Six Months And Still 'jittery'

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Alycat

Alycat

Junior Guinea Pig
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I've had my pigs for six months (actually closer to a year now). I love them more than anything. They are definitely tamer than when I got them. However, they still jump away from my hand if I try to stroke them unless I'm holding them. Is there a way I can get them to relax?
 
Guinea pigs take different times adjust. My first piggy was tame within two days and could be trusted to free roam in my room. Yet my boar took near enough 2 whole weeks and he still doesn't like the whole picking up process - I keep it to a minimal. The best thing that gets them to be more confident is food! Whenever u put your hand in bring food so they associate u and your hands with rewards - "if u let me stroke u then u get food and a cuddle". Leaving your hand in the cage for them to sniff helps also and anytime u r trying to socialise with them it's good to let them sniFflint u and realise who it is- friend or foe? Try not to make jumpy movements or force them to play e.g lifting their houses up. :)
 
I've had my boys just under two weeks and they had little previous handling it seems. I only briefly pick them up just once a day and, like Jesse says, food is the key. I place the food in and keep my hand there briefly and when I can I sit right beside the cage and do my own thing.
By just sitting there drawing or playing around on my phone they have learnt to trust me and already will happily come out and eat.
It really does take patience and trust.
 
Mine are still a work in progress a year down the line of them being here after we got them as year old rescues. Lots of factors effect how quickly they settle, not least personality.

Keep persevering!
 
Alycat said:
I've had my pigs for six months (actually closer to a year now). I love them more than anything. They are definitely tamer than when I got them. However, they still jump away from my hand if I try to stroke them unless I'm holding them. Is there a way I can get them to relax?
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By far not all of my piggies like being touched when they are in their cage or free roaming. I respect that. They still come to me for food and have no problems with playing around my body or even climbing on me.

It depends very much whether you want cuddly pets first and foremost or interaction with animals that you know what you get is always freely given. All those videos and pictures online don't tell you quite the true story; they usually only show you the success stories but not the piggies that are not happy with being touched.
 
Thanks all. They will come up and take food from my hand, but still only come near me on the sofa rather than right up close.
I just don't want them to be scared of me. If I knew they were happy and felt safe I wouldn't mind them not liking strokes.
 
I personally found that the best way to get your piggies to trust you is making them curious about you. Poo picking fascinates my piggies, I just ignored them and spot cleaned all the poos while I talked to them softly and they would follow my hand around the cage (with caution of course XD) and see what I was doing. My friends thought I was crazy :))

Oh and putting in a massive chunk of hay helps with a bit of hand feeding lettuce :))
 
I have had my two for a month now.

First few days hiding and silent.

Some wheeks and coming out into the open.

Cautious food snatching from my hand from Jingle the same from Mistletoe a few days later.

I chat to them and give yummies many times a day by hand. They are not keen on being touched in their cage but Jingle lets me stroke her in her hidey at 'lap' time. Mistletoe is cautious but did eat during 'lap' time recently.

It all takes so long. They still like to hide but i always get two little noses appearing when i ask 'who wans yummies'?

I guess its just patience. Prey animals are naturally cautious.

Ps love your spotty tunnel etc!
 
A lot of guinea pigs who don't mind being held still don't enjoy being touched while they are roaming free or just standing still or don't enjoy the process of being picked up. It cuts very close to their instincts as prey animals, where the automatic first response to something approaching them is to run. Like a cat stalking prey even when it is well-fed from a bowl every day, these kinds of survival-specific behaviors are very much programmed into animal behavior and it's probably better to understand their purpose and not personalize them to your pet not liking you or somehow rejecting you. If you had a cat that stalked a mouse in the yard, you wouldn't take it as a criticism that you cat was not fed properly, right? It would just be a cat engaging in normal cat behavior. Bolting for a guinea pig is the same basic thing- this is a trait that led to survival in the wild, it's a 'bred in' behavior that is really normal and doesn't mean that your pet fears or dislikes you, just that they have instincts and are behaving in a way that is normal for their species. Some guinea pigs will get more comfortable and mellow with these kinds of things as they get older, others still won't enjoy them, and others it will depend on the circumstances (Hadley doesn't mind being picked up most times, but if she is doing something else she will shriek to let us know how unhappy she is with our timing!)
 
I think it is also important to distinguish between not liking being caught, and not liking being handled.
For my guinea pigs anyway, these are 2 very different experiences.

Ruby will trot the the front of the cage when we come near and stand up on her hind legs waiting to be picked up. If DD1 picks her up she will happily lay flat on her lap for ages. If anyone else picks her up she bites them.

Eddi also comes to the front of the cage, doesn't really object to being picked up, and is a real snuggler.

Lucy hates being picked up. If we don't get hold of her quickly she will run all over the cage trying to avoid it, but once we have her out she is actually the calmest and most laid back of all of our pigs. She will sprawl across anyone's lap and lay there for hours.

