Handling and lap time

[Dizzylizzy03]

I recently rehomed 2 piggies, theyve been with us for 3 days. Merry has become quite confident quickly and is fairly easy to pick up and have lap time. Pippin however is very skittish and spends a lot of time hiding. The previous owners have said he has always been this way. Neither of them were handled much before. He will sit on a lap for a bit but hes very difficult to pick up as he races away etc and wil dart off very quickly so I worry about hurting him.
My question is, if Pippin doesnt become any less skittish should I not try to push laptime with him? Do some Guinea pigs never want petted? Is it ok to have 1 who has regular cuddles and 1 who doesnt?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

Best thing is to follow their lead - it certainly the case that some never want to be touched.
I have four piggies. Two dont like being handled. My interaction with them is on a need to basis ie for the weekly weight checks, nail trims and hair cuts etc. The other two absolutely love being stroked, held etc and actively climb into my arms.

What I would say is that if one wants to be held and the other doesn’t, then that’s absolutely fine but make sure they aren’t separated for too long.

 

[Piggies&buns]

To add, at only three days with you, things are still very new for them. Give them, particularly your more nervous one, more chance to settle in (we usually say leave them in the cage and do nothing other than feed and clean for the firsr week, moving on to offering food from your hand in the subsequent weeks and then onto handling) and see how things go.

As I say, I have two who don’t like being handled but even of those two, one of them is more nervous than the other. It took the more confident one (Dexter) six weeks to take food from my hand (taking food being a sign of trust) but it took the other (popcorn) a year and a half to even get that far. Even now four a half years down the line and despite popcorn being the dominant of the pair, he is still the one to hold back and. They have grown so much in confidence over the years, but would rather be with each other than be stroked by me!

 

[Betsy]

When I adopted Lexi and Thea they were very scared and bolted at everything. . I hand fed them their veg for 6 months. I've had them for 14 months now and they are happy and confident girls. They still don't like being picked up so I have trained them to go in a hidey whenever I need to pick them up. This took a good 6-8 months so takes patience. They now trust me completely as I have only treated them with love and respect.

 

[Dizzylizzy03]

To add, at only three days with you, things are still very new for them. Give them, particularly your more nervous one, more chance to settle in (we usually say leave them in the cage and do nothing other than feed and clean for the firsr week, moving on to offering food from your hand in the subsequent weeks and then onto handling) and see how things go.

As I say, I have two who don’t like being handled but even of those two, one of them is more nervous than the other. It took the more confident one (Dexter) six weeks to take food from my hand (taking food being a sign of trust) but it took the other (popcorn) a year and a half to even get that far. Even now four a half years down the line and despite popcorn being the dominant of the pair, he is still the one to hold back and. They have grown so much in confidence over the years, but would rather be with each other than be stroked by me!

Yes this is what I've been doing, sitting and chatting with them. Merry will happily take food from me but Pippin is not there yet. I will stop trying to get him out and just aim for hand feeding for now.
Thank you!