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Please Help

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Scha

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Hello,
I bought a guinea pig 6 months ago. She was 9months old already when I bought her and was living with 3 rabbits in a small cage in pet store.
I read all the information about guinea pig on internet and then started working on it. She used to run away and hide in dark places like under the fridge, bed etc..and never used to come out until I show her some food and then also she would grab the food and run under the fridge again. She has spent day and night under the fridge/dark places until I forcefully took her out.
After this I thought may be I should give her some personal space and leave her inside the cage and not touch or pick up at all (though I used to talk to her on daily basis) Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. I still dont see any change in her till now. Whenever I try holding her she would scratch me badly from legs. She recognizes her name and that is all that have changed since the day I got her. She feels so comfortable if I cover the cage totally from all 4 sides, she just want to be alone inside her cage. She only approaches when she is hungry and then when I try to feed her from hands she would take the chunk and run into her tunnel again. I thought of getting her a friend couple of times but I am scared that she might end up fighting with the other one as she is Anti social.

I have read zillions of guinea pig posts and what not. I have tried each and every possible way to make her comfortable...tried playing games, talk to her on daily basis and what not.
I dont know what to do now, please can someone help!
 
Hiding in dark places and avoiding the big scary monkey trying to pick them up are natural guinea pig instincts that take a long time to counter; they're prey animals by nature, so the world is big and scary to them. We've had our girls for nearly 2 years now, and they're still not exactly rushing to us demanding to be petted - it's a slow process, and while I appreciate being told "have patience" isn't what you want to hear right now, there's not really any miracle fix for it. Keep talking to her (maybe play a radio when you're out), keep offering food (so she associates you with nice things). @Wiebke has put together a couple of really good guides here and here

I can also understand your reticence with regards to getting her a friend as what she's doing seems like she's an anti-social pig, but "hiding from the scary monkey" is, as I've said, more about her prey instincts than how she'd get on with other pigs, and they really thrive when they have company of their own kind. An established, reputable rescue will probably offer 'dating' or pairing-up services to help her find a companion she gets on with; if you can put your location in your profile members can offer more specific information based on where you are in the world.

Hope this helps.
 
Hey,
Thanks for the reply. I am located in Bangalore,India. Please let me know if you can help.
 
You will get answers - from members with more experience than me .Please be patient :)
 
I am new to the world of piggies and one of main concerns (and if I'm being very honest, disappointments) has been just how shy and flittery my 2 piggies are! I have received loads of advice from the lovely folk on here, and although I am still struggling a little with gaining my piggies trust (we haven't even had a proper cuddle yet and it's been nearly 6 weeks) it is slowly but surely happening. Having started from scratch and not knowing a thing about GP's this is the most important things I have learnt: They need company (especially from other piggies so if you can get her a friend please please do), but also they eventually quite like your company too, but the key here is PATIENCE. Leaving them be and just talking to them constantly, I sing to them too (poor things!), sitting on the floor next to them (we sit in a playpen with them), and as others have said feeding them their favourites snacks preferably by hand (not all of it but some of it) will encourage them to be brave and approach you and also they'll love you for these offerings. But what I keep reminding myself too is not to be too offended by their behaviour, it is in their nature to be nervous and unsure as they are prey animals, and I've heard loads of people say that even after months their GPs can run away and hide like you are a big monster hunting them for dinner! Also not sure of your set up as you make it sound as though your piggy runs free, but do provide her with safe and snug little places for her to hide and snuggle. Get some snuggly fleece sacks, blankets, tunnels, they love all that sort of stuff! Good luck. It's hard work but patience will get us there!
 
My two observations... she may actually be less fearful with a companion pig. Being afraid of humans is not an indication of how she will manage with another guinea pig. In nature guinea pigs would always be part of a group, an only pig is a vulnerable pig. My experience is that guinea pigs are calmer and less fearful with other guinea pigs. So I can understand not rushing out to get a friend, but don't rule it out. It would probably improve her quality of life, even if she never becomes a cuddly lap pig.

My take on getting guinea pigs used to being handled is simply to expose them to the experience of being handled. It may be scary for her at first, so I would suggest holding her for a small time each day and making her feel as secure as possible, possibly by giving her something to hide in (I cover skittish pigs in a blanket- hidden pigs feel more secure.) I pat them gently, offer them food, for a short period of time every day. This might take longer with an adult pig, but hopefully over time she will learn that you are not going to hurt her, even though she may never want to spend a lot of time being cuddled (and some pigs don't, even without a rough start to life.) But hopefully with small sessions regularly she will at least become accustomed to being held. Hope this helps a bit!
 
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