Guinea pig trust

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kash191

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so ive had my boys for about 2 months now....give or take a couple weeks...

i read online about people with guinea pigs who love their owners
and who come to greet them at the cage, even stand on their hind legs

i feel a bit disheartened because every time i go near the cage they bolt for some sort of cover....when i go to pick them up i do it slowly even if they corner themselves I'm slow to pick them up,

but even if i put my hand in the cage to give them a treat i still get them hiding on me...

so my question is this: am i doing anything wrong? how long on average in your experience does it take for a guinea pig to be comfortable with your presence in viewing distance of the cage...

i keep them in my bedroom so they can listen to me but it really doesnt seem to help my case.....

can you share your stories with me perhaps i can learn some from that :)

any quick or effective means on how to make them trust you?


thanks!
 
I have had Basil and Snowball since August. I would say they trust me but they don't come to us willingly. We have to chase them around the cage lol. Once they are up they are fine, maybe not piggies that will sit for hours but they will sit for a good 10 mins or so. Snowball would probably sit longer but once Basil has had enough we put both back into their cage. They wheek when they think food is coming and Basil stands on his hind legs in the cage for the food. Just because they run from you doesn't mean they don't trust you. I certainly hope that's the case or mine don't trust me either. Try them with their favourite food and make them come to the front of the cage for it.
 
I have had my girls for almost a year now and they still run away from me sometimes but then when its feeding time they clamber all over each other to get to the 'feeding gate' to get there food. I think encouraging them with food really helps create a bond between you and your pigs. A cuddle and a bit of parsley might help :)
 
Veggies! :)) Veggies worked a treat for my boys, when i first got them it was during the summer holidays so i spent everyday with them talking, singing to them too! Haha my poor OH! :) They are seven months old now and will happily run to me first thing on the morning, and Harvey lets me stroke him, however Artie's the opposite he still runs away if i try to stroke him, it takes a while to catch him! I'd suggest half an hour a day cuddling them, or grooming them, with some veggies at hand. Good luck x
 
I agree with all of the above haha!
But also wanna say that some piggies are just more outgoing that others, depends on their personality. I got Frazzle about a month ago and he's friendly as anything, always up at the cage bars to say hello and lets me stroke him/pick him up. He has got a very loud personality..
On the other hand I've had Doris for about four years and she will still run from me occasionally..
 
I have 4, the 2 older ones are about 2yrs and the younger about 8 mths the only time they will come and stand on their hind legs is if they think they are getting something. Midge is happy to stay and be petted but only if the mood takes her, the other we have to chase around before we can pick them up.
 
Oh don't take it so personally! It's totally down to the personality of the piggy.

There are some very friendly piggies who are very open from early on. Others (the majority really) take a long time to trust their owners and even longer to be really affectionate. Their nature is to be timid and assume that everything is out to eat them. That's how they survive.

I'm sure your piggies KNOW you're their owner and will look after them but they still FEEL afraid - if that makes any sense. It will take them time to get over their own instincts.

With our two, Biscuit became very friendly and affectionate after about 6 weeks but Caramel is still very shy after 6 months.

Hope that helps :)
 
My piggies I got in September and they both still run away when there know i am i am going to pick them up, but other times there will come to see me and come to the cage. I decided outside "mealtimes" I give them a slice of cucumber as their both love it and I handed it to them it took ages for them to accept it off me, Freddie took it first and after a few weeks of watching Freddie take it off me Charlie started taking it off me aswell, and by shouting each of them as i give it to them they now come if I shout their names aswell, seeing little changes is a lovely feeling but we have such a long way to go for them to trust me competely but we getting there and it is just remembering they might never do what you want them to do.
 
They are prey animals, and it's in their nature to be timid. I agree with the food treats... we very often have pigs standing on their hind legs squeaking at us, because they know we are the food people! I also wouldn't take it personally if you have to chase them to pick them up. One of my pigs is a huge suck... she will sleep on our laps with her feet out straight behind her for ages as long as we keep rubbing her nose. But we still have to chase her for a minute before we pick her up... I think it's just instinct if you're a prey animal to scoot off when you see something big coming for you, even if you know that your owner is not going to eat you!
 
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