When can I hold them?

[Doodleloo]

We got 2 new piggies 48 hours ago (I saw Wiebke advice to give them 48 hours ) and they are still so scared of me! One of them has eaten from.my hand but the other one has not. They have only been handled when I switched them from their small temporary habitat to their big 2 story one I was finishing up. One of them freaked out so bad when I carried her to the new cage. I talked to her and pet her and kissed her ear in the transfer but held her no more than a minute. Basically I'm asking... Do I kind of have to force them to be held in order for them to get accustomed to being held? Y'all, I'm dying to hold them! I'm giving their space and time but when can I hold them?

 

[angelali]

hi! don't worry if your guinea pigs are still scared of you, it's pretty normal. for now i suggest just waiting for them to get used to you and not handle them too often. you can sit next to them and talk, or hand feed, (like you did) everyday. some guinea pig are shy, and some guinea pigs are bold, so it's ok if one of them doesn't like you too much. you can't force them too. but once they get more used to you, (like when you pet them and they don't run away) i think you can start holding them and stuff. anyway, i hope this helped and good luck on your guinea pig journey!

 

[Piggies&buns]

You need to give them time to settle, particularly if you are giving them a new cage, they will then need more time to settle into that. I personally wouldn’t try to handle them for up to a week.
You also need to be aware though that guinea pigs are not cuddly creatures - they will range from those who don’t mind a cuddle, some who will tolerate it for health purposes only (ie to do their weekly weighing and daily health checks) and some that will simply hate being handled altogether. You will need to follow your piggies lead as to where they fall within the range! Most will never enjoy being picked up though as it cuts to their prey instincts so it can be best to herd them into a carrier and then pick them up from there.

I would never force them to be held though. I would concentrate on getting them to take food from your hand and then move onto being stroked while they are still in their cage, and then if they don’t mind being cuddled, then move on to that. It’s so important you take it at their pace though. It may well take some time.

With my piggies, Dexter is more confident than Popcorn and settled quickly, took food from my hand quickly and after six weeks of being with me he was quite happy to come for a chat at the bars, take food etc. Popcorn on the other hand took 18 months to be confident enough even to take food from my hand. However, neither of them enjoy being handled - they tolerate it for their health checks etc, but they don’t enjoy a cuddle, so I don’t do it. I sit in the shed with them and talk to them and they are happy to be around me (although it took a lot longer with Popcorn for him to stop hiding when I approached), but that is as far as it goes.

 

[LMPigs]

I would give them some more time, especially if they have moved habitat, have not previously been handled much (which sounds to be the case) and are young.

They need to get comfortable with you as a first step. Picking them up when they are still terrified of you will probably set you back on the "getting confident with" you journey rather than getting them "used" to being handled. I would suggest that you continue hand feeding, when they start actively coming to see you to get food from that, then you can try petting then in the cage, work up from there!

This obviously doesn't mean you shouldn't pick them up from necessary care reasons (e.g. if your taking them for a vet check, need to move them to clean their cage, etc) and I would also wouldn't wait to start they weekly weigh in (unless they are really impossible to catch without chasing, in which case you could skip the first week)!