how can i get my guinea piggies to like me?

[meganhannaford]

hey guys, so i am new with this and would love to know how to make/allow my piggies to trust me and like me so that they are able to come up to me with will. for i love them i want them to love me

 

[Wiebke]

Be patient, patient, patient. Trust is nothing you win overnight, but it is a gradual process.

Turn everything into a firm ritual with the same sounds/words in the same tone all the time.

 

[Abi_nurse]

It takes time... lots of it. Even now, after having most of my herd over a year, they still run off when i want to pick them up. But they happily run up to the cage sides to greet me, if they think its lunch time. But its takes a long time to let them grow in confidence and trust.

x

 

[Freela]

My girls are very friendly (the older one in particular is a huge suck!) but will still sometimes dash when I pick them up, and even moreso if it's someone who isn't me doing it. My mom was helping me to care for them as I just had surgery and was having a hard time bending down to pick them up, and my pig Sundae really did not enjoy being scooped up by Grandma, even though she knows her and is perfectly at ease being held by her. Guinea pigs are prey, not predators, and the instinct to run from something scooping them up is pretty engrained in them- it's nothing personal! I find the easiest way to get my pigs to come up to me is to look like I may potentially have food, or to sit on the floor with them when they are running around. Any suggestion of food makes them dash over, and if I sit with them while they are exploring they will 'explore' me as well, walking over me or sniffing me or otherwise checking me out. It does take time!

 

[meganhannaford]

okay for i havent even had them for a year lol