Trouble handling

[toodledoodler]

Hello fellow piggie lovers! I have 2 beautiful boars named Wilbur and Fred, both 4.5 months old. They’re my second pair so I thought I had experience handling guinea pigs, but now I realise that my previous pair were really quite easy to handle. We have made some progress - they now happily eat out of my hand, which I am ecstatic about. However, I do of course need to pick them up every so often to clean their cage, check their health, trim nails etc., I’d say I pick them up on average once or twice a week. It’s an incredibly difficult process. I have tried and tried coaxing them into going into one of their hideys (that I can pick up) with food, treats, you name it. It doesn’t work, I think they’ve figured out which hideys I usually use to pick them up. So I just have to chase them into a hidey and pick them up that way, but I HATE doing it, I feel so guilty because I can see that they’re very scared. I feel like a guinea pig torturer! If they’re not terrified I try scratching their heads and they do stay in my lap quite happily for some time, until they get squirmy. Although maybe they’re just calm because they’re scared, I don’t know. Wilbur will even eat on my lap if he’s in his snuggle sack, but Freddie, while generally more friendly, doesn’t do that. They do go back to normal as soon as I put them down, which is good. What do I do about this? Should I try picking them up more? Are there other methods I can try when I pick them up? Am I doing this completely wrong? I feel so incredibly bad, and I just want them best for them

 

[Deleted member 148738]

I've had my girls for a year and the only way I can pick them up is when they run into a hides and I then catch them.

 

[Zorro1]

Instinctively, guinea pigs don't like being picked up so don't feel bad thinking that they don't like you. My piggy evidently likes my and I've had him for nearly 2 years now and be still doesn't like being picked up.
That being said, I would recommend catching your piggy by luring them onto their bed then just pick the bed up. This method won't work very well if you don't teach them to think that the bed is something good. In my case, I lure my piggy onto his bed, I pick the bed up and then give him treats, pats (whatever he really enjoys) and that way, next time he sees the bed, he'll willingly get picked up because he knows it's not so bad.
If your guinea pigs won't even let you lure them onto the bed, all you need to do is put their breakfast on the bed in the mornings, put some hay on the bed, put one of the hides on the piggy bed and they will soon come to like the bed and will more readily be lured onto it. Once you're at the stage where they will be lured onto the bed, I don't recommend that you pick the bed up as soon as they're on it because they likely won't get tricked onto the bed next time. Instead, just try to get them used to being petted and fed (basically being touched) when they're on the bed. And then see weather they'll let you pick the bed up. This way they are thoroughly acclimatized being on the bed meaning that they will be picked up and being ok with that.
I hope all this makes sense and it helps!