Frightened And Unruly Pig

[JoosyStooks]

I’m at a bit of a loss as to what I need to do about my guinea pig. He’s been with us for about six months now and was pretty shy from the start—he was only a month or two old, so I expected that—but my boyfriend expected that with plenty of attention and treats we could get him to come around, especially with our other male as a companion. However, that hasn’t been the case at all and his behavior seems like it’s only getting worse.

He gets along with our other male fine but absolutely hates us. I’ve been bitten plenty of times hard enough that it’s scarred on multiple occasions, and now he all but refuses to come out of his hutch unless we take the entire cage apart to get him. He gets hours of floor time every week, plenty of chews/toys, daily vegetable treats, and as much socialization as he’ll allow from us, but he’s just flat-out aggressive and destructive. He’s even started attacking the cage by biting the bars, the water bottle, whatever he can reach.

I know that pigs act out like this out of boredom and fear, and it breaks my heart that he’s still so scared of us, but I don’t know what else to do at this point when it seems like everything else has failed. Does anybody have any suggestions?

 

[sport_billy]

Hello there, welcome to the forum. Sorry to here this, many of us have experienced this.

Guinea Pigs are prey animals which means they have a huge prey instinct, some piggies have this stronger than others.

We had a biter in Vimto, she used to bite because she was so very scared of us. Some piggies while fine in the cage and interacting on their terms with you but when on laps feel a vulnerable, the bites are her way of telling you she does not like it. I used to get actual snaps off Vimto and she would draw blood too
She was just a very scared piggie and felt vulnerable on laps, she didn't appear frightened (but obviously was) but she was confident enough with me not just to freeze and it was here way of saying 'please put me home i don't like this'.

Can you feed him in the cage veggies? Will he take food off you?

My advice would be to start trying to hand feed in cage to build trust. Start off putting some nice veggies to your piggy when they are in their hidey, and walk away, after a few times offer the food in the hidey by holding it - if they take it great - if not just pop it down in the hidey. Keep doing this till they take from your hand hopefully they will take it off you as you hold it in for them... after a while try offering it a little further from the hidey so they edge out and take it from you.

You'll have to do this for a few months before attempting lap times again we then attempted laptimes again using a similair method to hand feeding in the cage - We worked at it and would take her out for 30 seconds then pop here home, we did this 3 times a week for around two months, then slowly increased it up to 5 mins via 30 second increments . Each lap session she'd have a sprig of coriander.
But some piggies really hate lap time and we as owners have to respect that, we'd all but gave up with Vimto and used to interact at the bars with her in the cage rather than lap times but by the time she hit 3 she was much tamer

When is is bting the cage, can I ask the items you have in there with him? Do you leave the hideys in?

One more thing use something like this to catch him, really takes the stress out of picking them up... the issue is you scrae pigs by catching them which automatically sets them up to be frightened and stress at lap time

Hope the above helps

Lee

 

[Betsy]

No more to add to what @sport_billy has said really. You just have to remember to be patient and eventually your little scared and frightened piggie will come around. Sometimes it just takes (a lot) longer than with other piggies. You have to put yourself into the place where your piggie is. If something came at you that was giant sized you would run and be frightened too. You know you're not going to hurt your piggy but he doesn't know that. You have to teach him that you're not going to hurt him by showing him more kindness and understanding. I know it's frustrating but you have to take things at the pace your piggy is happy with.

 

[Wiebke]

I’m at a bit of a loss as to what I need to do about my guinea pig. He’s been with us for about six months now and was pretty shy from the start—he was only a month or two old, so I expected that—but my boyfriend expected that with plenty of attention and treats we could get him to come around, especially with our other male as a companion. However, that hasn’t been the case at all and his behavior seems like it’s only getting worse.

He gets along with our other male fine but absolutely hates us. I’ve been bitten plenty of times hard enough that it’s scarred on multiple occasions, and now he all but refuses to come out of his hutch unless we take the entire cage apart to get him. He gets hours of floor time every week, plenty of chews/toys, daily vegetable treats, and as much socialization as he’ll allow from us, but he’s just flat-out aggressive and destructive. He’s even started attacking the cage by biting the bars, the water bottle, whatever he can reach.

I know that pigs act out like this out of boredom and fear, and it breaks my heart that he’s still so scared of us, but I don’t know what else to do at this point when it seems like everything else has failed. Does anybody have any suggestions?

Hi and welcome!

Please take the time to read these guides here and use guinea pig body language to make friends with him in ways that he instinctively understands. Avoid predatory behaviours and triggering his prey animal instincts. Assert your dominance in a friendly manner that invites him into your herd. It is not going to be a quick fix - building up trust isn't, and he may never get any further than tolerating handling, but it is surprisingly effective.
Building up a daily routine with regular rituals announced with the same cadence (piggies react to melodies and the emotion in your voice more than to the words) everytime makes his world a lot more predictable) makes his world a lot more predictable. Lots of praise for every little he does right and disappointment in your voice when he gets it wrong will also help him to feel appreciated and learn what behaviours are accepted in your herd and which not. Listen to his signals when he's had enough and give him in turn space to make his wishes known.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...ds/how-do-i-settle-shy-new-guinea-pigs.36239/
" Biting" And What You Can Do

Please also take into account that your piggies are in the middle of the teenage months with testosterone at an all time high; they are currently at the stage where they are pushing the limits.
If their mum was were stressed and frightened during pregnancy and lactating, babies can internalise this. It takes a long time and a lot of patience and persistence to work past this - but when you can, then it is a most precious achievement indeed!

New Owners' Problem Solver And Information Collection

 

[Betsy]

I learnt a lot from the piggy whispering tips that @Wiebke has mentioned. The most important one in my opninion is letting them know when I am approaching the hutch. I always say what I am going to do when I approach the hutch (Breakfast time, Time to get you out its a nice day, Its raining today so you have to stay in etc) That way they know to expect that something will be happening.