Is taming guinea pigs cruel?

[CiaraPatricia]

Well of course not!

But on an animal forum we were talking about "do our animals love us" and I was saying how rewarding it is, after months of patiently spending time with prey animals like piggies and bunnies, for them to start to trust you and to show affection, like licking your hand, etc.

And one person said something like "I would never do that. Just let them be happy being who they are. That's like taming a wild bird and teaching it to eat from your hand".

But I completely disagree. I handled Cenci since birth and he is tame, Moxie was handled by his old family since birth, and Meeko came to me completely tame. They love being cuddled and don't mind being picked up at all! I give them cuddles, but if they want to get away then I put them back in their house. I feed them treats, or just sit with them and let them come to me.

My two girls are nervous, and I totally respect that. They don't like being handled at all (pet shop pigs) so I don't handle them unless I need to. I don't try to force them to be friendly or play with them! I feed them treats and sit and watch them. They've grown more confident and will come out squeaking at me.

I find nothing wrong with this. They are domesticated animals. And even dogs and cats need socialising and handling from birth or will be feral.

Of course you have to respect that they are prey animals and can be skittish, but I see nothing wrong with getting them used to humans, while still repecting their natural behaviour. They're not wild animals, but still have some natural behaviours that they need to be happy.

 

[fritsthegirl]

I think I agree with you, guineas are domesticated, they are not wild animals that can be damaged by too much human interaction. Good human interaction enriches any animals' life, wild or not, some animals do seek out and love human interaction, it can be fun and interesting. Just because something feels a bit scary to us or them doesn't mean we should just give up on them ever learning and stretching their instinctual behaviour. We just need good judgement and education about what is reasonable to expect and respect them when they show little interest or fear. Expecting too much is a very bad thing, but expecting too little can be bad too. Some guineas never warm to the idea of a human holding them, and yes, I will leave them be. I still hope that maybe one day they will realise my kindness towards them, and let me stroke their heads but I don't force it on them. I believe in living side by side with animals, if they are interested in me then touch is a common connection we can both share. My wee tame Floris absolutely loves a tickle behind her ear, she even lays down to get a bit more comfy for it sometimes!

 

[Fudge and Rainbow :)]

Of course it's not cruel! If the guinea pigs didn't want to be nice, they wouldn't be! But if yours are friendly, you obviously taught them to trust you and now they love you! x)

 

[CiaraPatricia]

Very good post Frits,

I don't mind if my pigs don't want anything to do with me, but it's so nice when they do want a scratch behind the ear or a cuddle or something

 

[CiaraPatricia]

Of course it's not cruel! If the guinea pigs didn't want to be nice, they wouldn't be! But if yours are friendly, you obviously taught them to trust you and now they love you! x)

I do think our guinea pigs love us, in their own way! Or they just love treats

 

[Wiebke]

Guinea pigs are pets and not wild animals. They depend on us for everything and we do not interfere with a "wild life" they would otherwise have.

Winning a piggy' trust and affection is a boon if it is freely given and not forced behaviour. You can teach piggies tricks, as long as they are based on willing cooperation.

I had a cataract piggy once that would run free in the garden. For orientation, she would follow my voice. We had even worked out a way for "you are going right" and "you are going wrong". If the second was the case she would either sit and reorientate herself or wait to be picked up by me. But I could even direct her to find the entry flap for the run without having to touch her!

That would not have been possible without trust and affection from both sides.

 

[CiaraPatricia]

That's an amazing story Weibke!

I think having pets is so nice, not just for us, the animals are so happy too, if they are treated well. They must be so much happier than wild animals, in lots of ways. Sure they don't have "freedom", but they have a life free of the fear that wild animals have, with all the comforts of being looked after and they get to play and relax and be pets!

 

[Nicquita]

an animals 'nature' can be completely altered by the way it is brought up. just like a child. there's no argument about whether children should be left to do what's natural to them.

we have a 'pet' house sparrow, who fell from his nest and, luckily for him, landed on our binbag on rubbish day. he was literally newly hatched. we think that he may have fallen from the nest whilst getting out of his egg. he was all pink and alienish :p

Jack the Sparrow now lives with us, and is domesticated. if we allowed him into the wild, he'd die. i believe that that's the same principal. Jack is domesticated because that's the only way for him to survive. my guinea pigs are domesticated because that is the only way for them to survive. it just so happens that being domesticated entails a lot of human contact, so the animals in time become tame. in Jack's case, we didn't have to 'tame' him. the fact that he was hand reared did that for us.

if taming is cruel, then would it be 'kind' of us to release our guinea pigs into the wild? regardless of whether they are tame or not, they get to live out their natural habits. for instance, two of my four piggles are completely tame, and they still eat and poo like pez despenses, just like my less tame piggles :p

 

[CiaraPatricia]

That's good that you could save the sparrow, Nicquita. I guess it happens that they become too tame after being handreared, and then of course can't be released.

I think if we released our pigs they wouldn't last long! I know my Meeko would run up to a cat to say hello!

 

[Nicquita]

That's good that you could save the sparrow, Nicquita. I guess it happens that they become too tame after being handreared, and then of course can't be released.

I think if we released our pigs they wouldn't last long! I know my Meeko would run up to a cat to say hello!

exactly. with Jack, not only would he not decide, other birds would reject and then murder him we make him as happy as we can here though, and he's very healthy, and sings alot he's almost a year old now. when we found him, we thought he was dead. my mom just didn't want my younger siblings to see him, so was going to throw him away, but he moved :p that was followed by a few weeks of syringe feeding every 15 minutes... :...

i think if i set my guinea pigs free, they would actually just sit where i leave them, awaiting their pet human's timed appearance with their daily dose of fresh greens

 

[Nicquita]

That's an amazing story Weibke!

I think having pets is so nice, not just for us, the animals are so happy too, if they are treated well. They must be so much happier than wild animals, in lots of ways. Sure they don't have "freedom", but they have a life free of the fear that wild animals have, with all the comforts of being looked after and they get to play and relax and be pets!

just to add my penny's worth here...

i don't think i'd complain too much if i were a pet |)

 

[Indie]

I dont think its cruel i firm believe that piggies know there own mind if they dont want my attention they quickly show me but when they want hugs and attention i soon know

 

[CiaraPatricia]

exactly. with Jack, not only would he not decide, other birds would reject and then murder him we make him as happy as we can here though, and he's very healthy, and sings alot he's almost a year old now. when we found him, we thought he was dead. my mom just didn't want my younger siblings to see him, so was going to throw him away, but he moved :p that was followed by a few weeks of syringe feeding every 15 minutes... :...

That's amazing that he survived

 

[Abi_nurse]

I dont think its cruel at all. My Pigs are getting more confident everyday. And As a nurse I understand that when the time comes (hopefully not) to have to care for your pets it can be so much easier and stress free with a tamer animal. All pets, prey animal or not will take time to gain in confidence but in the end results are a plus plus. Guinea pig gets more affection, is easier to handle and health check and treat. Owner gets a companion.

I'm spending lots of time getting my young ones used to handling. Looking in ears, playing with there feet and turning them over gently, but I always try to reward them after.

Providing done in a gentle manor taming animals (providing not completely wild - tho there are some exceptions) is not in my opinion cruel.

x.