Having a hard time earning Speedy's trust...

[Shunra]

It's been about a month since Hirochi and I brought Speedy home, and for the most part he and Izzy seem to be getting along. However, as first-time guinea owners, we're still learning about them as we go, and sometimes Speedy's behavior confuses us, so I was hoping to gain a better understanding of what's going on in his head by asking here.

Bonding with Speedy has not been easy, and I'm not sure how much progress we've made. Sometimes it feels like he just doesn't like us, but when I think about it, he's probably just more nervous than the average pig. Problem is, we don't know how to help him. He runs away every time we try to interact with him, and we are very rarely able to get him to take food from our hands. The biggest achievement we've had so far is when he tentatively inches toward the food bowls when we are filling them, but he will run and hide as soon as he notices we've seen him.

Trying to get him out of the cage is a nightmare. Izzy doesn't like being picked up either, but when we do get him out, he calms down pretty quickly. Not Speedy; he will immediately run to the nearest blanket or whatever else he can burrow into, and he tries to hide until it's time to go back to the cage. Oddly, Izzy is the one who will squirm (and sometimes nip) when being handled, even though he definitely likes us. Speedy will remain perfectly still while we hold him, despite how panicked he was just moments before that.

There may be some clues to his mental state in the way he interacts with Izzy. Between these two, Speedy seems to have the more aggressive personality. For a long time, he would rumblestrut in front of Izzy every time he came near him, and he would chase him around the cage constantly. Now he does it less frequently, but in the beginning he was quite serious about becoming the dominant male, whereas Izzy wasn't nearly as fussed about it. Even now, I don't recall ever seeing Izzy chasing Speedy; whenever there's chasing going on, Speedy is always the pursuer. I've never seen Izzy rumblestrut either. They seem to like each other, but they often sleep separately. There haven't been any fights over food or water that we've seen.

As a sufferer of anxiety/panic disorder, it seems to me that perhaps Speedy's overly dominant behavior toward Izzy is a result of him trying to compensate for his insecurities, considering how absolutely terrified he is to interact with us at all. It's probably what I would do if I was a guinea pig. I think he's scared and doesn't know how to deal with us. Maybe I'm reading too far into this, but it's just so hard to make any progress in bonding with Speedy, and I was thinking there must be some reason. We didn't have this much trouble with Izzy. How do we make an extremely timid piggy feel more comfortable? We just want to be his friends, but so far I'm not sure the feeling is mutual.

 

[piggyfan]

I have had shereen for over a year and she is so nervous. She runs away when I just pass the cage. What I do is pick her up ever day and hold her to my chest talking softly. I put a fleece over her as they feel safer when hiding. She is a bit better but still very nervous. Good luck with speedy.

 

[*Nibbles&Nugget*]

I have two piggies who are relatively new still (two months and one month since they joined us) and taming them has been a slow process. I don't know if it will help but I'll list what I did and maybe it can give you some ideas for taming Speedy.

- First, whenever I was on the phone, I sat next to the cage for my conversations to get them used to the sound of my voice when they weren't the focus of my attention
- After three or four days of this, I did the same but with the cage open
- Then when they were brave enough to peek out at me (I think this took two days) I changed so I was talking to them softly and had my hand on the edge of the cage holding a piece of spinach or parsley. After four attempts over four days, Nacho came and grabbed a mouthful.
- Slowly I worked with letting them eat and then putting my other hand in the cage next to them. (over two days)
- Then I used the hand not holding the veggie to stroke them gently. (again over two days)
- Then, even when they were a little skitty I got them out every day

It is very slow work but they don't run away when I want to get them out now and seem happy to snuggle on us which I love. I'm not sure the size of your piggy but mine were very little so I cuddle them in a little old beanie hat and give them veggies when they are out. Now when they see the beanie they know there is a positive experience or treat on the way so don't seem to mind coming out.

There are always going to be some piggies however who are eternally nervous and shy. A friend of mine has a little fella called Bilbo and has had him since he was a baby, but at four now he is still nervous and shy. It's all a matter of pigsonality.

I'm sure though, that if you persevere Speedy will soon settle down.

~ Amy

 

[nedajaffa]

Hi, I found something that helped me was to sit with Billy when I got him out to play. He would gradually come over to me. I still can't pick him up without him getting tetchy, but then I think this is his personality and he has as much right to not want to be picked up as he likes! Sometimes I will put his hidey tube on my lap so that he can sit inside. Basically being patient is the key (really sucks when you have a scrumptious guinea you want to cuddle!) and waiting for them to come to you! Good luck with it x

 

[madguinealady]

I have four girls that hate being oicked up but are tame enough to eat next to me and take food out of my hand when I am in the cage.Have had them about 4 months and it has took this long to get that far.My other two are long haired so have no choice,have to get them out to check them over