Some Tips On My New Piggies?

[JonnyRudy]

Hey!
Yesterday I brought home two 5 month old piggies. They're brothers, and it's clear that one is more dominant than the other. This hasn't been a problem so far, but that's also not what I'm here to ask about. I actually have a few list of quesions that I'd like answered. I don't want to come across as rude, but I really want to make sure my piggies are happy. First off, I'd like to know if I'm handling them right. What I do is I come into my room with a treat, talking, and then sit down next to their cage. Usually they've dashed into their hiding house by then. I open the door thingy on the front and stick my hand in with one treat to give them a chance to get it from me. So far they've always stayed in their house when I did that so I just put both treats just inside their house so that they do have to walk forward a little to get them. Then I just go and lay on my bed, pretending not to care. When they're done eating, I go back, open the top of the cage and lift up their house. That's where I start to wonder if I'm doing things wrong. Usually they start squeeking and running around, kind of not knowing where to go. I'm scared that I'm scaring them too much when I do this. It doesn't take me that long to pick one of them up, but then I don't know if they're enjoying lap time. I have this little pillow thingy that I put them on. So far Rudy (the dominant one) has been sitting pretty still, but I could tell that he was a little nervous. When I picked Jonny up and placed him on the pillow, he wasn't sitting still as much as Rudy. He was kind of moving around with short periods of sitting still. After a while he started squeeking softly, balling up and kind of digging his nose into the pillow. That's when I put him back because I wasn't sure if he was scared or not. Does anyone have an idea about it? Is my way of approaching them correct and not threatening to them? Any tips on helping them feel more secure when they're with me?

 

[MerryPip]

One of the easier ways to pick piggies up (particularly squiggly youngsters) is to use something like a cosy or tube. Here's a good video @sport_billy made to show how to use something like that to pick them up:
How To Pick Up Your Guinea Pig

Guinea pigs are a prey species so being caught is always a little stressful to them as it would normally mean they were about to meet their end. You are doing lots of things right, talking to them and using treats etc. It takes patience and time to win them over and some piggies never like being handled. Angus (in my avatar) is nearly 5 and has only really settled to sitting on my knee in the last year or so and even then he gets bored quickly and would rather be off rampaging around the floor and causing chaos! Bear in mind that your piggies are really just babies and will be very wriggly, enthusiastic and excited to explore the world around them (when they are not busy being terrified). Young piggies very rarely sit still, they are usually zooming around so they aren't always the best at laptime until they get a bit older and settle down.

Patience and persistence though, you are doing the right thing.

 

[SingstarPiggies]

After offering treats I often wondered if I was giving them too many I used to open their cage and sit next to them and read outload. Guineapigs are very vocal animals. This way they got used to my voice and after 5 mins of calm reading came out and started eating. When this happens don't jump down and stare at them just pretend that you don't even know they are there. Eventually they will learn to trust you.
Goodluck, Emma x

 

[Maddykins]

It sounds like you are doing a good job generally, and it can take a looooong time for the little fluffs to get confident enough to enjoy lap time and being stroked. I think it took about a year for my two to start enjoying lap time and I have had them for two years and still continue to see progress - the shyer of the two lay down on me properly for the first time a few weeks ago, and like I say I have had them for two years! It can take ages but persistence and patience is key and not pushing them too far as well, take everything in tiny small steps. I agree with sitting by the cage and reading out loud, I used to do that a lot in the first few months, I think it helped.

The only thing I would suggest to change is the part where you remove their hidey and pick them up. I think that would be really scary for them and it sounds so in the way you describe their behaviour. Could you not put your hands in and scoop them out of it while they are in it? That would be better, I do that sometimes, it's generally better than lifting up the hidey as they panic and run away.

 

[JonnyRudy]

It sounds like you are doing a good job generally, and it can take a looooong time for the little fluffs to get confident enough to enjoy lap time and being stroked. I think it took about a year for my two to start enjoying lap time and I have had them for two years and still continue to see progress - the shyer of the two lay down on me properly for the first time a few weeks ago, and like I say I have had them for two years! It can take ages but persistence and patience is key and not pushing them too far as well, take everything in tiny small steps. I agree with sitting by the cage and reading out loud, I used to do that a lot in the first few months, I think it helped.

The only thing I would suggest to change is the part where you remove their hidey and pick them up. I think that would be really scary for them and it sounds so in the way you describe their behaviour. Could you not put your hands in and scoop them out of it while they are in it? That would be better, I do that sometimes, it's generally better than lifting up the hidey as they panic and run away.

Thank you, I'll see if I can do that next time!