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How friendly are your guinea pigs?

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DM141019

So, my guinea pig Honey passed away a couple of months ago. She was a really friendly piggy, and loved sitting on my lap and having a cuddle. She would happily sit next to me on the grass and not move away while i stroked her along her back and always came running to me whenever i came to her hutch/cage.

My other two weren’t like this, one was really shy and the other one just didn’t like people (she did have the confidence to come out of the tunnels and not hide but she just didn’t seem to enjoy cuddle time and would run to a different section of the grass whenever i sat her next to me on the grass.

My friends guinea pigs were both really shy (she does have 2 dogs and a cat and her house is often noisy, i also dont think she got them out daily like i did).

I would like to know what the chances of getting another guinea pig like Honey would be, as she was really lovely and guinea pigs aren’t hard work at all like a dog is, you can leave them all day while you’re out. If I hadn’t have had Honey then I probably wouldn’t find myself wanting some more gps.
 
Hi! My two boars (Patches and Carmal) are pretty friendly. If I try to pet them in their hutch they'll sometimes run away, and when I go to pick them up. They both love lap time. They will just sit next to me chilling. Yesterday while I was spot cleaning they got out. They ran all around me, even putting their paws on my leg. Two hours later, they jumped back in the hutch where I was able to close the door.

I hoped this helped!
 
I find that in a way, you get back what you put in. All the pigs who I spend daily time with have turned out lovely. One of my pigs is crazy shy and it has taken me 2 years (2 years!) before she lets me stroke her face whilst she’s in the cage and before she really started coming out and not running away etc.

The more laptime they get, the more lovely they will become. Some take longer than others. My boy loves being stroked but will bite when I hold him to carry him somewhere. Always has, always will.

No pig will instantly be cuddly but I think all pigs eventually will be cuddly, with enough time, effort and food bribery.
 
Mine have all been individual characters.
Of my original boar pair as an adult piggy slave Titus wasn't really a people pig, however his brother Philemon liked nothing better than to climb up onto my lap at playtime to be petted or nibble whatever veggies I had.

Of my current herd, none like being picked up but the the 3 girls are happy to sit beside me on the floor to be stroked.
Jemimah tolerates laptime, Phoebe just wants to be down to play and Priscilla is a bit of a diva.
Micah has decided that he no longer likes to be caught, is ok being held and petted though, but not for long as he has discovered his confidence
 
Honey used to run round my legs while i was cleaning out her hutch. She was really cute when she did that.
 
GuineaPigLover7891 said:
Hi! My two boars (Patches and Carmal) are pretty friendly. If I try to pet them in their hutch they'll sometimes run away, and when I go to pick them up. They both love lap time. They will just sit next to me chilling. Yesterday while I was spot cleaning they got out. They ran all around me, even putting their paws on my leg. Two hours later, they jumped back in the hutch where I was able to close the door.

I hoped this helped!
Click to expand...

Meant to reply to this one with my last comment
 
My boar loves lap time, he loves attention all the time. When I have him out for floor time I lie on my front and he snuggles up to my face and purrs.
 
Lucy doesn't like to be picked up but she loves to snuggle - she will happily sprawl on anyone's lap and lay there for ages.

Ruby likes to be patted in her cage (in a very specific way) when she is in the mood.
She bites everyone who tries to pick her up except DD1. When she hears DD1's voice she trots to the front of her cage and stands up biting the bars until DD1 pay attention to her, and preferably picks her up. Ruby will settle on her lap for hours, and DD1 will often lay on a blanket on the floor to do her homework with Ruby. Ruby never leaves the blanket but likes to lay next to DD1.

Harry is ok with being cuddled sometimes. He prefers DD1 becasue she is the one who has spent the most time with him, but he will cuddle with otehr people for a while (but not ages).

All of our piggies run up to the bars when called and will happily take food from anyone who offers.
 
Bill and Ted are very friendly, they love a cuddle on my lap. They like being stroked and when out together, if I stroke Bill, Ted will nudge my hand as if to say “hey stoke me, not him” it’s very strange but just what you would expect of him 🤣
 
My girls love to be cuddled in our laps and to have a nap on top of us. Lizzie will kiss us for ten minutes or more and Pippa might give a kiss or two. But both of them will come to our lap if there is food involved or jump at our legs when we have their favourite treats. The boys are a bit more wary but both of them like a chin rub and Benny closes his eyes if we stroke his head but not very happy if we touch him closer to his bum. Tommy is still adapting and getting used to us.
All of them hate being picked up so I use tunnels or fleece sleeping bags as much as possible to avoid getting them scared of us. Overall they are all very friendly.
 
