Poll About Guinea Pig Personality, Extremely Scared Even Into Adulthood, What Percentage?

Guinea pig personality-what percentage of your pigs are still completely afraid of you after a year?

  • less than 25%

  • between 25% and 50%

  • between 50% and 75%

  • more than 75%

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Strawberries

Strawberries

Junior Guinea Pig
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I'm coming up on 3 years with my two girls. One has never come out of her shell and still is terrified of me. She barely eats from my hand and it still requires patience at times as she gets up her nerve. She still runs and hides if you walk by the cage. If you pick her up she freezes, won't eat while on your lap, doesn't move on your lap, just sits there terrified, which does make it easy to clip her nails, ha!)

The other girl actively tries to get my attention for treats and head pats and squirms around to explore when you hold her unless you are poking veggies in her mouth.

We have no children, no other pets, they are totally pampered and it is quite around here and calm.

I'm just wondering, since these are my first piggies, what percentage of pigs in the general population have this extremely timid personality...let me know what percentage of your pigs were like this out of all that you have had for more than a year.

Please if you respond, it would be interesting to note if your timid piggies were boys or girls.

I noticed that I accidently overlapped the exactly 50% for two options...so if exactly 50% is your answer, pick your category depending on how over the top timid your pig is...I picked 50-75 because honey is crazy scared, she just ran over her sister just because I walked through the room....
 
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I have had Shereen my little girl for two years and she is still really shy and nervous. She has never spoken to me, will freeze when I hold her and runs when I go to the cage. If I touch her face she will flinch like she has been hit in the past. It is so sad so I do know how you feel.
 
I have 2 girls exactly the same! Poppy is so friendly always waiting at the cage door for food and cuddles, where as sophie will be hid in her house or if she is by the door she will run away when i go near. She sits there frozen on my lap like she really isnt enjoying herself. They came from a bad home previously but because poppy was only very small i dont think it affected her as much as it did sophie. I no how you feel!
 
When I first got my Sophie (look on Rainbow Bridge thread) , she was very frightened and nearly jumped out of my arms when I picked her up. I don't think she'd been handled much before. But with regular gentle quiet cuddling and stroking, she eventually came around and started to enjoy a fuss. No kids or other pets and a very quiet area help a lot! My Whiskey was very nervous when I got her too. Due to an eye injury (it was removed) she needed medication twice every day and she soon lost her nervousness completely. So regular gentle handling is the key, plus food!
 
Mine were boy piggies. They used to hide from me, and hate being out on my lap. But, they all calmed down when they were older (4+).

But, I notice that all of my piggies seem to mellow a bit more when they age. My current boy who is 5 wasn't skittish, but I had to corner to catch. He now steps on my hand if I want to pick him up.
 
Hi Strawberry, I inherited my two boys from my daughter in April this year, she was allergic to them and had asthma so they had not been handled much for the previous two years( they are three now). At first Diesel was very shy but with me speaking to him and stroking him every day he has come out of his shell, I don't think my boys will ever seek out cuddles but they are happy.
 
One of my 7 will take food from my hand but hates me to touch her in any way and runs screaming from me and moans constantly if I pick her up ,until I put her back down again.It is very upsetting.
 
Mrs Fudge has been resident her for the longest of my 4 piggies. She still runs at the sight or sound of me and shrieks in terror. However if I pick her up she will allow me to pet her in my lap for a short while. It's just her personality, and I don't let it bother me. Connie and Violet are the polar opposite, running to greet me, loving being petted. Some piggies are just more confident than others.
 
I have had a number of pairs of piggies which have usually been a neutered male & a female. I have observed that one of the pair has been more confident than the other. When the confident piggy passes on, the other becomes more confident in time. Tamsin, the oldest piggy is currently the most confident, but when she was a youngster with Murray, our first rescue pig, she was very shy & timid.

Funny thing is that Tamsin is now one of a trio with one neutered male & a much younger girl who has proved to be a bit pushy. Tamsin likes nothing better than to sit in the open boldly eating the veggies while I sort the cage around her and the other two cower in the cage until I have walked away!
 
I love Honey even though she is timid, that's just the way she is...it's OK, but I am glad that I have one that isn't that way, or I wouldn't have known how funny and interactive Piggies could be. Honey is funny in her own way...she is such a contrast to Penny it actually makes me laugh when Penny jerks a carrot out of my hand, and Honey so gently just barely pulls it out of my hand, like she is even afraid of being bold to the carrot, and then she backs up in a pretty hilarious way back under the ramp into the darkness...Its pretty sweet....
 
I have a pair of boars and both are quite friendly. In fact they have only really been shy whilst getting to know new situations/people. Blondie is perhaps the boldest and will rush to side of the cage/run in the hope of food whereas Hermes has to be called over and tends to take food away to eat. I did, at one point, teach both tricks such as putting paws on my hand for food. Interestingly Hermes is much easier to catch than Blondie and more relaxed when handled.
 
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