How quickly they come out of their shells!

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Teejay

Teejay

Adult Guinea Pig
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Just a few musings really.......I've had my two young boars, Pudding and Squeak, since Xmas, so they're about 16 weeks old now. They were very skittish to start with, and they'd scarper if I so much as breathed a bit too noisily! That's no exaggeration, by the way, he he! :))

Anyway, we've now moved them into a mahoooosive cage in our living room, so they're getting more used to noise and movement, and I've given them quite a regular routine......every evening, while I'm cleaning out the cage, they get their floor time.

They are like things posessed when they come out, popcorning around the room, chasing each other, playing their own version of hide-and-seek. Plus, over the past couple of days, they've both been getting really brave (to the point of cheekiness) with me......they clamber all over me while I'm on the floor cleaning out their posh-pad. Then, when I've finished, I normally sit on the floor with them and they have started climbing onto my lap for a bit of a cuddle....so sweet.

It wasn't very long ago that I was dispairing a bit.....we seemed to have one step forward and two steps back when it came to handling and getting them more chilled out......but now, they're proper little cheeky monkeys! Squeak will even come to me when I say his name, bless him!

I do love my piggles, they are a complete joy! Why didn't i have piggies years ago?!
 
aww this is so cute, glad they're becoing used to you. Routine is everything with piggies :)
 
Hi teejay. Your piggies sound adorable! I have had my piggies just over 2 weeks now, they r about 14 weeks. Like yours were they are so scared everytime I go near. They are better when I feed them but still hide! A big stress for me is getting them out as they as so fast to catch! How have * managed? Mine too are indoors and I so want them to become tame and interact with my children but I'm not getting anywhere quickly! Any tips?! X
 
I do love my piggles, they are a complete joy! Why didn't i have piggies years ago?![/QUOTE]


I say that to myself all the time! We got our first pair a couple of years ago, and I keep wondering where they have been all my life and why on earth I didn't get them sooner! I think there will be piggies here for a LOOONG time!
 
Great to hear that your boys have settled in now and are as cheeky as only a happy piggy can be!

Welcome to world of piggy slaves - now you know... :))
 
This is a fantastic thread. I'm so pleased youre a piggie convert!

CPHill - We find the cardboard chubes are a brilliant way to take the stress out of picking up reluctant piggies, just herd one into it then pick up and tilt them out onto your lap.
 
Hi CPHill, well, I'm really no expert, but I can tell you how I've done things with my boys. Firstly, I used to spend a long time just sat by the side of the cage, either watching telly or reading. Then, when the piggies came out of their hidey hole (very rarely), I'd talk very gently to them until they settled down.

After a short while, they were more confident and would come out while I was there. Then I started to hand feed them. At first, they acted like I was trying to poison them (!) but slowly, they started accepting food from my hand.

Then, when they were used to taking food from my hand, I started to stroke them while they were eating - this worked sometimes, but not every time, they still had their skittish moments (at one point, I did wonder if I had electric fingers, cos they'd shoot off like they'd been shocked whenever I touched them!)

I don't actually pick them up.....I was never comfortable with chasing them round the cage.......so I pop a piece of lettuce in a pigloo and they gallop straight in there to get the lettuce.....I pick up the pigloo, piggie and all, and take it out of the cage. This works so well.....the piggies aren't stressed (which means that I'm not stressed), they seem to have learned that pigloo = play time and they are more than happy with the arrangement! Occasionally, I manage to 'catch' both piggies at the same time.....bonus!

We got into our routine of floor time while the cage is being cleaned out, and of course, they associate me with food and nice things, so they're more than happy to clamber all over me (looking for food, admittedly, but hey ho!), although they still have their "look but don't touch" moments where they don't want to be cuddled......we're still working on that.

I don't know if this is correct for piggies, but I used to have horses, and I used a lot of "advance and retreat" techniques in my work with the horses......so I kind of used the same techniques in my interactions with the piggies. "Advance and retreat" tends to work well with prey animals (like horses and piggies) because they expect their predators to attack them.....they see us humans as predators, so when the predator retreats, they eventually learn that you're not a predator and they start to trust you.

Say if you wanted to desentitise to touch......you'd move your hand slowly in the direction of the piggie in a non-threatening kind of way (but don't touch at this point)......if you have very skittish piggies, this first stage might only be to rest your hand near to the bars of the cage. You should never get to the stage where they're really scared, each individual case is different and you have to judge how far is far enough to go.

Anyway, at this first stage, the piggie would no doubt run away from your hand, but you should keep your hand at the same distance away from the piggie (if possible) until they calm down, then, when all is settled and the piggie has accepted your hand near to them, you remove your hand. The removing of your hand is almost a kind of 'reward' for the piggies accepting your hand being near to them.

You then repeat that over and over (for days if needed) until they are completely ok with your hand being near to them.....then you move on, very slowly and in small increments, until you get the behaviour you want (i.e. the piggie allowing you to touch/stroke them).

Sorry, I've gone on a bit there, but I loved this kind of work with my horses, it's very rewarding! It's quite a complicated concept to explain (especially when working with horses, you have to get it right, or you run the risk of a hoof to the head!), it's been a while since I studied it (so I'm very rusty), but it just really takes a bit of patience, repetition and lots of time.

Anyway, it seems to be working with my boys! Tracey
 
Hi Wiebke, they really are cheeky.....Squeak was almost climbing up my trouser leg last night! Instead of sitting on the floor with them, I was sat on the settee (eating my dinner, we'd had a mad-rush of an evening and that was the first chance we'd had to eat!)......Squeak was most curious as to what I was doing up there and why I wasn't down on the floor as usual......so he starting climbing!

He's such a character, bless him!
 
Thanks so much Tracey for all that advice. I will start work on that Tomorrow! Can I just ask if the pigloo you use is a different one to their bed? Don't know if this makes a difference but didn't wnt to risk any psychological distress by removing them in their bed if that could be issue? Sounds a brilliant idea! Spent ages this afternoon trying to catch them which was stressful for piggies and me! :... Thanks, Claire x
 
Hi CPHill, I hope all my ramblings and wafflings will help a little! @)

Yes, I keep a pigloo just for 'catching'. I figured that leaving the 'catching' pigloo in the cage with them all the time might confuse things a bit! It seems to be working for us so far.

Don't forget to let us know how you get on with your piggies.....and I used to find the whole 'chasing-and-catching' thing really stressful as well, so I sympathise completely.

Tracey x
 
Awww me too, i wish i had been introduced to the wonderful world of guinea pigs long ago!
Strangely enough i have been using this technique recently, my boys were a year old when we got them (6 months ago)and we got them from a rescue centre so they are taking a long time to trust us. Recently we changed our technique. I put my hand in slowly, let them sniff then tickle their heads for a bit then leave. This is really working. I think before we were being to OTT and just scaring them. Now they will come out and run about, one tolerates being cuddled and kissed (and being tret like a baby!) the other is still very shy but we are seeing great improvement since we started the softly approach. I can pick Ted up now with my hands, i can tell when he is happy for me to do this and dont push it if he seems jumpy. But for Dougal we use the pigloo because he gets very frightened. I love their personalities and how some days they are grumpy and others very playful, like humans! They love floor time and play so happily whilst we watch TV. I just adore them!:<>
 
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