Lap Time Tips

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Fritha

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Hello,

First post here but I've been a lurker for a little while! We've had our (adult, rescue) guinea pigs for three weeks now. One is quite calm and friendly and enjoys lap time, she'll sit and have a stroke a brush and lie down, we've been slowly working up to it and it goes quite well!

The other is clearly not a fan, she's more shy in general, she will eat food we give to her and will do so if she's sat in a house (usually fabric pigwam!) next to us on the sofa, but if we try to just put her on a lap she legs it. I suspect she needs to be able to hide and can't relax without hiding. Obviously we'll keep a house out for her for laptime as we want her to be happy but I wondered if there were any tips you had to help her feel more settled!
 
Sounds like you're doing everything right, it can just take some pigs longer than others. Giving her some herbs or a treat while you're holding her and maybe use a fleece to put around/over her so she doesn't feel as exposed? Some pigs never warm up to lap time though. It took Toast around 6 months to be able to calmly sit on my shoulder, it was a LOT of effort. And Beans still isn't very keen, she's not shy at all she just doesn't like it very much :P
 
Fritha said:
Hello,

First post here but I've been a lurker for a little while! We've had our (adult, rescue) guinea pigs for three weeks now. One is quite calm and friendly and enjoys lap time, she'll sit and have a stroke a brush and lie down, we've been slowly working up to it and it goes quite well!

The other is clearly not a fan, she's more shy in general, she will eat food we give to her and will do so if she's sat in a house (usually fabric pigwam!) next to us on the sofa, but if we try to just put her on a lap she legs it. I suspect she needs to be able to hide and can't relax without hiding. Obviously we'll keep a house out for her for laptime as we want her to be happy but I wondered if there were any tips you had to help her feel more settled!
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Hi and welcome!

You may find the tips in these links here helpful. Many young piggies are not good at sitting still anyway.
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig
How To Understand Guinea Pig Instincts And Speak Piggy Body Language
 
Thank you, my gut instinct was just that she needed to feel exposed, we're already giving her cucumber (they do love cucumber!). The rescue fosterers picked this pair for us as they said they were friendly and enjoyed a cuddle, so I'm sure she'll get there with time and patience, luckily one of the pigs has taken to it well so it's easier to keep the seven year old patient (And make me worry less that we're rubbish guinea pig owners!)
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome!

You may find the tips in these links here helpful. Many young piggies are not good at sitting still anyway.
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig
How To Understand Guinea Pig Instincts And Speak Piggy Body Language
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Thank you, she was estmated at age 2-3 so she's not very young is she? I've seen the picking up thread and it we used it a lot, it's made it much easier to move them about by using a house! I'll reread the second thread though, I did read when we first got them (my daughter loved pretending to groom at them!) we make sure everything is quiet and my dd is not a particularly loud child most of the time so that should be ok as well. We do regularly remind her she needs to be calm and quiet around the pigs though.
 
Fritha said:
Thank you, she was estmated at age 2-3 so she's not very young is she? I've seen the picking up thread and it we used it a lot, it's made it much easier to move them about by using a house! I'll reread the second thread though, I did read when we first got them (my daughter loved pretending to groom at them!) we make sure everything is quiet and my dd is not a particularly loud child most of the time so that should be ok as well. We do regularly remind her she needs to be calm and quiet around the pigs though.
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It also has got lap time tips at the end. Sometime, the best way to bond is with a piggy in between blankets or under your pullover, even if you risk being "christened"! The warmth of your skin and the darkness will help to relax them.
There is a difference between submission and building up trust. A guinea pig also has a fine sense as to how much they can get away with, especially when you are inexperienced.
 
I picked up a couple of cheap fleece throws the other day at Primark and I was stunned at how relaxed both of our new pigs became once they were sat on them. They're about 3 months old and we've only had them for a week and a bit so they're still getting used to us.
Poppy on the right is super chilled anyway but Penny usually sits completely still and wouldn't even take food from us.
I don't know if it's the softness or the warmth of the fleece but it seemed to help relax them.
IMG_20160823_183029.webp
 
I've had worries about this as well. I've read the guides but haven't tried it out yet.
Both of mine don't like getting picked up so I'm anxious about having them on my lap, in a box/cozy or not.
I think/worry that they can sense my anxiety as well!

