Hi, me and my boyfriend bought 3 guinea pigs just over a year ago. We’ve tried everything to bond with the guinea pigs, and they seem terrified of us, apart from feeding times, we can’t pet or hold them which makes daily tasks not only difficult but stressful for both myself and the 3 little guys, it’s absolutely heart breaking and we don’t know what to do. We’ve spoken to a rescue who will happily take them but it’s our last resort and I really don’t want to do it, is there anything we can do apart from rehoming?
Thinking of rehoming
- Thread starter Brookeb
- Start date
I’m sorry for your situation.
What you are describing is entirely normal for guinea pigs though. They aren’t cuddly pets, most don’t like being held, touched or picked up - this is entirely normal for them as prey animals and their response is as expected. What you see on online videos etc does not reflect the realities of having guinea pigs.
My own two boys don’t like it either so my interaction with them comes purely from sitting in their pen with them and watching them interact with each other.
Will they take food from your hands? If they will do that, then that is a sign that they do absolutely trust you and for most piggies this is as much as will ever be. It’s certainly like that for mine. One of them will tolerate a chin tickle but it is very much on his terms. The other one took 18 months before he would consistently take food from my hands.
The guides below give further information and tips on how to bond with them. You do need to be aware though that even if they do trust you and do like you, they still may not want to be held or touched.
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely
What you are describing is entirely normal for guinea pigs though. They aren’t cuddly pets, most don’t like being held, touched or picked up - this is entirely normal for them as prey animals and their response is as expected. What you see on online videos etc does not reflect the realities of having guinea pigs.
My own two boys don’t like it either so my interaction with them comes purely from sitting in their pen with them and watching them interact with each other.
Will they take food from your hands? If they will do that, then that is a sign that they do absolutely trust you and for most piggies this is as much as will ever be. It’s certainly like that for mine. One of them will tolerate a chin tickle but it is very much on his terms. The other one took 18 months before he would consistently take food from my hands.
The guides below give further information and tips on how to bond with them. You do need to be aware though that even if they do trust you and do like you, they still may not want to be held or touched.
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely
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Free Ranger
Adult Guinea Pig
When you say daily tasks do you mean like spot cleaning the cage? Or have you got long-hairs that need brushing etc. because there have been threads on here talking about piggies who hate brushing (and some 'interesting' home haircuts to avoid that task!) I've had several pigs and each have had their own personality but the most tame - if you want to call it that - still show those prey-animal instincts. And they've been pretty old so they couldn't dash about so much. I take a lot of pleasure in seeing mine pootling about talking to each other (and it's always funny when someone opens the fridge) Right now my nervous boar is all alone so we try to have a bit of lap-time together every day but he is more comfortable under a blanket with just his nose peeking out... then I feel him relax.
Is your chosen rescue one which is listed on the site here? If you have a boar trio they will need sensitive handling during the transition and any new home will have to have enough space for three. If you want them to be kept together it's worth having a serious conversation with the rescue staff.
Is your chosen rescue one which is listed on the site here? If you have a boar trio they will need sensitive handling during the transition and any new home will have to have enough space for three. If you want them to be kept together it's worth having a serious conversation with the rescue staff.
yeah, I have one long haired guinea pig and trying to groom him is a nightmare, he’s very skittish with us but it’s just heartbreaking seeing them like that with us. Mine are the same as soon as they hear the fridge open at all they start squealing haha. There’s a rescue near me in Lancashire, who are happy to take them and rehome them together, and will handle them, just not really sure what to do!
Yeah 2 of them are fine taking food out of my hands and try to get over there cage to get it
but the other is very nervous when it comes to it, bless him. I never knew that, when searching for small pets I saw that they was okay with being handled, so we’ve been trying all sorts but they just freeze up with fear whenever we do
My long haired hates being groomed as well.
Its never going to be an easy decision but I guess it’s going to come down to whether you are seeing piggy normal behaviours and whether it’s something you are able to cope with.
Mine will come to the front of the cage to see me, be interested in what I'm doing but attempt to touch them and they run off; have to pick them up to carry out health checks/grooming/weighing/nail clipping and they shout, wriggle Etc. I just do what I need to do as quickly as possible, and don’t try to do it all at once. I may only get one foot worth of nails clipped so it could take a couple of days to do all eight feet! It is normal for them to be like this and i know it’s upsetting when they aren’t comfortable but as prey animals their first thought is that they are going to be eaten and to try to get away.
do they take food from your hand?
it’s really lovely if you’ve got a functioning boar trio! we hear of them them so very rarely
Its never going to be an easy decision but I guess it’s going to come down to whether you are seeing piggy normal behaviours and whether it’s something you are able to cope with.
