very frightened piggy

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Lucky

I went to see Irene yesterday at her piggy palace for a companion for Lucky. We tried 3 different piggies, but we decided that one of them was the best match, as the rescue piggie cuddled up to her and was falling asleep next to her.. it was so cute x)

Shes a gorgeous piggie, about 2 years old. A dark eyed golden, and she has the most BEAUTIFUL face ever. no name as of yet, any ideas welcome! Pic to follow in a mo.

Anyway, she seemed fine at Irene's, but now she's like a gerbil... she darts and she dives for the nearest hiding place.

we've had nervous guinea pigs before but none like this. Within literally a split second she's at the other end of the cage!

What is the best way to coax her out of this? I tried to offer her some food, and i will do the same several times each day. Ive been talking lots to her and will continue this also.

Is a lot of handling the best way forward? Or should I wait for her to get used to me first?

Once she's out she's ok. but as soon as she thinks she is going somewhere where she will be put down, she struggles for all she's worth!

Such a gorgeous piggie though so i have to let her off x)
 
Hey you i'm so pleased you got one!

She will come around. I had 2 from Fi that knew each other and came as a pir and were still like this. I've never seem such scared guineas before. I wrote a blog on it if you want a read

http://tamingguineapigs.blogspot.com/

You need to go to the oldest post and read that way. It's what I did and how long it took to get them acting normal. They used to freak out baaaad and really go mental when picked up.
 
OH and if you have some photos that would be ace! :)
 
cheers, i shall check that one out now! ive got some but theyre not great, she looks so scared! i dont think she's been poorly treated, she came from an auction so i think she was probably not handled much before. history isnt really known though sadly, and the age is only approximate
 
The two rescue girls I have weren't mistreated they were only not handled (I think) and I have no idea of their ages. They were wild when they came here, flipping about when you picked them up and squeaking like you were going to hurt them. Then they would shake like mad on your lap - it was horrible in the start. But they are normal now!
 
yep she goes mental when you pick her up, but shes not so bad when shes on your lap. I have her on my lap right now and shes not quivering, but then I'm not sure that shes not frozen in fear!

she doesnt mind the keyboard keys noise, but if you make any other sound she does jump. bless her... your blog is very helpful, ill definitely use some of your tactics!

just uploading piccies now
 
the lighting is rubbish and its a bit dark but i didn't want to use the flash in case i spooked her even more.

beautiful though!

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Both still a bit nervous around each other, but i'm hoping they'll start interacting a bit more soon. I suppose the new piggie was used to being in her own environment when she met Lucky, so was more inquisitive.
 
Irene has some lovely piggies. Your new addition would have been used to all her noises, and Irene mooching around down there, now she has a whole lot of other noises and a different environment to get used to. I have found time, and spying the best policy. lol. Even the most terrified piggy, and I have had them like that, will still want to eat and explore when they think you're not there. Satisfy yourself first that she is eating and drinking, then give her some time. She will come out when she thinks your not there. It really is time and patience. She is gorgeous. x
 
hehe, i fell in love with her the second she introduced her to lucky. i felt so sorry for her, as irene said she had been in a pen with two other large female piggies (and they were LARGE!) who headbutted her and pushed her away aggressively when she tried to be a naturally inquisitive piggie and sniff them.

i think she is still getting used to the fact that she can sniff lucky wherever she wants to as many times as she wants to, without lucky minding one little bit! :))
 
I thought that was probably it. She has been shoved in a new environment after all, and it was a long journey here too. It must be quite traumatising, and I understand. I just want to help her along a bit, she will be safe and happy here and i am eager to help her settle in!

Patience is a virtue though I suppose!
 
I'd say it's the new environment that's spooked her - she'll probably come around fast.

She is so so cute. I'm pleased they get along and your other piggy finally has a friend. Sweet!
 
I'm pleased too, lucky was looking so sad :( I just put her back in the cage. yesterday i bought a coloured wooden toy in a 3d round shape to put in there... the new piggie moved it with her nose and it spooked both of them :)) they both had this mad look of confusion on their faces!

Also, in the cage is a tunnel covered with grass. Whenever I have a sneaky peek to see how things are going, new piggie is hiding in the tunnel! Should i remove it to encourage her to explore, or leave it in there as her safety net? If i take it out she has nowhere to hide except for under a pile of hay!
 
i took the tunnel out and sure enough, she submerged herself in hay, haha.

