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Scratching

  • Thread starter Thread starter NocturnalRapport
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NocturnalRapport

My youngest guinea pig doesn't seem to mind being held. Now that he has settled down a bit, he normally stands still to be picked up and is nice and calm whilst being held....but as soon as I try and put him back in the cage he goes crazy, panics like mad and starts thrashing around. My hands are covered in scratches from this, some of them quite deep.

I have tried numerous ways to put him back, it happens each time as soon as I pull him away from my body.

I love him to bits but its starting to put me off holding him :... I can't let the children hold him for this reason.

Will he grow out of it? any idea why he does it on the way back to the cage and not when I actually take him out?
 
My mini pig did this initially but thankfully has either grown out of it, or I managed to train him out of it. They do it because they can smell their 'home' and get excited (I think!). Not sure if the 'training' worked but I refused to put him back in the cage until he stopped wriggling and nipping. I'd pull him back closer to me and move away from the cage, moving him closer again once he'd settled. Eventually, he seems to have realised that he won't get put back in until he calms down.
 
I think you'll just have to be patient with him. Some piggies are more sensitive/nervous than others. Maybe when you go to put him back and he starts thrashing around, hold on to him until he stops, and then put him back in. You may need to use some gloves until he has calmed down to save your skin :))
 
It takes a while to get the knack of putting piggies back down into their cage. Many piggies have leapt out of their owners hands and caused themselves all manner of injury just in those few seconds between cuddles and cage! Make sure he doesn't have his back legs on you, hold your hand in between his legs so that he has no launch pad. Also, if possible, hold him close to your body and bend into the cage, so you only have a very short space to pop him down.
 
Backwards...

This is just a suggestion, but, when you pick him up he's looking at you and you said he's ok - do you try to put him back still facing you? Is he struggling because he isn't reassured by seeing you?

Sarah
 
if the cage is on the floor put him on the floor (still holding obviously) so his bottom is towards the cage (that way he does now he is going in) then just pick him up and pop him in backwards. That worked for me til I got a cage with a stand and now I'm back to square one both of mine sometimes get a bit excited and I do get scared of dropping them when they are wiggling.

Does anyone have advice for a raised cage?
 
Well, my cage is the right height for it to work for me, because both of mine are wrigglers...

I just hold them firmly against my chest and lean into the cage so that even if they take a mad leap they only have about two inches to fall, and then I try to lower them down to the ground. Plus I support their bum and back legs with my forearm (rather than my hand), which usually helps prevent them from scratching me (except when I forget to pull the sleeves down). They're getting better, though, so perseverance does work.
 
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