Help With Bonding!

[Pip&Sage]

I have had my piggies for a little over a month. They are the cutest , fluffiest guinea pigs! However, they still will have nothing to do with being held or pet I know you need to be patient and I waited for a few weeks.Once they ate out of my hand, I started letting them just get used to my hand without food. When they got used to that, I attempted petting them. Sage now let's me pet her through the cage when she begs and seems just fine with it! I have also been able to catch her twice and let her eat some food in my lap. But now she knows what I'm going to do and will run away! Pippin is just too fast and I have never been able to hold her. I have tried the towel trick to no avail and I am getting desperate:/ should it be taking this long? Tonight I also had to give them lice treatment and managed to get them each (after lots of time and coaxing) to go into an upside igloo to get the medicine..but they were NOT happy afterwards!

Should I give it a rest and let them build up their trust again? Or is it something that they need to just get used to? I feel like I am doing something wrong! Any advice would be welcome! I also need to clip their nails soon and I hate to make it more stressful than it needs to be.

 

[KittyandNancy]

I would wait on the nails a bit unless they're starting to curl around.

Do you have a tube? I say you just have to pick them up and hold them 5-10 min a few times a day to start.

make it fun by giving them their veggies while on your lap.

I would take a piece if bell pepper and hold it in my lips and Kitty would take it out. We started that right away. Now she licks me before each bite. But she is really our only licky pig out of the three. We might get one here and there from the others but she knows the word kiss now. We have only had them since June and they were about 3mo old.

We held them from day two and now they're really like it once we get them out. Some days it's more of a chase to get them and other days they just sit there, BUT, they know they're gonna get the good stuff if they come out lol.

Hope this helps
Angela

 

[Pablo&Arthur]

I feel your pain, I am having a similar issue with my piggies that I've also had for about a month now, or just coming up to a month. I suppose it does take time and we should be patient with them, but I can understand why you're becoming concerned because I am too. Pablo will sometimes let me stroke him, no problem, Arthur doesn't even let me do that yet, and both of them seem to hate being picked up, which I can understand, from their perspective. Both will eat from my hands and will often come up to me when I walk in the room to see what I've got (especially Arthur). As someone in the same boat, I am just going to keep hand feeding them, picking them up, whether they like it or not, and give them little treats during lap time.