Slight progress already though! I thought I'd clean their cage so i put them both on the kitchen floor with some food. At first neither piggie did anything and both sat there for a while. But after lucky started eating the veg, newbie followed. And when Lucky started to explore the floor, newbie followed again and had a good sniff of the cupboards and the vacuum cleaner! It was nice to see her eating some cucumber and cabbage, i've not seen her eating yet so i was very happy to see this.

I left them wondering around together for a while even though their cage was finished and all in all they were out for about an hour. When i did put them back in, newbie came to the top end of the cage out of the mound of hay, and had a sniff around the food. Thats the first time ive seen her sneak out of the hay! Shes now sitting in the corner happily munching away, and i think she's looking a bit more confident now.

I feel like I'm bugging them a bit now so i'm forcefully making myself stay away to let them have time together for a while and to get her used to the sights and smells of our house!

I really need to think of a name for her....
 
Lucky just wanted to say she is gorgeous and I hope they become Friends very quickly!

I didn't see Fred for dust for about 2 weeks he would hide all the time just takes them time to become more confident... Fred still hides constantly lol!
 
Cheers Joanne! I think having them on the floor helped a little bit instead of hiding away under the hay all the time. I'm leaving them alone as best I can now to see if she gets anymore confidence now that she's had a little prod in the right direction!

I'm glad shes eating though!
 
Lucky said:
Cheers Joanne! I think having them on the floor helped a little bit instead of hiding away under the hay all the time. I'm leaving them alone as best I can now to see if she gets anymore confidence now that she's had a little prod in the right direction!

I'm glad shes eating though!
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Thats great news, and we all know the wee to a piggies heart is there food! :))
 
I have written a a refernece thread on how to settle shy guinea pigs. Basically, just give her time and space to get her bearings. It will hopefully a bit easier with a new friend who will show her the way when she is ready for it.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38562

Your new girl is stunning, and I hope that she and Lucky will be best friends soon!

You could name her "Lady" to go with "Lucky".

"Letitia" and "Felicity" mean both luck as well!

Or if you want to go for the colour, but avoid the ubiquitious Ginger, you could call her Peaches/Peachy or Saffron.
 
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shes lovely, I hope she is getting on okay, and settling in nicely, easy to say but think you need to relax a bit and let time take its course:))

(I will eat my words when I get my g/pig lol)
 
She's gorgeous!x)
She reminds me of a friend's piggy, Pumpkin
Hope it all works out okay

x​
 
Wiebke said:
I have written a a refernece thread on how to settle shy guinea pigs. Basically, just give her time and space to get her bearings. It will hopefully a bit easier with a new friend who will show her the way when she is ready for it.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38562

Your new girl is stunning, and I hope that she and Lucky will be best friends soon!

You could name her "Lady" to go with "Lucky".

"Letitia" and "Felicity" mean both luck as well!

Or if you want to go for the colour, but avoid the ubiquitious Ginger, you could call her Peaches/Peachy or Saffron.
Click to expand...

Haha, Yup my mum came out with the very apt "HEY lets call her Ginge!" rolleyes

Nice ideas thank you! I like Felicity, or Fliss for short! Cheers for the linky too... shes currently hiding back under the pile of hay! I could be really mean and change to fleece {:| But then i'd feel awful for taking both her hiding places away lol
 
Some more progress today! Just had her out for a cuddle (still very tricky to catch, she certainly has some legs on her!) and she sat nicely as always, still didnt take any food off me though.
When i put her back in the cage, she had a bit of a shuffle in the hay but when i put some cucumber in she came out and scoffed, and had a wonder around sniffing Lucky and having a poke about with the toys.. usually she dives back under her pile and isnt seen again!

there was a little scuffle however, poor lucky was walking towards the dried food and newbie chased her off, a lot of squeaking involved but no fighting :( Hope it doesnt extend too far...
 
I have a shy piggy too. It's been three weeks and now she FINALLY takes treats from me! I try to sit by their cage reading or knitting so that I'm there but not focusing on them if you know what I mean? I think this helps. I'm still ages from being able to pet her though, but have decided to take it slow. Floor time is good too and I use lots of hideys. I think a piggy should have something to hide underneath. As animals of prey it's an instinct to hide and I think they should be allowed to. That's how my shy girl started to take stuff from my hand. She would be in a hidey and at first she would just sniff the goodie, a week after nip it from my hand and now eat from my hand if she can still keep her bum in the hidey :p
 
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