Hello,
My piggy and I are new to this forum.
I have a female guinea pig for 2 months already. I was told it was 5month old when I received it so it should be around 7months old.
I have been very pleased the first month, but started to be puzzled then.
I have two problems with her, and I think I'm very bad at reading her signs. When I caress her on some rare occasions, I'm always wondering if she has the best time of her life or if she's terrified to be eaten and begging me to end it for good!
Concern 1: Afraid of my hands
First of all, it was fine picking her up when i received it for about 1 week, then during the first month she quickly showed signs of fear to my hands only and she then became impossible to catch, runing away when she felt about to be trapped.
I made a small portable cage with a door to carry her. It was ok then difficult to make her get in.
I finally gave up and only make her walk by herself on the same floor, where she'll happily follow me.
On the other hand, she's quite friendly with my feed and she'll follow me all the time, when I lie down, she'll interact a lot with my face, jump on me to sniff around, etc. We spend every day some time playing (she likes to follow me and sprint when I move around her boxes), we have some relax hug times almost every days. Other than that I let her walk around while sitting on the carpet next to her.
I'll only have a chance to touch her with my hands when I first touch her with my head. She'll eventually suddenly back off if I approach her too early or if she realizes she has been tricked.
And once she's being caressed, she may lie down and roll half way, having convulsions as if enjoying (she does a lot of popcorn jumps while walking around), then run away after few seconds, as if annoyed. (Can she have unwanted convulsions and not really enjoy after all?)
Concern 2: Peeing voluntarily on me
About 1 months ago, she started to change behavior, started to push me with her shoulders, constantly move her boxes around wile entering and leaving, rubbing her but frequently to leave her smell, etc. I believe from what I have read that this is normal, it's just the beginning of the happy piggy teenage time. So, I can deal with it.
However, a bit after, she started to constantly poop and pee on my when I was caring her. Earlier, she was having some accident pees and regularly happy poop jumps but it was reasonable. But now it’s as if she was considering me as her toilets.
When I lie down on the carpet, she usually come to see my face or run around like crazy. But now she even comes on me, poop and/or pee, and leave immediately after.
As an example, today, she litteraly struggled to jump into my clothes from my neck when i was lying on the stomach, entered, made some happy rolling in the tinny space, turned back, pooped and peed. She did exactly the same 2 or 3 days ago.
And this is my problem. I'm ok with behavior changes and accidents (I believe she hasn't been tought to be clean).
But I don't know if this is a provocation or territorial challenges (I can also play this game, she'll probably loose if I can catch her!...), a sign of distress, or if she is confused and honestly considers my clothes as the good place to litter.
And I'm left clueless on how to react. I read that punishing a guinea pig is not recommended as they may not understand. However, I don't know how to reward her if she never goes to the toilets. I collect all the poops from her house and the floor to put it back on her toilet corner, but I have seen her going only once or twice when she's nearby.
Important precisions:
I do have only one piggy. It seemed impossible to buy some where we leave (Mexico), so we just accepted the one we received without more information about its origin. So i understand that this could be a reason.
My wife has been absent the last month so she has been alone all week days, and the problem 2 started at around this time.
Thank you for reading, hope one of you will help me interpret all this and give me some advices.
My piggy and I are new to this forum.
I have a female guinea pig for 2 months already. I was told it was 5month old when I received it so it should be around 7months old.
I have been very pleased the first month, but started to be puzzled then.
I have two problems with her, and I think I'm very bad at reading her signs. When I caress her on some rare occasions, I'm always wondering if she has the best time of her life or if she's terrified to be eaten and begging me to end it for good!
Concern 1: Afraid of my hands
First of all, it was fine picking her up when i received it for about 1 week, then during the first month she quickly showed signs of fear to my hands only and she then became impossible to catch, runing away when she felt about to be trapped.
I made a small portable cage with a door to carry her. It was ok then difficult to make her get in.
I finally gave up and only make her walk by herself on the same floor, where she'll happily follow me.
On the other hand, she's quite friendly with my feed and she'll follow me all the time, when I lie down, she'll interact a lot with my face, jump on me to sniff around, etc. We spend every day some time playing (she likes to follow me and sprint when I move around her boxes), we have some relax hug times almost every days. Other than that I let her walk around while sitting on the carpet next to her.
I'll only have a chance to touch her with my hands when I first touch her with my head. She'll eventually suddenly back off if I approach her too early or if she realizes she has been tricked.
And once she's being caressed, she may lie down and roll half way, having convulsions as if enjoying (she does a lot of popcorn jumps while walking around), then run away after few seconds, as if annoyed. (Can she have unwanted convulsions and not really enjoy after all?)
Concern 2: Peeing voluntarily on me
About 1 months ago, she started to change behavior, started to push me with her shoulders, constantly move her boxes around wile entering and leaving, rubbing her but frequently to leave her smell, etc. I believe from what I have read that this is normal, it's just the beginning of the happy piggy teenage time. So, I can deal with it.
However, a bit after, she started to constantly poop and pee on my when I was caring her. Earlier, she was having some accident pees and regularly happy poop jumps but it was reasonable. But now it’s as if she was considering me as her toilets.
When I lie down on the carpet, she usually come to see my face or run around like crazy. But now she even comes on me, poop and/or pee, and leave immediately after.
As an example, today, she litteraly struggled to jump into my clothes from my neck when i was lying on the stomach, entered, made some happy rolling in the tinny space, turned back, pooped and peed. She did exactly the same 2 or 3 days ago.
And this is my problem. I'm ok with behavior changes and accidents (I believe she hasn't been tought to be clean).
But I don't know if this is a provocation or territorial challenges (I can also play this game, she'll probably loose if I can catch her!...), a sign of distress, or if she is confused and honestly considers my clothes as the good place to litter.
And I'm left clueless on how to react. I read that punishing a guinea pig is not recommended as they may not understand. However, I don't know how to reward her if she never goes to the toilets. I collect all the poops from her house and the floor to put it back on her toilet corner, but I have seen her going only once or twice when she's nearby.
Important precisions:
I do have only one piggy. It seemed impossible to buy some where we leave (Mexico), so we just accepted the one we received without more information about its origin. So i understand that this could be a reason.
My wife has been absent the last month so she has been alone all week days, and the problem 2 started at around this time.
Thank you for reading, hope one of you will help me interpret all this and give me some advices.