Need Some More Help With Guinea Pigs.

[Matt Pantaliano]

I posted Monday about having guinea pigs for the second day and was concerned. I have more questions and concerns, Tess, the bigger of the two (forgot to mention it has been a week with them) refuses to eat food from my hand, be picked up, or anything. Pixel eats lettuce and carrots from my hand, is fine with being picked up but from time to time gets a bit skittish, and both are starting to come out to eat and drink. I think Pixel is adjusting but Tess doesn't seem to be, what is wrong?

 

[Julie M]

I don't think there is anything wrong. Each guinea pig is an individual, some take longer to trust us than others. As long as Tess is eating and drinking on her Own she is fine. It will just take time.

 

[piggyfan]

It is still very early days. One week is not enough time for them to get to know and trust you. Please do not worry, Matt. Pixel is very brave to be taking food from you so soon. With patience and time both girls will feel more comfortable. There is no rush.

 

[katanamoon]

I have a Pixel too! She was the first of my girls to eat from my hand when I first brought them home, but this took a good few weeks as Pixel and her sister Widget had never been handled in the entire four months of their lives at that point and they couldn't bear to leave their little pigloos while my husband or I were in the room.

Even now, nearly 7 months on, Widget is still quite jumpy and shy. Stick with it and stay patient; some piggies are just a bit more nervous than others I'm sure once your Pixel becomes more confident over time, Tess will start to shadow her and get a little braver. Good luck!

 

[Wiebke]

Very early time yet - guinea pigs are prey animals, they are not born as cuddly pets. Trust is a tender plant that needs to grow slowly to take root...

 

[Melanie07]

Guinea pigs are naturally timid so, as others have said, it may take a while depending on how confident they are. Even my more confident pigs are a little wary of me sometimes. The most skittish one has only just started taking food from me and she's been with us for some months

 

[adelhide]

whn i got turtle she was eating stuff from my hand and wanting to be picked up within hours. wicca however took months to accept being picked up, and will only eat from our hands if she is being scritched the right wa.

 

[KittyandNancy]

Yep I agree with what everyone else says. But I would try to hold her if you can. Get her to go into a tunnel or scoop her up in a snuggle sack. I think the fact that we held ours pigs a lot helped them trust us faster. But they're all different and quirky in their own special ways.

Maybe I'm wrong for saying that. But all three of ours took food from our hands on day one. Maybe we just have weird pigs lol. I don't think they had been handled all that much before we got them either. But we started holding them 3-4 times a day on day two for short periods one at a time letting them hide in a blanket while we gently petted them.

Last night Nessy our youngest pig laid on my chest sometimes on her side for two hours while I watched a Movie lol. She dozed on and off with her eyes shut, didn't squirm to go back and didn't potty on me either. Maybe she was into the movie as well .

But none of our others pigs will sit on us that long or fall asleep with their eyes shut.