slowly, and remembering that any sudden movements or loud sounds can make them feel threatened.
 
yeah thankyou. you guys make me feel really welcome here. i love it here somuch. and i can just ask as many questions as come to mind.

Thankyou :<>
 
One of my girls is quite nervous. When I got them, I got little huts made out of hay for them to hide in, which were very cute and meant they could nibble them, but at over £5 a pop when they would eat that instead of their fresh hay wasn't working for me! Heh. I replaced them with a proper wooden hidey-house, and I never lift her out of it. I've made sure she knows when she's in there she's secure, and it has meant she is more likely to let me pick her up if she's out the house, I just have to be patient until she lets me, not when I want to!
 
mine pretty much always run away when i go to pick them up, if they are in their run there is no stopping them they run and run and run until i give up and leave them to it! i think a lot of it is having patience with them some days are better than others depending on their moods! I have only had them about 2 months now so i'm still learning about them just as they are learning about me!
 
oh my lilly still liek this and i had her nerally 2 years and her 2 girls are like ths who are nerally 2
 
My cage is raised off the floor only slightly so i crouch down to feed the piggies...
I find no massive movements or sounds, and just talk to them in a soft, calm happy voice...
One of my guinea pigs still runs when i get near the cage but will come out and feed while I'm there but i have to talk to her otherwise she wont come out... I think its her eyesight more than anything (she is red eyed) and she has to know where i am but she will always be scaredy...

I find if they have a veg they REALLY like then hand feed that to them and that will usually get them to be near you (spinach leaves works wonders for mine and you can feed it to them one leaf at a time)

Mine will bomb around not wanting to be picked up and i found that if i pop a smaller carry box into the cage, and herd them in i can take that out and pick them up from that...

They seem to prefer being picked up in a smaller space rather than their big cage...
 
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Well my little charlie is always jumpy, not a fan of being held either really. I think i saw 1 post of someone saying all pigies are different which is completely and uterly true, just as all people are different.
 
I'm having the same problem with my boy, Reno. I just got him last week (adopted from someone) and he is extremely skiddish. The first couple days, he barely left his pigloo except to eat. Sometimes he even ate from his pigloo entrance. But I've been holding out food to him through the bars and he's been eating it. Sometimes I'll even hold the food in front of him from inside. This works best with something he really loves, like a piece of carrot or apple. He also loves eating hay that I hold out to him. Sometimes I can pet him without him running off, but not always. Still, he's showing progress since the first day I got him. I still am having trouble picking him up. He will run and chatter his teeth at me when I try. The only way I can catch him is if I put a towel over his head first. I'm hoping that he will get better with time. But some guinea pigs will still run every time you try to pick them up. Usually they calm down once they're in your arms. Even my outgoing boy, Axel, will run a bit when I go to pick him up. But he is very calm once I have him securely in my arms.
 
when they are in their tube i just pick up the tube and bring that out. otherwise i have to catch them. ive gotten pretty good at it.

i feel like i could catch a fish in the middle of a stream now haha:p
 
I've made a small breakthrough with Reno. I've been able to pick him up and hold him twice without having to chase him around the cage. He squeaks and complains a bit vocally while I hold him, which probably means he's still a bit nervous. I try to hold him for a very short amount of time so that he doesn't get too frightened, then put him back and pet him on the head. I think it also helps to not pick him up too often, but pet him often inside the cage. Then he doesn't think that hand equals scary ride each time. Patience indeed pays off.
 
i made a break-through tonight. George always runs off when I come near his cage. I can pick him up I have to lift the roof of his hiding area (half the cage) to do it. He doesn't complain and I sit on the couch with him on my knee and he squeeks cos he loves it.

Anyway on sunday I bought him a play pen & everyday this week I have come home assembled it & let him play out for 4/5 hours. Tonight I came home & for once he came to greet me. he watched me assemble the playpen (which takes ages) all the while sqeeking and jumping in the air (obviously new what was coming next). He didn't even flinch when I dropped a side of the pen on the floor which clanged loudly.

I then crawled to his cage whilst he sat there and opened the door. I actually managed to put my hand in the cage and he sniffed me a couple of times (which is a first).

I have a feeling in a couple of weeks hopefully he will come to be picked up and put in his run which will be brillant I can't believe how brave he has become! bless :)
 
I've had my pigs about a year, and sometimes they still sulk off when I come in for a cuddle!

I've noticed, however, that since they have a fairly regular feeding routine that they are more likely to be friendly around the times of the day that we feed them!

Any other time I want to play, I usually sit beside the cage for a while, sometimes I find talking to them or humming gets them to chill out a bit!
 
my two are the same apart from when they hear the door to the cupboard where their food is kept open up, then they come out lol
 
its good to know that everyone has the same sort of problems at first! My two arent improving really, i feed them treats by hand but they wont let me stroke them, i'm sure they set each other off. and now cos they have a big cage it is virtually impossible to catch them (they move so quickly!) I have just read through this entire thread so i think i am going to try feeding through the bars so they will actually come over and realise I'm not so awful after all!
 
Just a suggestion

Just a suggestion - but the bit between floor and arms is the hardest for a piggie. Try putting some kind of small house near the door, where you could get your arm in and around and scoop them up easily, and make them happy in there with treats and talking to them for a while. And stroking. I don't know how long you'll need to do this, piggies are all different. Then when you first try to pick them up from there put your hand right under their tummies, wrist under their front feet and fingers supporting their bottom, and guide/support with your off hand when you can. Get them to your chest asap. So this house/box/thingie needs to be just big enough to fit a piggie and your hand.
It will take a while, but once they associate the house near the door to the cage with treats and cuddles they may even start waiting in there for you - or running in there when you come near. Best of luck.
 
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