Mine will come to the front of the cage to see me, be interested in what I'm doing but attempt to touch them and they run off; have to pick them up to carry out health checks/grooming/weighing/nail clipping and they shout, wriggle Etc. I just do what I need to do as quickly as possible, and don’t try to do it all at once. I may only get one foot worth of nails clipped so it could take a couple of days to do all eight feet! It is normal for them to be like this and i know it’s upsetting when they aren’t comfortable but as prey animals their first thought is that they are going to be eaten and to try to get away.
do they take food from your hand?
it’s really lovely if you’ve got a functioning boar trio! we hear of them them so very rarely
Yeah 2 of them are fine taking food out of my hands and try to get over there cage to get it
Please take the time to read the very helpful green links, especially the guide about prey animal instincts and how to work around them. Guinea pigs are prey animals that in most cases (unless you rehome from a good welfare standard rescue) have not had anything in the way of friendly human interaction before they are thrust into a home and expected to work as instant animated cuddly toys.
This link her tells how things look from a guinea pig's view. You may find it a bit of an eye opener! Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs
Unfortunately all the videos on social media are entirely driven by human interest and selection; they do not represent the reality - only what humans consider cute or funny. Who wants to see a piggy running away when you want to pick them up or cuddle them, as is pretty normal? When getting your information from social media, whether that is behaviour or illness, you always have to make provisos that they are never a proper representation of the reality. You either get what people want to see or, in the case of illness, all the horror stories and miracle cures but not the vast majority of perfectly unexciting recoveries that are not considered worth posting about.
Here is our hair cutting guide; the best way of dealing with a long-haired piggy that finds grooming stressful is to keep the hair on the short side, especially in the area that mat and soil quickest.
An Illustrated Guide to Hair Cutting
It’s just difficult as we both work long weeks so trying to get time in to clip their nails or anything is a nightmare so we’re really just trying to figure if they’re getting the best quality of life with us, two of them do take food from my hands yeah, and the other will do just takes him a while to pluck up the courage and they’re somewhat functional
they so try to seem bigger than each other but luckily no fights have happened they’re just like brothers hahaIt’s so frustrating that the realities are not on social media or the internet and was pushed towards guinea pigs without actually knowing the truth, we knew that it would take time for them to warm up to us and we was very careful in anything we did, but only just finding out that this is normal is upsetting, thank you so much for the links!Please take the time to read the very helpful green links, especially the guide about prey animal instincts and how to work around them. Guinea pigs are prey animals that in most cases (unless you rehome from a good welfare standard rescue) have not had anything in the way of friendly human interaction before they are thrust into a home and expected to work as instant animated cuddly toys.
This link her tells how things look from a guinea pig's view. You may find it a bit of an eye opener! Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs
Unfortunately all the videos on social media are entirely driven by human interest and selection; they do not represent the reality - only what humans consider cute or funny. Who wants to see a piggy running away when you want to pick them up or cuddle them, as is pretty normal? When getting your information from social media, whether that is behaviour or illness, you always have to make provisos that they are never a proper representation of the reality. You either get what people want to see or, in the case of illness, all the horror stories and miracle cures but not the vast majority of perfectly unexciting recoveries that are not considered worth posting about.
Here is our hair cutting guide; the best way of dealing with a long-haired piggy that finds grooming stressful is to keep the hair on the short side, especially in the area that mat and soil quickest.
An Illustrated Guide to Hair Cutting
It is a pity that you have found us only too late. We try our best to make sure that any prospective owners coming on here are sure that guinea pigs are what they want and that they know what they are getting into.
Anyway, all your issues can be worked around when you know how. Try to see guinea pigs as a fascinating species in their own right and not just as a human pet. You can interact and bond with your piggies in lots of different ways other than human centred cuddling sessions.
Our enrichment guide will hopefully give you some ideas on how you can regain your joy in owning piggies - on their own terms: Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs
It's another guide from our new owners collection...
Free Ranger
Adult Guinea Pig
Good luck whichever way you go. You are being really responsible thinking so carefully about it and weighing everything up.
***Controversy Alert*** I'm just going to say it. Don't get hamsters. I'm sorry all you hamster-lovers out there but whenever I've looked after one for friends they spend all their waking hours (at night -all night) noisily trying to escape their cage. Outside cute and fluffy but inside something much darker
I don't have a 'cute response' to blind me to their inner machinations! I've never seen a pet that didn't want to be a pet quite so much as a hamster. There - I said it!
***Controversy Alert*** I'm just going to say it. Don't get hamsters. I'm sorry all you hamster-lovers out there but whenever I've looked after one for friends they spend all their waking hours (at night -all night) noisily trying to escape their cage. Outside cute and fluffy but inside something much darker
I don't have a 'cute response' to blind me to their inner machinations! I've never seen a pet that didn't want to be a pet quite so much as a hamster. There - I said it!