Am I a bad owner?

[Remma17]

Hi, I'm currently feeling like I'm a bad owner to my two piggies. I love my boys dearly I do but I don't have the connection with them that others may have. I got them about a year or two ago. What I mean is i can walk and drop something around their cage and they don't care they come up to me and allow pets sometimes but they're still interested in what I am doing in the cage and when I hand feed them etc. I clean them out, feed them and give them fresh hay but they're still scared when I pick them up. I have a problem trimming one of their nails and I do use a distraction. I'm just not sure how I can make them feel better about being handled, I have a blanket for them and give them veggies but it still doesn't seem to be working I'm not sure if it's my error or if it just depends on the confidence of the piggy and I just have that feeling where they could be better with someone else. Any tips or opinions really appreciated, thanks.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear you feel like this.

It actually sounds like you are a great owner and that they are simply normal piggies.
Most piggies don’t like being handled and mostly that never changes - it doesn’t mean you’re a bad owner, it’s that they are prey animals and being handled isn’t natural to them. Piggies won’t like to be picked up directly out of the cage.
Distractions and doing a little at a time is a good way forward.

I don’t handle any of my piggies routinely for cuddles because they don’t like it. I only handle them for their weekly weight and health checks. They don’t like it but it has to be done. One of my boys has been with me for six years - he is never going to like being handled!

 

[Remma17]

I’m sorry to hear you feel like this.

It actually sounds like you are a great owner and that they are simply normal piggies.
Most piggies don’t like being handled and mostly that never changes - it doesn’t mean you’re a bad owner, it’s that they are prey animals and being handled isn’t natural to them. Piggies won’t like to be picked up directly out of the cage.
Distractions and doing a little at a time is a good way forward.

I don’t handle any of my piggies routinely for cuddles because they don’t like it. I only handle them for their weekly weight and health checks. They don’t like it but it has to be done. One of my boys has been with me for six years - he is never going to like being handled!

Thank you dearly so much.

 

[fluffysal]

I have 2 boys, they do actually like lap time (I'm VERY lucky) but one of them hates being picked up although he settles straight away. The other one is 50/50 on how he reacts.
Before I did lap time I used to sit on the floor with a blanket over my legs. It took Sir George a few weeks to climb on my lap but before that he was happy to come right over and get some treats by climbing up my legs. When we got Master Boris he was straight on my lap and climbing all over me.

 

[LucyP]

I agree- it sounds like you’re actually being a very good owner by respecting their needs and prey instincts and being very gentle and patient with them. They will appreciate that about you very much.

Many owners find nail trimming tricky as some piggies can seem quite squirmy and dramatic even before you’ve touched them with the clippers, but that’s just their way.

As time passes, you and they will get more used to each other I’m sure. I was very unsure and unconfident when we got our first pair and questioned myself all the time, but that definitely gets easier over time. And as you are discovering, food can help bring them out of their shells (this is what my vet calls ‘cupboard love’!)

You sound like the perfect owner for your pets.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

You are not a bad owner, what you are up against is reality vs. unrealistic expectations. Guinea pigs are not animated cuddly toys. Unfortunately, with the rise of social media human preferences in which videos are successful have largely contributed to propagating a false picture - people want to see cute videos and pictures; they do not want to see piggies running away t picking up time or wiggling on laps even though that is actually the normality. You are not a bad owner at all but you are failing at something you cannot win at the cost of running roughshod over your piggies instincts and pressing them into a tiny box for your own gratification. Thankfully, you have to great a heart and too good a natural instinct to fall into that trap.

Please take the time to read the links below; they help you understand a lot better what you are dealing with by looking at things not from a human but a guinea pig perspective. Interaction and bonding with your guinea pigs is really not at all reduced to lap time and cuddling. Try and make the jump to enter their world - it is so much more fascinating and fun because enrichment can happen on so many different levels than just a shop bought treat but you and your piggies bond much more over shared activities and fun than just through getting them to tolerate being petted for longer than they like.

Most of my own piggies will accept grooming and medicating (grudgingly) and only a few actually enjoy a quick cuddle. But I have much more satisfaction in watching them using their wits and enjoying challenges. And I love watching their interaction and getting deeper in understanding the complexity of it.

Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely (videos)
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

This is the access link to our much more extensive information resource which you may find interesting as well as helpful. The links above are all part of it. You may want to bookmark this link: Comprehensive Owners' Practical and Supportive Information Collection

 

[RosieLily]

Lily hates being picked up, so we developed a system - I will pick her up in her little hidey and she can decide when/if she wants to come out. Sometimes she wants to explore, other times she is happy hanging out in her pigloo and snoozing

 

[Cait_lin]

Guinea pigs will always be prey animals and have prey instincts, even if they feel very safe with their owner. And it sounds like your piggies feel very safe and happy with you. They may just take a while to be okay with being picked up, or might never be keen on it, but that's not down to any error you've made. You're doing a great job and your piggies are lucky to have you