What I'm I Doing Wrong?

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Aliperi

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Hi everyone
I'd appreciate any advice you can give me. We got our guinea pigs 3 weeks ago from a breeder. They were 3 weeks old and lived outside ( we have them indoors). They are two boys and seemed very tame and happy. I read a lot about them before we got them and got everything ready for them. The first few days they were really scared and wouldn't eat to drink :( then they slowly started coming out of their hyde place. We try to put them on the play pen each evening and we give them veg and the kids hold them for like two minutes, as they run off as soon as they can. They will eat off the kids hands, but they jump if they try to stroke them. We supervise them at all times and the kids are never left on their own with the piggies.
When they kids are in bed I go to their cage everyday with some parsley (they love it!) and talk to them, as soon as they hear me one of them comes right up to me and starts whistling very loudly, which is really cute. They will eat of my hands, but as soon as they see my other hand trying to stroke them they'll run away, then come out for for, then I try again and they jump again. I just can ever see us holding and petting them. I've seen lots of videos in you tube of very calm tame guinea pigs and I keep thinking we must be doing something wrong.
I'm also very worried as they are longed hair guinea pigs (Peruvian and Sheltie) and I know they need brushing everyday, they need their hair trimmed, a bath every now and again....and their nails trimmed. Now I don't see how on earth we are going to do any of those things, as it is really hard to even get them out of the cage and into the play pen. I just want to take the best care possible, but feel very worried that we won't be able to. Has anyone experienced this? How do you care for their hair and nails when they are so nervous about you? Thank you very much
 
Thanks MissBubblegum. So it's normal then? I though some piggies love humans and others don't. I thought maybe ours just have that personality. I can see a little progress each day, so that gives me hope. But still worried about looking after their fur and nails
 
All pigs have different personalities, so some will take longer than others. But mostly it just takes time. One of my boys is really friendly but he is still not comfortable with being picked up yet and we have had them 3 months! So dont worry :D
 
Your piggies are new and scared. Sounds like you're doing just fine, it can just take lots of patience, kindness and bribery with veg to gain their trust. Keep on doing as you are and your piggies will come round.
I've no experience of long haired piggies, but nails we all deal with. You only have to do those every 4 weeks or so. I'm sure others with long haired lovelies can tell you how to deal with grooming coats in the early days of getting to know you.
 
Aliperi said:
Hi everyone
I'd appreciate any advice you can give me. We got our guinea pigs 3 weeks ago from a breeder. They were 3 weeks old and lived outside ( we have them indoors). They are two boys and seemed very tame and happy. I read a lot about them before we got them and got everything ready for them. The first few days they were really scared and wouldn't eat to drink :( then they slowly started coming out of their hyde place. We try to put them on the play pen each evening and we give them veg and the kids hold them for like two minutes, as they run off as soon as they can. They will eat off the kids hands, but they jump if they try to stroke them. We supervise them at all times and the kids are never left on their own with the piggies.
When they kids are in bed I go to their cage everyday with some parsley (they love it!) and talk to them, as soon as they hear me one of them comes right up to me and starts whistling very loudly, which is really cute. They will eat of my hands, but as soon as they see my other hand trying to stroke them they'll run away, then come out for for, then I try again and they jump again. I just can ever see us holding and petting them. I've seen lots of videos in you tube of very calm tame guinea pigs and I keep thinking we must be doing something wrong.
I'm also very worried as they are longed hair guinea pigs (Peruvian and Sheltie) and I know they need brushing everyday, they need their hair trimmed, a bath every now and again....and their nails trimmed. Now I don't see how on earth we are going to do any of those things, as it is really hard to even get them out of the cage and into the play pen. I just want to take the best care possible, but feel very worried that we won't be able to. Has anyone experienced this? How do you care for their hair and nails when they are so nervous about you? Thank you very much
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oh I understand your concern! I have 2 long haired; one is extrememly calm and i cut her hair myself frequently, bu the other one which we've had for about a month now, also is very skittish and jumps whenever you try to touch her, but everyone here on the forum does say it takes time, so i guess we have to hang in there! I just feel bad that the newer one seems afraid all the time
 
Dont worry! It takes them time to relax. One of mine took 3 months before he started wheeking at me rather than running away from m
 
Thanks everyone
Irene that's how I feel. I love them and I'm worried they don't seem to enjoy the human interaction, they just seem so scared all the time. And I don't want to force-brush or force-cut their nails, as this will only frick them out even more :(
I really hope in time they will start to trust us, but I can't really see it right now.
 
Do not worry, you aren't doing anything wrong. Some piggies take weeks, months, or even years to get to trust people! Carry on with hand feeding and they will gently come forward to take food and then the confidence to be picked up. Piggies are prey animals so it feels unnatural for them to be picked up from high up.
 
has anyone tried the towel wrapping thing? Does it work?
I worry if I leave them their space they'll never get used to being held and if I hold them they scream sometimes and it is heartbreaking to hear
 
I usher them into one of the large Chube toys and lift that up, at an angle so they cant climb out with my hand at the end pointing down so they dont fall and that works for transporting them. Also snuggle sacks are great to usher them into and just lift out the sack.
 
Thanks bubblegum, we use a cardboard tube, but I think they know and now they won't go in it :)) I'll try a snuggle sack
 
Yeah they know what is comming lol. I think its best to just use whatever is already in their cage, like beds and tubes because everytime you put something in they will just be like "I'm not falling for that this time" lol. But if it is something already in their cage they wont expect it, and if you keep changing what you use they then wont be scared of what the object is
 
I have had my boy piggie for three years now and he still is not keen to be picked up! I have two other girls I've had for two years who now live with my boy piggie, and another two girls I've had for just a year. The three who live together are very tame and love to come and eat food from my hand and will sit at the door of their hutch while I am there with them, but still do not really like being handled. I guess it is just guinea pig nature as a prey animal. However the tamer they are (eating food from your hand, etc), the less stressful they will find handling. Even though my piggies don't like being picked up, I don't feel that it stresses them, they just don't appreciate it! I think it helps to just sit and watch them, especially after giving them some veggies. Just close the cage, take a few steps back and watch them, they are fascinating! Hope this is helpful. :)
 
Yours are still very young, so will be quite skittish anyway. They may well calm down as they mature.
Handling them a little every day will help.

I did use the towel wrap when I had an ill pig who needed daily meds. She seemed to like having the security of the wrapping, so became more confident about it all. She ended up being the tamest pig I've ever had.
 
Did you say your two piggies were 3 weeks old when you got them? Baby pigs should not be taken from their Mum
until they are at least 5 weeks old, preferably 6 weeks. But that apart, you are doing everything right to tame them. Just keep it up.
 
Yes they should be taken from Mum at 3 weeks otherwise the boy babies will pregnant Mum as they become sexually mature at 3 weeks :)
 
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