Jiggle Shimmy Jiggle Shimmy

[MyGuineaPigPals]

heya, so i was having a cuddle with nemmy earlier one of my more skittish boys and i popped him in a fleece bed on my desk while i study until he got his confidence up enough to come out, then once he was brave enough he tried make a run for it!

so i picked him up and gave him a cuddle but he was a right little fidget and was looking to see if he could jump and run. Anyway i am sure i once read somewhere that jiggling anxious pets gently can help to calm them. so i did. i had him laying in my arms and i was jiggling him and saying "jiggle jiggle jiggle nemmy" over again just gently less than i would to a human baby. i then started a little shimmy motion from my shoulders too and was saying "shimmy jiggle shimmy jiggle" and i did this for quite a long time without really noticing but he seemed to actually calm down and be ok with it.
when i paused he started to fidget again a little but stopped when i jiggled again. it was a lovely bonding time with him as he can be very hard work at times.

has anyone else ever done this is it normal? if anyone else has a problem piggy and tries this id love to know if it works for yours too! i am glad no one witnessed it though as i must have looked and sounded totally and utterly bonkers!

 

[Deleted member 114675]

It would be interesting to find out where you read this as this is not something I've come across.

I thought the party line was to try to mimic guinea pig grooming behaviour . If one of my guinea pigs is a "bit skittish" I massage them just behind their ear and this seems to calm them down.

 

[TheWheekies]

Well it certainly shut Chip up when I bounced up and down holding him (in his cosy) loosely!

 

[Briony_S]

I'm a nutter so I generally get piggies ears and "nibble" them with my lips (not teeth) I think it usually calms them except ofcourse for the super dominant ones who will not let me be "top sow" like my skinny. He rumbles at me if I try any piggie behavour with him