How Do I Get My Guinea Pigs To Like Being Held?

[G Delara]

I own a 5 week old baby girl and a 7 month old young female.
Right now everything is good, they come to me when they see me, they wheek at me and my family, they even like to be stroked on the head.
Now the biggest problem I have is "holding" them, how am I supposed to get them to get used to it?
This is not a case where there are guinea pigs that are automatically used to being held, my guinea pigs have never been held and evade whenever necessary.
Is this something that I should be trying on a daily basis like picking them up and down?

 

[The Furry Godmother]

They don't really like being held in general really, having them out daily for some cuddles and bonding time would probably help though.
It's because they are prey animals, but yeah as a rule they don't really like it.
Over time they probably will get more used to it.

Welcome to the forum

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome!

Building up trust is a slow process. Guinea pigs are prey animals and not natural cuddlers; youngsters are nt good at sitting still in the first place. Here are tips on how to make friends. Use a tunnel, covered cosy or a walk-in cardboard that you fill with some soft hay for the pick-up ritual: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...stincts-and-speak-piggy-body-language.117031/