Adopted guinea pig needs your advice on how to deal with owner

S

Soothingprune

New Born Pup
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Recently my first owner had to give me to another family. I should have guesses something was up because every time my first owner picked me up, she kept sneezing and coughing. She was a really kind owner and I liked her a bunch. This new family is....well, they're new. I didn't ask to be re-adopted but there you have it. My new owner, outside of being bald, seems alright. He feeds me regularly and keeps talking about getting me a new cage (which sounds cool, this one is small). I guess I have two questions. First, when should I let this new guy pick me up. I'm still feeling very skittish and I've only been living with him for two days. Second, when should i move into my new cage. I mean, I am kind of attached to the one I have but the new one is soooo much bigger. It's got this stuff he keeps saying is felt instead of wood shavings. Anyway, any advice you have would be appreciated. Oh crap, my owner is coming. I don't want him to see me typing this as that would get weird fast.

Sincerely,
Sir Oscar Vegimale IV
Short haired calico guinea
 
Hello Sir Oscar!

This is for your owner to read: Taking your time to get him out and hold him is ideal especially if he is rather skittish. You may want to start by simply placing your hand in his cage and letting him sniff it or holding out some food for him. As you have only had him for a couple of days, it is perfectly normal for him to be nervous. Hand feeding should definitely help build up his trust for you. You can pick him up if he seems comfortable but try not to hold him for too long.

Another good way to bond is by taking him out in a small pen or on the floor beside you and simply talking to him and getting to know him.

As you do not want him getting to attached to his smaller cage, you might want to try putting the two together and allowing him to explore both. However, as it is unlikely to be possible, put some of his old bedding and/or toys into his new home to make it more familiar.

Good luck!
 
Hiya, I've removed your zip code from your location, general area will do, it doesn't have to be exact, welcome to the forum. 👍
 
Hi, Sir Oscar. I'm wondering if you have a friend? Friends make it much easier to settle into a new home, but your owner might not be aware of this. Many new owners aren't, and it's okay if yours didn't too. He can read more about guinea pigs and companioship here: Companionship

As for letting you settle into your new home right now, this guide will help - How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?. This way he'll get less scary over time, and you'll be able to interact with him better.

This last link is long and leads to more info on guinea pig care, along with extra links to our guides and quick tips for owners. It can maybe seem a bit daunting at first, but I promise it's worthwhile, the info within is comprehensive and easy to understand - New Owners' Most Helpful How-To Guides and Information.
 
Welcome to Sir Oscar and your new owner
Great advice above 😀 I’ve always found a little morsel of food held into the cage goes a long way towards bonding with your piggie. Oscar will start to enjoy your little times together once he trusts you are no threat to him as a huge human and as time goes on will become braver and braver, take your time, small steps x
 
Wow, thank you for all of the quick responses. I will check out the links you provided me with. This morning I took your suggestion and set up a play area. It was great. Ozzie seemed to enjoy the time to stretch his legs and explore. It was large enough that I could sit in there with him and just let him come up and smell me. Things were great until I called my wife and he ran up my pajama pants leg when I wasn't looking. All was well and I could have sworn he was laughing at me. Thanks again.
 
Soothingprune said:
Recently my first owner had to give me to another family. I should have guesses something was up because every time my first owner picked me up, she kept sneezing and coughing. She was a really kind owner and I liked her a bunch. This new family is....well, they're new. I didn't ask to be re-adopted but there you have it. My new owner, outside of being bald, seems alright. He feeds me regularly and keeps talking about getting me a new cage (which sounds cool, this one is small). I guess I have two questions. First, when should I let this new guy pick me up. I'm still feeling very skittish and I've only been living with him for two days. Second, when should i move into my new cage. I mean, I am kind of attached to the one I have but the new one is soooo much bigger. It's got this stuff he keeps saying is felt instead of wood shavings. Anyway, any advice you have would be appreciated. Oh crap, my owner is coming. I don't want him to see me typing this as that would get weird fast.

Sincerely,
Sir Oscar Vegimale IV
Short haired calico guinea
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome, Sir Oscar

Please ask your new slave to take a course in Cavy Whispering so you do not have to do the full job of figuring him out before you can talk to him in a meaningful way. Also tell him that he can make friends with you faster by sharing your fun - bonding is not just boring lap time allowing yourself being pawed over; it is sharing enrichment time with your slave where you have much more control over how you want to interact and can learn to trust him on your own terms. If he wants to become a perfect slave, this is a very good way of training him without him realising!
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

He can also learn to understand better how you are putting your own Cavy social needs across to him:
Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities
Adopted guinea pig needs your advice on how to deal with owner

Please tell him to bookmark, browse, read and re-read this link here, which will help him lots during his training in becoming the perfect piggy slave as it contains lots of practical tips and information he needs to understand you and make your life truly pampered: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

Please also ask your slave to add his country, state or province to location in his account details (by clicking on hios username on the top bar) so we can adjust any advice straight away to American conditions re.vet access, brands, climate etc. with just a quick glance to left - it saves both parties time and potential misunderstandings but at that general level still protects the privacy. We have members and enquiries from literally all over the world and from very different backgrounds and conditions; our default advice is UK based.
(In the UK we call calico piggies tricolours or tort and white in case you wonder, what is the tip-off. :D )

We are of course always here for any little or large questions on any care or behaviour aspect in our Care sections or if you and your slave would like to hang out for some chat about your slave and for useful tips with managing him with some very experienced sow paws in the Chat section. You can also look at plenty of piggy pics there. You will find plenty of congenial piggy company and perfectly cage-trained human slaves in there! :D

Who is the Boss - Your Guinea Pig or You?

Greetings from the Tribe - Experts in Human Slave Training and Guinea Pig Welfare Rights
 
Welcome to the forum Sir Oscar and new Slave.

We are very glad that you are clearly eager to train your new slave well.
As has been said there is a lot of advice here to help you.
We hope you enjoy the forum,
Wheeks from Priscilla, Phoebe and Micah
 
Welcome to the forum Sir Oscar,
We like to borrow our slaves computer too sometimes, and have found lots of friendly fellow guinea pigs here.
Our slaves have found lots of useful advice & information on the forum.
Good luck with training your slave. (It seems to take a long time!)
With squeeks and wheeks,
from Hector &Hamish
 
Anyone have advice on chew toys. My wife and I like to let him run free in our kitchen while we hang out in the evening but he has become especially fond of our ikea chairs. Any suggestions on chew toys he would love to chew on.
 
Paper towel or toilet paper rolls are great guinea pig toys. Mine also enjoy a good cardboard box with lots of windows and doors.
 
Soothingprune said:
Anyone have advice on chew toys. My wife and I like to let him run free in our kitchen while we hang out in the evening but he has become especially fond of our ikea chairs. Any suggestions on chew toys he would love to chew on.
Click to expand...

Lots of hay is the very best thing but otherwise things like carrot cottages or hay cubes.
 
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