my pigs are scared all the time

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korramatta

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Hi,
We have to guinea pigs (Rudolf and Albin). almost a year old now. Our problem is specially with Albin, he is scared of everything, even small noises. He only comes out when he is really hungry and almost never let us pick him up and try to run away soon he see us. On the otherhand Rudolf is quite friendly but, he try to follow Albin and hide with him. In the evenings, when we shake the chocolate box, they both recognise the sound and come to us, first Rudolf and followed by Albin and as soon as they get like 2/3 chocolates, Albin runs away again and followed by Rudolf. I dont know what we are doing wrong. Are we putting too much stress on them in anyway...? I dont know?
Any advise to make our Guinea pigs friendly and not scared of us, would be appreciated.
We have had pigs/hamsters before, so we have some experiance in handling/caring them.
Many thanks.
Here is our pigs.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH5pvolb-sw
Dark one is Rudolf, white one is Albin.
 
I might get told am handing out the wrong advice here but this is just my opinion.....
I took away my houses from my guinea pigs to hide in and they live in my livingroom. It means they can't always run and hide and i have only have my girls 2 weeks and already they are really friendly. I do give them lots of hay to hide in and when they out in the run they have bridges they can hide under then.
It takes time so dont worry they will come round. xx
 
Thanks for that. But They dont hide in the house/cage, moslty behind the curtains, under the table..etc, to just run away from Us. I sometimes run after them to hold ( although I think this is what the wrong thing i am doing)!
 
Try sitting on the floor with loads of veg on your lap and let them come to you, x
 
Yes, they come to us then but if they notice that we are about to hold them then run away again.
 
you might just be stuck with very scared piggies. Some are like that. x
 
if you need to catch the piggies then you could try putting a pet carrier on the floor and filling it with treats, they will head in and eat and you can shut the door and pick them up from there?

or... sounds harsh... but a suggestion i read in a book recently was that you could use some form of trap that pest controllers use for squirrels (not the ones that kill them obviously!) - they go in and it shuts behind them - so long as you have water and food in there and plenty of hay they will be fine O0 - but it is a sure way to catch them especially if you are not in the room and they are running lose... maybe worth a try and constructing something that they can get into but cannot get out of easily

or try to (gently) get a towel over them so that they become slightly disorientated 0:) (like you woudl do if they were fighting to stop the situation getting out of hand) ... a few of mine are shy... as sarsmccabe says - you maybe stuck with scared piggies!

when you do manage to capture them then make sure you give them many cuddles :D and reassurance and they may gradually get less scared and more used to being cuddled! keep us updated! :smitten:
 
Hiya
I know exactly where you are coming from as Gizmo and Tilly have been with us since february and they are scared of pretty much everything. You can see them listening to the very slightest sound in the distance and reacting by hiding to it.
They do eat out of our hand and even crawl on us but as soon as a hand comes near them they run....they just hate it!
I have come to conclusion that trying to catch them stresses them out so much and without hands they seem so happy. I may try handling them with socks over my hands, as they don't seem to mind feet!
I think you just get very scared piggies some times and maybe over time they will get better...but i'm not very hopeful :(
They're still mega cute though and provide us with so much entertainment :smitten: ;D
 
you feed them chocolates did i read that right? Unless i'm going mad please dont, veggies are best :D

Catching in boxes i'm finding far easier than trying to catch actual pig by hand easier to just turn box sideways so pig cant get out then scoop piggy out from there.
Si
 
Hei velkommen! Er dere svenske? Jeg har bodd i Norge for 7 ar, og sonnen min vaere fodt i Alta langst nord.
 
I hope you don't mean human chocolates - these will kill your pigs. Don't feed them these.

Guineas are instinctly nervous creatures. They may never be easy to catch, but usually when they get older they slow up a lot and are easier.
 
Thanks for all replies,
No ..i am not feeding them human chocolates,but pet sweets not too often, once twice a week.
We feed them with fresh veggies everyday. They seem to be happy playing themselves and always doing everything together. their cage is always open so that they can run in and out as they please.
So we are trying everything to make them friendly.
, thanks for your advise, we hope they get better.
, we live in stockholm, my partner is Svensk.
Cheers
 
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