Help with babies

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Watership Down

any avice would be grateful.what is the best way to bond with piggie babies? The two girls go crazy if i try to pick then up but allow me to stroke them (I wonder if they are just too scared to try and run in my lap).
I would love to know the best way of bonding as when they are older I would love them to want to be held:)
 
you just have to keep cuddling them each day thats what i did with my 8 who were born in my care

it will just take a little time for them to get use to and to being handled
 
Patience is the only key. Talk to them softly each time you're near their cage & keep taking them out.
They may feel more secure if you have them wrapped in a towel on your lap. Hand feed them veggies, piggies aren't daft, they will soon associate you with nice things but this isn't a guarantee they will want to be held when older.
Some piggies are quite happy to be cuddled, others aren't & prefer the company of their piggy pals :)

I have a boy who's almost 4, he still runs away when i open his hutch & has done ever since he was on meds. His next door neighbour, whilst preferring to be in his hutch cranes his neck to see what i've got for him & almost falls out the hutch in eagerness. None of my piggies are lap piggies but i don't mind. I'm quite happy to sit in my shed & watch them pottering about doing what they do :)
 
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As Niki quite rightly says, patience and persistence is the key.
Luckily guineas are not normally nippy animals, so at least you dont have the biting factor to take into consideration!

Definately keep up with the handling a few times a day, and feed them veggies and fruit from your hands so they see you as a source of food and nice things and not as a threat.
Also, the importance of speaking softly to them before you scoop them up is true too, it lets them know you are there and less likely to startle them.
Being babies, you have a better chance of them becoming nice cuddly pigs than trying to get to grips with a 4 year old squirmer! hehehe Niki
Dont forget that piggies are prey, and will naturally and instinctively run from what they perceive as danger, so dont take it personally either x
 
pigginrescue said:
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Being babies, you have a better chance of them becoming nice cuddly pigs than trying to get to grips with a 4 year old squirmer! hehehe Niki
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You're not wrong, i also have a 20 month old testosterone-filled nipper. If he's not happy with what i'm doing be it cutting his nails or weighing him he thinks nothing of sinking his teeth in but they are love nips or thats what i tell myself :)):))
 
hehe you gotta love those 'love nips'!
My dad has got himself into the habit of saying hello by poking his finger in the cage and trying to rub the nose/beak of the inhabitant. Needless to say my killer red rump parakeet has had him a few times, and judging on the plaster on his finger when he came back from a pet shop last weekend, the rat he 'said hello' too wasnt impressed with his greeting either !

I've only been bitten by a piggie once, and that was yesterday! Payback for taking him to the vet to have his manparts removed methinks..
 
I have to say, I'm glad I'm not the only one having problems in this area.
I bought my 2 from a pet shop at 12 weeks old (so I was told). I've only had them for a couple of months and told myself to take things slowly as they seemed very nervous from the beginning.
I'm now at the stage where they get over excited every time I go to the kitchen (I swear they only think I have to feed them and not myself) so they happily eat from my hand, they let me reach into their home without batting an eyelid, and I'm allowed to nuzzle noses - but when it comes to floor time and lap time, I have to be very patient. They LOVE running around the floor but it takes forever to get them back in, but neither of them seem to be overly happy being on my lap.
I dont know if I'm kidding myself that time will make this easier, or if I'll end up having to concede to my boys not liking me enough to sit with me or have a cuddle..... only time will tell I guess. But I am aware they are both still very young.
If anyone has any tips on how long the bonding takes, Id be grateful to hear them! (I have to use a tube to even get them out of their house, as trying to pick them up doesnt seem to be an option!) mallethead
 
You're definately not the only one with that problem, so don't fret :)
All guinea pigs are different, and all you can do is be patient and caring and loving.
I had a guinea pig named Buttons (r.i.p) and she was extremely friendly and loved being handled, etc which was great but my other piggie Mittens is completely different, she runs if you come near her and kicks her legs when you finally can pick her up, but after a little while, she settles down and likes being cuddled, but then when you put her back in her home, she runs for cover again lol.
My other two guinea pigs again are different, Socks seems to be more adventerous and is a bit of a busy-body and always comes out to see whats going on and at meal times she waits by her bowl with her two front paws in it and squeaks like crazy, she lets us hand feed her and lets us stroke her and tickle her under the chin, but when we go to pick her up she runs into her pigloo or does laps really quickly so we can't catch her lol, but once we have her in our laps she is very content and happy - but it's always a struggle to catch her lol. Bows is very shy and hates being picked up, she'll squeal and kick and bear her teeth, catching her takes a while, sometimes i let her be because she seems stressed but most of the time i persevere because I think in the long run it'll be good for, when I do have her in my lap she stays very still and always has her eyes wide open, but I think in time she'll get better, it does take time though...I don't think mine will ever like being picked up to be honest, that's just how they are :)

I think also to keep in mind, that we are sooo much bigger than them and it must be daunting for them to have big hands coming towards them lol and like other people have said, they are prey and it's their instinct to behave that way, just keeps handling them and give them lots of cuddles, and even try tempting them with some food, I try enticing them with half a grape occassionally and that usually works.
 
i wouldn't worry to much ... my new baby piggies do exactly the same ... they run round the cage before letting me finally grab them ... when there out and been handled they have there moment of sit still and take the fuss then there moments of let me down ... even my older piggy roxy runs around her cage before i can catch her but she loves been handled ... all piggys are differant .. some prefer handling when out of cage so calm down when handled .. some enjoy handling that much they sit there waiting for it :)
 
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