Shy Guinea

[taharapiggy]

Hi
I have two little girls called pinky and punky and pinky is really tame but punky is still very shy and bites if you have any contact with her and very nervous. they are 12 weeks old. can anyone give me some advice? we pick her up in the tube and put her on our lap and let her come out in her own time and give her a nice treat, but she never seems comfortable or happy.

 

[sport_billy]

Hi,

I will move your thread to Guinea Pig Chat as it will get more views there.

Using the tube to pick them up is a great way of doing so! Guinea Pigs are prey animals and can take a while to settle and you have to gain their trust. Food is a great way to earn this trust, they will soon associate you with good things that way. Another way to get them used to you is to talk lots to them also so they get used to the sound of your voice. It is very early days yet, you are doing the right things by the sound of it.

I would suggest doing laptime for 1 minute at first - give them a treat then pop them home and repeat this 2 times a week then after 3 weeks try 2 minutes, build it up slowly. Biting is a sign they are scared, It took us over 6 months to tame one of our pigge's that would bite, it takes time and patience we were just about to give up with laptime when she started to be fine with it, however had she continued to bite we would have gave up and accepted it, as some piggies don't like laptime and you have to respect there wishes.

Here is a great link containing tips on how to settle your piggies

Settling Piggies https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/faq-how-do-i-settle-shy-new-guinea-pigs.36239/

Keep going you are doing well, your piggies are gorgeous by the way.

 

[taharapiggy]

thank you , yours too, appreciate your advice and the link. thank you.