Two girls acting skiddish?

[Anthora]

Good afternoon!

OK, so I know I haven't posted anything since I received them aside from food questions but here is a quick run down of my two girls Vivi (older) and Rikku (young one).

I rescued Vivi from a animal shelter 2 weeks ago, she was surrendered by owner and you can tell she had been handled by humans and had no real issues being picked up /held...

That day we went to a pet store and I picked up another girl - fairly young - who obviously has not been handled before and is extremely skiddish.

At first we had them in separate cages so they can hear eachother and know that they weren't alone. We introduced them and now they're ok!

We built a C&C cage (6 by 3 on one side, and by 2 on another, and have an upper lvel for them..its rediculously huge, but the ramps are too steep so we need to fix that...)

Anyway - they're in the piggy mansion now and get along just fine like long lost friends and popcorn to their hearts content.

Everytime I try to take rikku out since the beginning she is extremely skiddish and will do ANYTHING to get away..she's our 'wet soap' girl and I expect her to be this way until she gets used to being handled... damn near impossible to get a hold of her though....

Then with Vivi, the last time we took her out of her cage (before we built the new one we combined the two so they could spend time together), she was very skiddish and difficult to pick up. I attribute this to those two developing seperation anxiety...I hope that's what it is... So needless to say I didn't give her too much lap time and put her into the new cage.

Now, vivi is getting used to feeding time and is being cute by putting her front paws up on the choroplast and waits for the food..far too cute. however, when i try to pet her (give her a few moments to get used to my voice and let her sniff my fingers/hand), she moves away from me and seems perhaps a) scared, or b) doesn't want to be seprated from Rikku (young one).

Vivi never had an issue with this before and was usually cool and calm (when being picked up)before we introduced them to eachother.

But what I would like to know is if this behaviour is normal with two guinea pigs. (She has taken to Rikku and any time rikku is scared, she'll run and hide behind Vivi)... Does anyone have any input on this? Should I show some tough love and despite their seemlinly-scared reactions take them out and spend some lap time with them so they get used to being handled? Or should I leave them be? They have A LOT of room in the cage (6.15 feet by 2 feet-ish) so they don't really need floor time....

Any ideas how to approach this? Any advice on the older one developing this scatter-when-being-picked-up/petted attitude, and any advice about the young one who hasn't been handled before i took her in?


Thank you!

 

[susie_q]

Maybe it's just all the space and they're both loving it so much they don't want to be scooped up! I'm so glad they're getting along, sounds like they're well spoilt!

I would have the tough love attitude, scoop them up and fuss them! Don't scoop them up every time you go near the cage, and keep bribing them with food.

My pigs, who I have had for a while, still keep running away every time I pick them up! They're such dramatic boys. I think most piggies, no matter how well handled, run away when you try and pick them up. I guess they just don't like the sensation!

 

[MrsM]

I agree with Susie.

I was very disconcerted with baby Fin's attitude to baing handled when he came to live with us. Bertie (4) is a lap pig. He'd do anything to be with his daddy and watch the footie but he's awful at being picked up!

Last week, Fin had an accident in the kitchen (fell from table = 3 ft drop). I caught up with him fairly quick as he was a bt stunned by his .. stunt. I gave him lots of kisses, cuddles and a treat. Since, we've been great buddies and he's started coming towards me and lap time is much calmer. I'm not suggesting you should push yours off the edge but being the 'rescuer' from a 'traumatic' event could be a way forward!

this in turn has made Bertie more settled too during lap time. He was getting stressed by the little one's wheeking!:aLJFBQ00151070111C:

 

[Anthora]

Ok,

So after A LOT of chasing I managed to get Rikku (young one) out of the cage and on my lap, she's usually frozen stiff but today after putting a peice of food in front of her nose she actually bit down on it this time! then held it in her mouth for a few minutes, then another chomp, then she was merrily eating non-stop on my lap lol...

Yes, she made a lot of fuss over being picked up, even afterwards...but she's slowly understanding that i'm not soo bad

Vivi though, never had to persway her at all before....i had to chase her around the cage... she was squirming like crazy when picked up, then she was ok once brought down in the lap for a bit.... Then when it came to picking her up again she made a huge fuss! squeeking loudly and her feet pitter pattering, she didn't settle back down until i had her back in the cage.

It's strange that Vivi didn't have an issue before until recently... but maybe some tough love will cure it up ?

 

[Ozzy&Marley]

my boys both run a mile when i try to pick them up. Sometimes i just give up and leave them to it but i do try to follow through and actually get them out so they will get used to it. I then have the problem of them squirming once they are out. I had Ozzy on my knee the other day and he was desperately trying to burrow into the pillow and do everything he could to get away! I left him for a bit thinkin he was wanting to explore but he was starting to look a bit traumatised so in the end i put him back in his cage with Marley so all was well again!

 

[Goldie]

I think the bigger the space, the more spare they can run to and hide.

Some piggies are always like that. They trust you to tickle under their chin and on the top of their head but when it comes to picking them up, they run a mile! :{

Speak to them gently and tell them you are going to pick them up. It probably won't help as guinea pigs are naturally timid ... but worth a try!