Oreo hates being picked up. She will sometimes settle and have a really lovely cuddle, but mostly she just tries to climb on your head.

We have had all four of them since they were babies, and they have all been handled regularly since we got them nearly a year ago.
 
Thank you for this. It is tough not to take it as them not liking me or having done something wrong.
 
I'm six months into my taming attempts and I can tell you it's a rocky road for some pigs. My two cannot tolerate being handled at all, one won't allow any touching WHATSOEVER unless you're already holding him in a bag (literally the only way to pick either of them up), and even then it's protested vociferously, the other will allow you strokes to the head area only, and he will tell you when he's done putting up with it by bunny kicking your hand and running. Honestly, if there's one thing I've learnt it's that they're just like people. Some pigs will love the attention of being regularly handled, some of them would rather claw their way free at any cost, but those choices aren't based on whether they like you, it's purely the personality of the pig in question. Not all of them are destined for cuddly lap time, sadly, and that is especially true of rescue pigs who may not have had the best start in life, I think.

Basically, it's not you, it's them, and they still love you because you're their human servant! ;)
 
do you know what I have read all the above posts and it has cheered me up no end !
that may sound silly but I too cannot get out of my head that I am doing something wrong
and that one of my two flossy just doesn't warm to me at all
you do want a reaction of cuddles and love to know that your the best , and doing the right thing by them and making them happy,
that's why I absolutely love them popcorning ... I sit there watching and think I'm doing good, they are happy
flossy is definitely not a cuddle piggy , she hates picking up but is the easiest to get hold of, she hates me touching her at all especially on
her head ears and back and will constantly shake to say get off I don't like it
she will only eat on the very odd occasion when I'm holding her and will pull on my clothes as soon as she is up by my shoulder to say
put me back..... there is nothing I can think of to make her feel safer, but that's just how she is and I have to accept her for what
she does like ..... her sister flossy and her bed ! she isn't even that obsessed with food , I do have to make sure that she always gets
her veg and enough to eat before its all stolen off her , but she is so gentle and tiny really ( compared to the tilly ) and cute that
she is a real little lady and its nice seeing that they are all so very different in their personalities ,
I really didn't know how complicated having guinea pigs was !
 
Thanks all. They do popcorn a lot generally so I guess I'm not traumatising them.
 
Swissgreys said:
I think it is also important to distinguish between not liking being caught, and not liking being handled.
For my guinea pigs anyway, these are 2 very different experiences.

Ruby will trot the the front of the cage when we come near and stand up on her hind legs waiting to be picked up. If DD1 picks her up she will happily lay flat on her lap for ages. If anyone else picks her up she bites them.

Eddi also comes to the front of the cage, doesn't really object to being picked up, and is a real snuggler.

Lucy hates being picked up. If we don't get hold of her quickly she will run all over the cage trying to avoid it, but once we have her out she is actually the calmest and most laid back of all of our pigs. She will sprawl across anyone's lap and lay there for hours.

Oreo hates being picked up. She will sometimes settle and have a really lovely cuddle, but mostly she just tries to climb on your head.

We have had all four of them since they were babies, and they have all been handled regularly since we got them nearly a year ago.
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I wish I could like this more than once. Comet hates being picked up, but he will happily sit on somebody else's lap or snuggle under my chin. Occasionally he'll start exploring while he's sitting on my chest. Blitzen on the other hand doesn't much like being handled, but is much easier to pick up. It's taken over four months but he's finally stopped fighting to go back in his cage the minute he gets picked up. He's nowhere near as placid as Comet would be, but he will let me comb his fur, give him haircuts, and generally stay put - as long as he sits with his head over my right shoulder. He won't be carried in any other position. Getting to that point has taken a lot of patience and he still has a long way to go, but I have to let him dictate the pace.
 
I've learnt to appreciate the little tiny signs that I'm progressing in taming my pigs. Like them not scarpering when I reach in the cage or how they let me stroke their noses and how Stan is brave enough to run to me for food and although Angus acts terrified of me and runs away alot, he almost immediately forgets his fear and goes back to eating or playing in my presence. They've certainly taught me patience!
 
Alycat said:
I've had my pigs for six months (actually closer to a year now). I love them more than anything. They are definitely tamer than when I got them. However, they still jump away from my hand if I try to stroke them unless I'm holding them. Is there a way I can get them to relax?
Click to expand...
I wish I knew, I've had 2 of mine 2 years and handling is awful, I really don't get it!
 
One of my piggys is still quite jittery! I think they have certain days where they just want to be hidden away. The best thing to do (what I have done) is keep to a set routine it helps bring them out of their shell x
 
Mine are used to the lap time routine now. They are not keen on being held or picked up but will sit in their hides and chomp on food when I am near them (eating my brekky).

They will happily eat in the cage when I am there and will approach me for food when I come into their room. I love them so much. Just watching them eating and chillin' in their cage is blissful.
 
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