How long to get used to being handled?

[okciv]

Hi,
I've had my pigs for about a month now & have handled them every day apart from 1 or 2. They are still not happy to be picked up, I am scared that I am stressing them by trying to 'catch' them.
Pepsi doesn't seem to be happy when we pick him up and all he wants is back in his run. He will try to jump off my knee or out of my arms to get away all the time.
Marmaduke will sit for a quite long but I don't think he really likes it either. He makes a noise when we stroke him & my oh says it's a purr but I thought it might be like a warning?
Neither of them will eat when sitting on my knee but I always have food there for them. I always pick them up with a towel aswell.
They seem slightly better than when we first got them but not as good as I thought they might be with 1 month of handling, do I just have to have more patience?
I'm not the most patient person in the world ")

 

[boureki]

It sounds like you are doing everything right - but don't be disheartened, it can take months or even a year or so for some pigs to get used to being handled, especially if they haven't had a great start in life. Some simply just don't like it, never will and no matter how great your efforts will never change. Our Pepe was a nightmare when we first got him over two years ago as it was suspected that he was mishandled and squeezed by kids and had developed a fear of hands coming at him. Two years later he's come on leaps and bounds and will happily settle on some laps but will probably never be truly happy being picked up.

I try to think of being in their shoes - imagine a giant person advancing upon you, a tiny, instinctively scared prey animal, watching as the giant comes towards you speaking in a language you can't understand with its hands outstretched to scoop you up - I suspect my instinct would be to run and hide too! So don't take it personally, it sounds like you are doing everything you can, but don't be offended if one of the pigs may never take to being handled, sometimes they just don't

 

[Wiebke]

Try to make a ritual out of the picking up process with a certain phrase, gently shoo him into a "pickup corner" and praise him lavishly whenever he does even the tiniest bit right!

It helps if it stop to be "random violence", and then "violence" at all! But it needs patience and it cant ake weeks and months, and some never like it. They can still bond with you, though! I had one who followed me like a mini dog round the house and the garden, but it took over a year until she allowed me to touch her. But after that it didn't matter whether she got a pet on my lap or the middle of the lawn!

Is Marmaduke emitting short "brrrr" rumbles like in "I don't like that. Stay off me?" or a constant soft purr - which means he'll come round. One month is not much in piggie terms.

 

[okciv]

Thanks for the replies.
I always pick them up in the same places & let them know whats coming but they are not happy pigs.

Today Marmaduke quite accidentally ran into a pigloo that I'd just turned upside down (he ran from a gust of wind! and ended up in the pigloo) I covered half of it with a towel & took him in the house away from Pepsi (as they always seem to miss each other loads) he sat on my knee for about 10 mins but barely moved, not even to get celery I had for him. I stroked him a couple of times & he started making tiny little noises like the kind they make all the time. This wasn't like a rumble or a purr but like a kind of squeeky noise. Not sure what this was?

I picked Pepsi up & put him in the pigloo but I don't think he was happy. I then brought him in & sat him on my knee. He was having a wee look & sniff about but not moving his body much. He didn't touch his celery & when I stroked him I got a rumbly noise, deffo a warning so I took him home after that.

Marmadue was desperate for more cuddles & climbed onto the towel that was covering part of the pigloo!

It's funny as Pepsi is the first one to take food from us but he just doesn't seem to like cuddles. marmaduke is the shy one but seems not to mind a cuddle so much

 

[Sarah from Chucklebunnies]

The little squeaky noises mean that he has started to relax and 'talk' to you. This is good.

If you can, can you cuddle both together? Pepsi will gain confidence from his brother's more relaxed attitude and simply by being together. Perhaps tempt both of them into the upturned pigloo with food, covering the open top with a towel, then lift them out and sit them on your lap in that? You should be able to stroke them together then.

 

[Wiebke]

Quite often it's the shyer ones that love being cuddled more. Have you tried cuddling them together on your lap? Often it calms them down.

In terms of cuddling in it's still early times. With those that do not like it, I take it easy and just enjoy their company, but do not force them past the 5-10 minutes they can stand. Quite often they mellow after a few months. Patience and persistence is the key as well as earning their trust.

You can try and see whether Pepsi likes hiding under a towel on your belly. If he's happy, he may even go to sleep. Be prepared for "accidents", though, when he relaxes a bit too much...