Is It Possible To Tame Pet Store Guinea Pigs?

Leah123

Leah123

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I was wondering, Is it possible to tame pet store guinea pigs? Some people said they could never tame theirs.
 
Of course you can.
Just like guinea pigs from anywhere else, with patience and kind and respectful handling it is possible to tame any guinea pig.
This doesn't mean that every guinea pig will love being handled and enjoy cuddles, but it depends on your definition of tame really.

My own personal definition of tame is to have a guinea pig that will slowly come forward and take a treat directly form my hand while still in their cage.
That's it.
 
Yes, as much as any other pig (individual personality will dictate how tame and what they are willing to allow.) Why wouldn't it be?
 
Thanks everyone! Also, are rescue guinea pigs more tame then pet store guinea pigs?
 
Couldn't agree more, I think those of us whose had piggies for a number of years you understand that it depends on how they have been treated and age etc., but with enough work absolutely you can tame a piggy.

i have Mowgli who a couple of member know of and he had a very unpleasant background and he was struggling to bond with any pigs until he met my two ladies and now he has a harem. He still needs sorting out now and again but he's pretty good all in all.

I trained a couple of piggies who specifically ran into their piggy carriers when I sang piggy train to them. It made getting them out of their run into their hutch so much easier.
 
My 2 older pigs were basically used as baby making machines. Very little human contact, just there to make babies and money. They are now the most loving and tame pigs ever. They feed from my hand. They come to the cage bars when they see me and when I call them and they have even started to allow me to pick them up without running off, as long as I let them sniff my hand first.
 
sorry Leah, but all your past threads showed a great apprehension about piggies personalities, if they can be tamed, potty trained, wild, shy or not shy... boring or interesting...
It is like having a child... will she be blond with blue eyes as all my husband's side? I also am pale and have light eyes, but my daughter is dark, mediterranean skin and brown eyes. But she is beautiful as well... she had been quite "wild" since the beginning, no hugs, no lap time, nothing. And she was not abandoned nor lived alone...
Talking of piggies it is just the same: your piggie may be tamed or not, boring or not, he might nibble all the cables, the chairs and the wallpaper (as my tamed Ugo used to do) or maybe he will not destroy your home, you will be able to leave him free around your wooden furniture for hours even when you are out; and maybe he will never purr at you...
I want to say: there is no hope to know in advance anything; you may have this possibility ONLY if you go to a serious rescue and adopt an adult piggie. There you can ask the owner of the shelter for a piggie with a certain colour, breed, personality, age.
Anyway, be sure about one thing: you will fall in love with your piggie, no matter how his personality will be.:)
 
Yes, pet store pigs can be tamed (I have had several, in my area rescue isn't really an option unless I was starting all over again and wanted to acquire a new bonded pair.) It takes time and patience. Taming rescued pigs is also possible and also takes time and patience. Pigs have different personalities, some are more outgoing with people and some are more reserved. There is no way to know for sure what personality your pigs will have, but go in realizing that pigs from anywhere will be nervous at first and you will need to invest time early on to get them to warm up to you. This is true for any guinea pig.
 
I have 2 adopted boars who I got as babies, and I also had a boar who I took home for free from a pet store because he was too old and sick to sell. The pet store boar blossomed into, by far, the friendliest of the three because that was just his personality! My other boys are tame in that they eat from my hand and like to be pet when on my lap, but the pet store boar would come up to me every time I walked by for pets and never ever shied away from my hand which is very unusual. It had nothing to do with the fact that he grew up in a pet store, it was just that he had a brave and friendly disposition, just as one of my others is naturally timid despite having known nothing but kindness.

I do want to say that adopting is always the kinder option, though. :)
 
Also, I forgot to add that my pet store guinea pig died the other day at only 1 year old after a battle with heart disease that was caused by poor nutrition at Petsmart. My adopted boys are healthy and thriving, because their rescue had them vet checked and took good care of them. I worked at Petsmart for a while and literally had to quit because of how poorly the animals are cared for, and I've heard Petco is even worse
 
NatalieGee said:
Also, I forgot to add that my pet store guinea pig died the other day at only 1 year old after a battle with heart disease that was caused by poor nutrition at Petsmart. My adopted boys are healthy and thriving, because their rescue had them vet checked and took good care of them. I worked at Petsmart for a while and literally had to quit because of how poorly the animals are cared for, and I've heard Petco is even worse
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So sorry for the loss of your piggy @NatalieGee
 
Reenie said:
You don't need to train them to do that, they're born with that ability. Problem with mine is that when I send them for the Express they buy The Times because they prefer the crossword.
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At least yours return with a paper, mine come home looking all pleased with themselves with a scrap of ripped newspaper and a packet of sweets that they thought they would spend my change on... then they refuse to share...
 
gizzy said:
Yes l would imagine so, there are lots of realy well trained guinea pigs on you tube l saw one that was feching articles and placing them in a small bucket
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Do you think they could be trained to do that with their poop? Then I'd just need to lift out the bucket rather than getting covered in hay kneeling the cage to sweep it up every day!
 
As for the original query of can you tame [pet store] guinea pigs. I am of the view that a guinea pig is a guinea pig - many rescues will have been pet store bought. My 2 original pigs were skittish rescues. It's a simple input in input out calculation - you leave them in a hutch and see them once a day then nope you can't tame them. you interact with them give them a lot of attention then you *may* get a tame piggy, but the level of tameness will be dependant on their personality, so one of mine used to flop out was happy to be inspected, popped on his butt for a belly inspection - anything so long as he had us - but would run away when being caught in his cage (from the floor he could climb on us to be caught), the other you can pick up no problem - he will come to you, he is adorable, he loves cuddles but don't try to inspect him or cut his nails he really doesn't like that. They are animals which get eaten, so will be on guard, so tameness is relative.
 
Mine are from a rescue. Their original owners got them from a pet shop. They are wonderful at using litter trays and are training me very successfully
 
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