Terrified Piggies!

Bitzy&Patches · Oct 19, 2015

Hi everyone
So I went through to the piggies this morning like I always do to do their routine give them veggies, pile more hay in and they were acting extremely out of the norm. They have this cat crate thing that they like to hide in, well they certainly were today! They were terrified! I was scared to death. They usually come bouncing up to the side of the cage wanting veggies and they're usually squeaking their faces off! But not this morning they were cowering in the back (they are now out in the shed as we're having stuff done in our bedroom so we've put them in their run and hutch in the shed, they've done this before for about two months) not wanting to move. I put veggies in front of their noses nope they wouldn't move one bit. Their eyes were wide open looking terrified I have no idea what had happened at all. I carried on like normal mucking out and cleaning their cage. But I had to muck out their cat crate thing as they'd obviously been in there a while so I brought it forward unclipped the sides talking to them softly. I upended the lid so I could see them. They did start to move. But they jumped out the back of the crate underneath the lid. I mucked out the crate so it was nice and clean for them I just removed the soiled bedding. They went back in the crate without the lid on and I gave them a quick check over just to make sure that they hadn't hurt their selves. I have them I stroke and they seemed fine. Then patches ran out and went in the bottom of the hutch and started making a chirping noise like a bird. I got a bit emotional to be honest I was terrified that I had done something wrong! And I'm terrified that they are scared of me. I forgot to add that my mum did them last night as I was at work and I didn't have any time to do them so I'm going o ask her if anything happened that might have scared them. I don't think they've eaten anything so far but I'm scared and I don't know what to do! Please help!

MerryPip · Oct 19, 2015

Try not to worry. They are obviously a bit spooked at the moment but leave them to have some time alone for a bit and they should settle again... It might have been something as simple as a noise they didn't like or something that smelt different.

Don't stress about cleaning them out straight away if they are really wary, it won't harm them to do it later. Guinea pigs are a prey species so they are generally nervous of things coming into their space, particularly from above. Try to sit down next to them and come at them from their level so they feel less threatened.

Take some time just to sit by their cage and talk to them quietly so they gain confidence with you. Try sitting with some of their favourite food in your hand to encourage them to come to you. It won't happen straight away but it will with time. Just take time with them, piggies, particularly young ones are skittish and it takes time to for them to gain your trust...

Bitzy&Patches · Oct 19, 2015

MerryPip said:
Try not to worry. They are obviously a bit spooked at the moment but leave them to have some time alone for a bit and they should settle again... It might have been something as simple as a noise they didn't like or something that smelt different.

Don't stress about cleaning them out straight away if they are really wary, it won't harm them to do it later. Guinea pigs are a prey species so they are generally nervous of things coming into their space, particularly from above. Try to sit down next to them and come at them from their level so they feel less threatened.

Take some time just to sit by their cage and talk to them quietly so they gain confidence with you. Try sitting with some of their favourite food in your hand to encourage them to come to you. It won't happen straight away but it will with time. Just take time with them, piggies, particularly young ones are skittish and it takes time to for them to gain your trust...

Thank you! It's just weird as mum said they came out when she did them. They ate and drank and they came out like normal. But now they are like I just got them today and they've had a really troubled past! I am just really confused. Should I just leave them today but do their evening routine? They haven't eaten their veggies yet or even come out of their cat crate

MerryPip · Oct 19, 2015

They will probably come out when you are not there. If I was you I'd leave them in peace for most of the day until dinner time. Then just put their food in, I wouldn't clean their hidey etc again today because that will just unsettle them more. They will eat when they are ready... You could leave some music or the radio on quietly so they are not completely in the quiet but still not being watched.

If they've had a rough time before coming to you it might be something completely normal for you that they have got scared of. You might never know but it sounds like you just need to go slow and steady with them and expect to have the odd set-back from time to time.

Bitzy&Patches · Oct 19, 2015

MerryPip said:
They will probably come out when you are not there. If I was you I'd leave them in peace for most of the day until dinner time. Then just put their food in, I wouldn't clean their hidey etc again today because that will just unsettle them more. They will eat when they are ready... You could leave some music or the radio on quietly so they are not completely in the quiet but still not being watched.

If they've had a rough time before coming to you it might be something completely normal for you that they have got scared of. You might never know but it sounds like you just need to go slow and steady with them and expect to have the odd set-back from time to time.

Ok thank you I'll leave them be until dinner time

thank you!

Bitzy&Patches · Oct 19, 2015

I've decided I would do little updates!
The pigs are a little bit better. They are eating and I think drinking. They didn't come out of their cat crate this evening but they seemed a little happier and they licked my fingers and ate treats out of my hand

I'll keep you updated tomorrow and see if they eat veggies and all that stuff

gizzy · Oct 20, 2015

That is great news , thanks for the update :tu:

Bitzy&Patches · Oct 20, 2015

Sorry this one's late! Internet was down!:/ but the pigs are now fine! They came out to see me ate veggies out of my hand and they started zooming and popcorning every where

so I think that they are fine now but I'll just keep an eye them

My mum thought that maybe because they are in the shed that maybe a rat possibly got in? Because they are now cutting the barley they kind of get flushed out if you know what I mean? Mum forgot to shut the shed door so it obviously had an easy access. There's no sign of any rats in the shed but maybe it came in the pigs run and scared them. It must have been just before I came in maybe a few minutes before hand. I don't think it did anything to the pigs as there's no blood of sore bits on them. So I'm hoping it just scared them! But now they are all fine and dandy!

Here's patches! She's the shy one of my two very timid but very loveable! She's grown a little spike of hair in between her forehead and nose so she now looks like a very fuzzy unicorn! (This is an old photo when they first started to explore their hutch and run in the shed. They are back in the shed for the reasons I explained in the first thread I made on this but they hopefully shouldn't be in there for much longer!)