All pigs are unique individuals and some will always be more human friendly than others. With time your own pigs will come to trust you, but they're all individuals and no one will replace another pig with their exact behaviour/friendliness.

Of my current four girls I don't currently have a proper 'lap' pig.

All mine will come when called for treats and they're all pretty relaxed when I'm cleaning our around them etc.

Wenlock and Wellington (my older two Abby pigs) are both pretty good once caught and will settle down for a quick cuddle and grooming session, but they're not massivly keen on spending much time cuddling.

Young Agatha has become very bold (now she's settled in) and will come and rumage in the veggie box for her fav. bits when I go out to feed them. She's also a bit of a shouter and will stand and shout when she hears the garden gate opening. She's always the first out in the morning and has mad zoomy fits and hoppity skips about more than any pig I've had before. She's taken to hopping into the 'transporter carrier' on her own from the summer aviary run so that she gets taken out to the run first. She'd obviously not been handled much before we adopted her and we're very, very slowly making progress there.

Young Chirstie is shy, painfully shy really. I have finally got her so that she'll come and take food from my hands through the bars of the run/hutch but that's taken 5 months. Handling is something I've not really pushed with her yet; having finally begun to gain her trust I don't want to startle her too much just yet. We'll get there eventually - but it's going to take a lot of time. ON the positive side, she's a very good 'watch pig'. Humand mean food! So she'll wheek away as you approach, then run and hide and then when your distracted doing something else she'll sneak out to grab her tea.
 
Agreed, mine have all been different too. I have Oggie and Finn at the moment. Finn doesn’t like being picked up but loves laptime (will yawn, snuggle, close his eyes) Oggie will come to be picked up, but would rather be eating or ‘on the move’ instead of having cuddles!

But agree, laptime everyday was hugely important in creating a comfortable bond 🙂
 
I have some that are very friendly, some that aren't fussed and some that hate handling, each piggy is different! What they all do like is being hand fed lol.
 
Mine have all been very different in personality and I've definitely had some that were more relaxed during lap time than others... that said, there hasn't been any pig so far that wouldn't sit in my lap for half an hour while I watched tv and patted them. The cuddlier ones just would be a lot more relaxed while doing so, closing their eyes, stretching out, etc. I feel like I put a lot of time into lap time when they were newly brought home babies and it just seemed to be part of the routine that they were used to.
 
The boys are more friendly, but then again I’ve had then for two years. Toffee will demand to be scratched until he’s satisfied. If you stop he kind of sits there giving you a look of ‘I’m not done yet!’ Fudge didn’t used to mind much, although he’d let me stroke him (not so much my husband 🤷🏾‍♀️). But now he also ‘demands’ attention 😁 and sometimes they’ll chatter if I stop and stroke the other one 🙄

The girls will have been here a year in October. But I’d say they’ve settled in quicker than the boys did. Chanel doesn’t tend to let me stroke her apart from when she’s eating. She’ll sniff my fingers then run off. Coco I think likes a stroke and will let me most times.

They all don’t like being caught but Fudge is the one who doesn’t put up much of a fuss. If I’ve picked Toffee up he usually doesn’t run away. That’s their prey instinct and I’m ok with it. But once caught, they’re ok with lap time and I think they enjoy it. I don’t tend to have lap time much because of being busy with work and kids. I do occasionally (rarely) get them out and have them on the sofa.

I like watching them potter around. To me that’s their best environment where they can wander round as they like. But I do want to try and have them out at the weekends now. Hopefully it’ll settle down a little to allow me to do that.
 
Hi there!

Our Freya the eldest dominant piggy likes being petted and chin scratchings, but on her terms only! She will come up to you for pets and enjoy it, have a pancake sploot (with chookens sometimes) When she is done she'll shake her head..pretty much catlike..lol No pets allowed outside the c&c that's her exploring time! Roz and Twitch don't really like being petted..although Twitch will climb on you and lick you if you stay seated on the floor long enough! Roz is a free spirit, however will be handfed tasty veggies and nuggets, she is the youngest and energetic..I better go as she just managed to knock a c&c grid down..good grief..😂 Oh well better let them all out..again..!

I mainly enjoy the antics tbh, and the chatter, very sociable wee people..I like the upfront communication..very interesting to learn about their body language and sounds..
😊
 
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