Unsettled baby - new pet owners

[lolaandpadme]

Hi we are new to looking after a pet and after much thinking I decided for guinea pigs my children are 5 and 9 years old.
We chose the piggy's on Monday of this week and took them home on Tuesday morning, they came from a farm breeder and we put them in their hutch and left them alone for a day as advised by the breeder since then we have held them at least twice a day, and slowly introduced them to a lovely really sturdy secure wooden run, with a little out house to hide in.
Padme the smooth hair is quite relaxed although very fast at running when caught she seems to like a cuddle, where as Lola an Abyssinian is skittish at running and finds it really traumatic being caught and is unsettled when held, she will sometimes, shake, try to scrabble away, she has twice bitten my daughter she makes all manners of noises etc... she has however taken carrot from us to eat which I find comforting. I can imagine for them they have come into a new home and routine, where they were in the farm they were in a small space with lots of other piggy's no real bright sunlight, only animal noises, as you can imagine we have all manners of noises going on such as children, birds flapping about in the trees such as magpies, wood pigeons, crows. Cats are in the neighbourhood but to be honest they know they are not really welcome in our garden, the wind seems to be scaring them but I guess once again this is due to no wind in a farm building. They were out in a light rain showers yesterday which they seemed to enjoy.

My friend has said to me we should try holding them in a towel but my daughter cannot bring herself to pick them up out of the hutch or run which is a problem since we have got them and now she has been bitten twice I am scared she will loose confidence altogether and as they were to be for her really.
How do you catch them without stressing them? I held Lola today after they had been in the run for the longest time so far and she was wriggly I held her really firmly spoke to her stroked her on the back of her head but she was getting more annoyed and moving her head, I suspect to try and bite me, I can see her ears flicking as if she is tuning in and I couldn't calm her so just when I was thinking maybe she should go back in the hutch a red kite flew over and whistled it wasn't coming to get us but it was just unfortunate and very usual as we have a lot of them in Berkshire. She was unsettled for a long time before the red kite so you cannot put her behaviour down to just that. Could it be Lola is tired of being out in the run today?
Our hutch opens by one door only and not through the roof and luckily for us my son doesn't mind getting the pigs out even though they scratch and he can see where they are, as he can get his top half in there.

Any idea's please...........with thanks

I am starting to think uh oh have I made a wrong decision, I thought by waiting discussing and being sure we were ready but my daughter is naturally reserved about animals as I am and I thought if she had her wish eventually she may be able to get over any fears. ")

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome!

Please be aware that guinea pigs are prey animals; if they haven't had much human contact, as they haven't had on a farm, they will have to slowly learn to trust humans. That takes time; please respect that! Some piggies will tweak or even bite in defense when they feel threatened.
Here are tips on how to settle skittish piggies: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?36239-FAQ-How-do-I-settle-shy-new-guinea-pigs

I wouldn't force your daughter to deal with Lola right now until she has settled down. Cuddle your girls in a cuddle bag or under a blanket, so they feel more secure. Talk to them constantly and praise and encourage them. Give them time to get their bearings first and then to learn to be pets secondly. Would you like to be picked up by a 30 foot monster that is sticking its head into your living room?

You can train your piggies to come into a pick up conveyance like a cuddle bag, a tunnel, a padded walk-in box or an upturned hidey etc. with the help of little veggie treats. Never touch them when in the shuttle, so they will always feel secure in there amd have good associations.
it can take a bit of time until they get it, so you need quite some patience and persistence right now. Ideally, you create little rituals by always using the same words in the same tone; that way your piggies can figure out a structure and don't have to deal with what to them are random attacks by noisy monsters.

Unfortunately, guinea pigs are not exactly the "easy" children's pets as many people wrongly think; no pet really is! Let your daughter spend time watching them, feeding them and teaching them to take treats off her hands. Let her interact with them when they are having run time (at first with shelters from which they can slowly explore any new surroundings) and let her build cardboard mazes etc. for the run; that will build up her confidence and trust between her and Lola when she sees Lola explore and slowly learning to have fun.

PS: Please consider researching for a good rescue for any pet you are planning to get first; they know their charges' characters and will not rehome any pets that are not ready or not suitable. Any pet will also be healthy and you will be supported by a rescue during the settling in time.

 

[New Owner]

Firstly I am in no way an expert and have sought advice from this site many times! I just wanted to share though that I have found some 'fleece bags' (from cosy cavies) invaluable for carrying guinea pigs. My daughter was also nervous of handling them and I was always worried I would drop one as they wriggled so much. So I used to pick them up - so they would hopefully get used to being handled and we'd have them on our lap, and when they seemed uncomfortable we would hold out the bag for them to go into and keep them on our laps, in the bags, a little longer. We could then carry them safety to their run. They got to understand the routine and know to go into the bags to be carried around. One of mine was also a bitter, so I used to have him, and my daughter had the calmer one on her lap, and I always had a towel on my lap to protect me however, I found that food bribes also help and my 'bitter' loved grass, so I'd always have a bit of grass to feed him. With time and building trust he became calm.
Basically, hang in there and keep persisting but do it gradually and find different ways to make your piggies feel as comfortable as possible to gain their trust. Good luck, when I first had guinea pigs I wondered if I had made a mistake but I am now hooked!

 

[lolaandpadme]

I thank you for your reply what is a shuttle please?

 

[sport_billy]

You can train your piggies to come into a pick up conveyance like a cuddle bag, a tunnel, a padded walk-in box or an upturned hidey etc. with the help of little veggie treats. Never touch them when in the shuttle, so they will always feel secure in there amd have good associations.
it can take a bit of time until they get it, so you need quite some patience and persistence right now. Ideally, you create little rituals by always using the same words in the same tone; that way your piggies can figure out a structure and don't have to deal with what to them are random attacks by noisy monsters.

What Wiebke means by 'Shuttle' is when they are in the thing you are moving them in to pick them up as she describes - a tunnel or up turned hidey etc..

 

[lolaandpadme]

Thanks i have ordered a fleece bag from cosy cavies, just wondered how long should piggies be in a run for as i think i saw they should exercise for 6-8 hours. I have a little outside house should it be stuffed with paper bedding? With thanks

 

[Wiebke]

You can let them exercise for as long as you wish and can afford; it will certainly help to give them a happy, healthy and enriched life that will ultimately reflect back on your relationship with your piggies. You only ever get out of a pet what you put in.

You can use whatever you like, but if the floor of your outbuilding is not insulated, I would recommend some kind of wipeable layer first (like some cheap lino or a a cheap shower curtain, and then something insulating that prevents them from going cold and falling ill. Shredded paper under some aborbent cover will do the trick, just a bit of flat newspaper to sit on directly will make a mess as it won't absorb the pees quickly enough and you end up with wet and dirty bellies.

Please be aware that you will also need to insulate your hutch well from the extremes of heat and cold/wet drafts; ideally you have something indoors or under cover you can put the hutch in. Guinea pigs struggle with temperature swings (like between night and day during spring and autumn). You can find out more about that and runs if you open a thread in our housing section.