I'd thought about sitting in their 'floor time' space and building up that way, so at least if they do run away first time it's into a closed off space and not off the side of the couch! :D
 
I think with them being prey animals they'll unlikely to ever like being picked up. Ours run away from us whenever we try so we either have to grab them quickly or use their tunnel. But once they're on our laps, or on the floor, then they soon settle. Especially if there's some juicy pepper nearby!

I've heard that rituals are a good idea too. So we tend to follow the same pattern of putting them out in the run after work with some fresh veg or on the fresh grass, then when they've had a good run around we'll take them indoor for some lap time where they get another treat like a bit of pepper. So they're hopefully always associating those times with good things like treats!
 
Goodness Liz! That picture is adorable! I shall look at popping some fleece over the towel to see if it encourages her! Thank you! We also try to stick to the same thing at the same time, I had read that pigs are creatures of habit, so are we so that helps!

Also apologies for taking forever to reply, I typed it out but didn't send and just discovered that now!
 
Haha no worries! I discovered the other day that they're a lot more restless when they haven't had a chance to run around as well.

Also watch out for 'accidents' once they start relaxing more lol
 
RavenRed said:
I've had worries about this as well. I've read the guides but haven't tried it out yet.
Both of mine don't like getting picked up so I'm anxious about having them on my lap, in a box/cozy or not.
I think/worry that they can sense my anxiety as well!

I'd thought about sitting in their 'floor time' space and building up that way, so at least if they do run away first time it's into a closed off space and not off the side of the couch! :D
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I'm also terrified of mine running off during lap time so I sit in the (empty) bath with them in a snuggle sack on my lap and try to coax them out onto me. I feel far more relaxed than when I'm in the living room because I know they can't disappear or have a bad fall if they try to run off me.
 
We have been lucky with our boys. We started handling them and having lap time on the day we got them. They both enjoy it, Munch isn't too adventurous and likes snuggling under my hair at the back of my neck and Nibbles likes a snuggle but prefers to be off exploring!
 
Liz E said:
I picked up a couple of cheap fleece throws the other day at Primark and I was stunned at how relaxed both of our new pigs became once they were sat on them. They're about 3 months old and we've only had them for a week and a bit so they're still getting used to us.
Poppy on the right is super chilled anyway but Penny usually sits completely still and wouldn't even take food from us.
I don't know if it's the softness or the warmth of the fleece but it seemed to help relax them.
View attachment 51364[/QUOTE
Adorable piggys
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I brought Munch and Nibbles inside for their breakfast this morning and some floor time. Tried to video them but it didn't work very well. Thought I would post it anyway to introduce my gorgeous boys but I can't get it to work :-(
 
Hiya! My pigs are often very shaky when it comes to lap time so I id a bit of reaserch and found that gently stroking them behind the ears helps. It works like magic on my pigs and really helps to calm them down and stop wanting the other pig so much. Hope this helps!
 
Heather2306 said:
I brought Munch and Nibbles inside for their breakfast this morning and some floor time. Tried to video them but it didn't work very well. Thought I would post it anyway to introduce my gorgeous boys but I can't get it to work :-(
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We do not have a video upload on this forum (too expensive, as we are running on member donations). You can link any video that you have uploaded on a public setting elsewhere.
 
Liz E said:
They're about 3 months old and we've only had them for a week and a bit so they're still getting used to us.
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Looks like they're settling in very nicely, they look adorable! :luv:
 
3Tyger said:
Looks like they're settling in very nicely, they look adorable! :luv:
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They really are! Had them a few months now and they've really settled in. Poppy had an infection sadly but after a few weeks of antibiotics she seems to be much better.

Still hard to catch but very chilled once they're on our lap. Penny loves to lick/nibble our hands as well.

We picked up a foldable fabric puppy pen which we cover with puppy pads, newspaper and fleece so they have somewhere to run around inside now it's a bit colder each day too. They are very pampered!
 
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