Need some help

Lizzi T

Lizzi T

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Sep 28, 2018
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Wales, UK
I think I'm my own worst enemy, I've been trying to handle the boys but it's not going well... They were well handled before so I was quite confident to start with that I could continue...I've slowly try to usher one at a time to a corner to lift, ginger was more compliant, chocolate is more skittish to pick up and fretful when on a lap so I gave him a little blanket to cwtch in.
But the more I try to pick up they are running away, I'm getting nervous that they are stressed and I am too which I'm sure they can sense. Now I've got to the point I'm worried before I start! So ATM I've just tried to feed them by hand. They do come to me when I go near the cage but I just don't know where to go from here.
I did pick up this bed to try and lift chocolate so he's not so skittish.IMG_20181020_185949795.webp
 
Welcome.
I wondered how long you have had your piggies. Mine took a very long time to be ok with handling and this is just with maintenance like cutting nails and grooming.

I give them cilantro and parsley daily by hand and some fruits a couple of times a week. They get fed three meals of veggies a day with endless hay and some pellets.

Now both Finn and Lara run towards me when I get close to them. They are fine when being picked up for their cages cleanings and for their regular playpen times.
 
I still use a tunnel or hidey together them out. They crawl in and I lift them out. My girls like their sleep sack.
 
Thank you, I've only had them two weeks so we are still getting to know each other.
 
Take everything slowly, slow hand movements, talk calmly to them, offer hand fed treats through the cage bars at first. Transporting piggies that are skittish is best done at floor level with a cozy or snuggle bed. Get down to their level for strokes, nothing scares piggies more than a looming hand coming down on them as they are prey animals, and their instinct to run kicks in if scared. Good luck, they will tame up, it takes a little time, some more than others, but you will get there with patience x
 
:agr:
I have had mine for four months and it’s only been in the last seven or so weeks that one of them has come round to voluntarily letting me stroke him. The other one is much more anxious and still doesn’t really like to be touched. I can pick them up but they really don’t like it.
 
We can mostly only pick up Jezebel floof reliably and comfortably without a hidey tube or bag, the others like to ride a "piggy shuttle bus" sleeping bag or cardboard tube for picking up. They happily go in knowing what's going to happen, and come out onto our lap, but it avoids the "argh its an eagle" prey response triggered by looming over them and grabbing :)
 
Would it be better ok to cordon off an area with the boys in to pick the up..like using their up ended dens
 
This is a useful guide How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig. I use a small cat carrier, lower it into the cage and once they have walked into it gently shut the door. Trips in the piggie bus always result in a small food treat so they are happy to step in once they get used to it. It's much easier and less stressful to lift them out of the carrier than catch them in a cage.
 
piggieminder said:
This is a useful guide How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig. I use a small cat carrier, lower it into the cage and once they have walked into it gently shut the door. Trips in the piggie bus always result in a small food treat so they are happy to step in once they get used to it. It's much easier and less stressful to lift them out of the carrier than catch them in a cage.
Click to expand...
Yes piggy shuttle bus always means a trip out of a dirty cage into a clean playpen full of toys and food and hay, or out of a pooped-up playpen back to a clean cage full of hay and clean fleeces via a weighing scale box or lap time full of salad- the piggies queue up for it :)
 
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