fiona357
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi everyone,
I've had my two boys for two months now, and they still seem very timid and scared of me. I've attached a pic - Thor is the lilac one, and Loki is the tri-coloured one.
Me and my partner got them from a rescue home, they are two years old, and they were RSPCA rescues before going to the rescue centre that we got them from (the lady there thinks they may have been show pigs?). I've been reading the threads on this forum to see how best to settle them, and they seem happy enough in their cage (occasionally I've caught them laying down, which is lovely to see as they seem very relaxed!) It's getting them used to me and handling/lap time that I'm having problems with.
Thor seems to be a bit braver than Loki. Thor will come up to me and sniff my hand, but even now (after two months) if I move my hand to try and gently touch him, he'll turn and bolt. Loki will take one sniff of my hand and run away immediately. I've tried encouraging them with food, Thor will usually take it out of my hand but Loki is always very reluctant (sometimes I have to leave it by the door of his cardboard box house and he'll eat it when I'm gone).
I've also had problems picking them up - they appeared to be used to it, as at the rescue center we got them from, they were picked up every day to go out in their run. Although we can catch them eventually to move them outside into their run (or into a large area in the house when it's wet), they get so stressed about it, and I hate doing this to them.
I was bringing them inside the other day and got a few nips from Loki! I did use a tube to pick them up in, but they've figured this out and won't go anywhere near the tube anymore.
I try and give them lap time for about 5 minutes occasionally, and while Thor will sit and eat his piece of carrot, he doesn't seem to enjoy sitting there at all! Loki won't eat the piece of carrot and instead insists on trying to escape the lap time blanket!
I should probably also mention that Loki is almost always rumblestrutting around and mounting Thor, and although I can hear them when I'm not in the room, Loki also starts it when I come up to the cage. It never escalates into fighting, although Thor seems to have gotten cross and nearly nipped Loki once. (It seems to stress poor Thor out alot!)
Can anyone offer ideas on how to bond with them, or make them less frightened of me, especially Loki? I regularly sit with them and talk to them, but I'm out of ideas.
I've had my two boys for two months now, and they still seem very timid and scared of me. I've attached a pic - Thor is the lilac one, and Loki is the tri-coloured one.
Me and my partner got them from a rescue home, they are two years old, and they were RSPCA rescues before going to the rescue centre that we got them from (the lady there thinks they may have been show pigs?). I've been reading the threads on this forum to see how best to settle them, and they seem happy enough in their cage (occasionally I've caught them laying down, which is lovely to see as they seem very relaxed!) It's getting them used to me and handling/lap time that I'm having problems with.
Thor seems to be a bit braver than Loki. Thor will come up to me and sniff my hand, but even now (after two months) if I move my hand to try and gently touch him, he'll turn and bolt. Loki will take one sniff of my hand and run away immediately. I've tried encouraging them with food, Thor will usually take it out of my hand but Loki is always very reluctant (sometimes I have to leave it by the door of his cardboard box house and he'll eat it when I'm gone).
I've also had problems picking them up - they appeared to be used to it, as at the rescue center we got them from, they were picked up every day to go out in their run. Although we can catch them eventually to move them outside into their run (or into a large area in the house when it's wet), they get so stressed about it, and I hate doing this to them.
I was bringing them inside the other day and got a few nips from Loki! I did use a tube to pick them up in, but they've figured this out and won't go anywhere near the tube anymore.I try and give them lap time for about 5 minutes occasionally, and while Thor will sit and eat his piece of carrot, he doesn't seem to enjoy sitting there at all! Loki won't eat the piece of carrot and instead insists on trying to escape the lap time blanket!
I should probably also mention that Loki is almost always rumblestrutting around and mounting Thor, and although I can hear them when I'm not in the room, Loki also starts it when I come up to the cage. It never escalates into fighting, although Thor seems to have gotten cross and nearly nipped Loki once. (It seems to stress poor Thor out alot!)
Can anyone offer ideas on how to bond with them, or make them less frightened of me, especially Loki? I regularly sit with them and talk to them, but I'm out of ideas.
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