Bonding issues

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Newby Piggy

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I have two boars of the same age, they are coming up to their first birthday soon. They are great with each other and if it weren't for their breed difference I'd say that they were brothers! They play and snuggle and there's not MUCH dominance at all!

However, they aren't that cosy with me. I've had them for almost 10 months now and they're still quite skitish around me. They are fine if I'm in the room and practically act like I'm not there, they do like the sound of my voice, although I do wonder sometimes if they're trying to talk OVER me as they do that little quiet wheek and rumble a lot sometimes when I'm talking! :)) They recognise me and every day without fail Barnet rushes out to greet me when I get home from work but I know that's just for food. Barnet is the chatty one, he will squeak and wheek, Mullet rumbles A LOT! That seems to be his only form of communication, he only wheeks if he can't see Barnet, it's so sweet! ^)

They are ok with me opening the cage bars and giving them food (of course!;) ) But if i need to pick them up I literally have to empty the cage out as they run away and hide. Mullet is ok, he'll flinch away every now and then but once I put my hands round him he's fine, but Barnet...well....he resists quite a bit. He will put one foot on my hand as I go to pick him up and it looks like he's going to bite, he never has except once after I bathed him but that was fear I think, he's ok with it now.

I just don't know what to do, they get a treat after every cuddle before I put them back in the cage as a reward for giving mummy a cuddle and I always stroke them slowly, gently and in the direction of their fur as I heard it can upset them if you do it in the opposite direction. They're both fine once they're in my lap and if they're both on me at the same time they fight as to who is going to sit furthest under my chin, i feel like i don't need a scarf in the winter with those two round my neck lol

I just don't know why they run away whenever I want to hold them, I hate having to empty the cage it makes me feel awful :(

Any tips?

Newby Piggy x
 
Some guinea pigs are just like that but most eventually allow you to pick them up to some degree. It's a case of perseverance. My latest 2 piggies, Minnie who I've had for nearly 3 months & Mitch who I've just had for 18 days run as soon as I open the cage door but they're much easier to pick up than when I first got them. My other 3 girls are great. Mother & Mousey have always been pretty easy to pick up but Minky is the opposite. She was almost impossible until her recent illness & since then she's got to trust me more. She still runs a little but as soon as I put my hand under her, she lets me pick her up.
 
I've had my one boy for about 2.5 years now and the other for almost 2 years. They have never liked being picked up although they certainly enjoy cuddles and strokes once I have them. I have over time trained them to get into cuddle cups which I use to pick them up and put them back down in. There was always a danger of them falling otherwise as they struggles to get out of my hands. Still, even to this day, occasionally one or the other decides to be stubborn and I have to get every hidey out of their cage before the stubborn one will get into his cuddle cup to be lifted out. I never have any problem getting them into the cups to go back to their cage!

It seems like yours enjoy snuggles with you so I wouldn't worry about the fact they don't like being picked up.
 
Picking up a piggy cuts very close to the prey animal instincts, a piggy that is caught is a dead piggy - it is the part that most piggies like least. However, most piggies are OK with being cuddled, at least for a short while.

You can work around this if you train your boys to come into a pick up "shuttle" of some sort, like a tunnel, an upturned hidey, a cosy, a padded shoe box with one short end cut off, or a towel etc.

Place a little veg or herbage treat at the back and let your boys get comfy with the conveyance first; ideally let them sleep in it, so they have good associations. when lifting the conveyance up, turn it into a ritual with the saying the same words in the same melody all the time, so the boys know what is up. Praise them lots. Eventually they will catch on, especially if there is a little treat each time. It may take a bit of patience and persistence, but it is worth it!

PS: never cuddle a piggy when in the conveyance, so it always feels "safe".
 
Thanks everyone :-) I guess they are pretty good and maybe I am overreacting slightly. They try to get out of my hands when I pick them up too, goodness knows they turn into stunt-pigs when its time to go back in! Barnet barely lets me get the cage door open before he leaps quite literally out, i have to really curl my arm round him with him upright on my chest to stop him wriggling, it doesn't hurt but it means he can't turn round so quick. As I'm walking up the corridor to my room he starts fidgeting straight away its so funny that he knows where he's going.

They are pretty comfortable round me, it is only the picking them up part and I get the bit about them being scared of predators. The other thing I've noticed and thought I would share is my Mum. She doesn't have that much to do with them, she cuddles them sometimes but not that much and as they're in my room she's not around them much, but they always know if it's her! When she comes in in the evenings they wheek and look towards my door, she came in my room just now and as she said hello they wheeked and ran to the bars looking at her, she does talk back to them and has little conversations, but as soon as she says 'shush, quiet' they stop. They just sit and stare at her, anyone would think she was their owner not me! But Mum's always been good with animals (we have 9 cats lol)

Thanks for the reassurance and tips guys, I will try the 'shuttle' technique and see what happens. I'm off to have a cuddle with them now so I'll see if there is anything suitable and start the training today.

Newby Piggy x
 
Newby Piggy said:
Thanks everyone :-) I guess they are pretty good and maybe I am overreacting slightly. They try to get out of my hands when I pick them up too, goodness knows they turn into stunt-pigs when its time to go back in! Barnet barely lets me get the cage door open before he leaps quite literally out, i have to really curl my arm round him with him upright on my chest to stop him wriggling, it doesn't hurt but it means he can't turn round so quick. As I'm walking up the corridor to my room he starts fidgeting straight away its so funny that he knows where he's going.

They are pretty comfortable round me, it is only the picking them up part and I get the bit about them being scared of predators. The other thing I've noticed and thought I would share is my Mum. She doesn't have that much to do with them, she cuddles them sometimes but not that much and as they're in my room she's not around them much, but they always know if it's her! When she comes in in the evenings they wheek and look towards my door, she came in my room just now and as she said hello they wheeked and ran to the bars looking at her, she does talk back to them and has little conversations, but as soon as she says 'shush, quiet' they stop. They just sit and stare at her, anyone would think she was their owner not me! But Mum's always been good with animals (we have 9 cats lol)

Thanks for the reassurance and tips guys, I will try the 'shuttle' technique and see what happens. I'm off to have a cuddle with them now so I'll see if there is anything suitable and start the training today.

Newby Piggy x
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Yes the stunt piggy part is why I started the "shuttle" training myself! I was just terrified as they got much bigger I would lose the struggle wars. And as Wiebke said they eventually associate the sound of words with actions. So now, I just say" who wants to go home" and each boy immediately jumps into his conveyance.

That is so cute about your mum! I chuckled over the "shush, quiet" part. I think piggies like it when we talk to them. Mine certainly seem to stare at me with rapt attention when I am talking to them.

How about some pigtures of your boys? I'd love to see these fellows that shut up on command!
 
Haha! Only when my mum does it though, they just ignore me and get louder lol I will try and get some good ones of them and upload them, they never stay still long enough to get a clear shot of them! They are starting to wheek at me now for breakfast so I'd better jump to it before they wake the whole house up! x
 
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