Vicky4573
New Born Pup
Hi everyone,
I got two new boar guinea pigs two weeks ago from pets at home they are roughly 10 weeks old. I was told to leave them and let them settle for four days without handling which I did. I just spoke softly and give them their veggies twice a day, fresh hay and pellets.
A week later I followed the advice for taming and I spent time talking to them and hand feeding them, leaving my hand in the cage for a bit. They are happy for me to hand feed them but the moment I try to stroke them they run away and into their hidey houses. They squeak when their veggies are on the way and come up to the bars on the cage and sniff me when I talk so they seem to be getting more comfortable.
When I have tried to pick them up they run away and then chatter their teeth so I back off when they do this. A friend of mine came round to help and ending up chasing them round for 10 minutes as they run so quickly before we managed to get hold of him and they calmed down once held but they were really scared. But I dont know whether I should keep doing this to get them used to me or if it make things worse.
I got the indoor rabbit/guinea pig feraplast casita 120 cage with a stand which pets at home said would be suitable for two guinea pigs but after doing some reading I have realized this was probably not the best cage to get.
So I have an indoor play pen which I let them run around in almost every day for about an hour but to get in there as I cant pick them up I put some veggies in a pet carrier and then when they run in there I put it into the playpen and same to get them back in the cage.
In the playpen I sometimes go in at their level and they sniff me etc but as soon as I try to get near them they chatter their teeth loudly and run. So do I need to keep trying and be more patient? Does the teeth chatter mean they are scared or just upset. I understand all guinea pigs are different and they may just not like to be held but I just wondered if I should continue to try tame them or if they will get stressed out. I know its only been two weeks so I'm not sure if this is normal or not.
Any advice or help will be greatly appreciated.
I got two new boar guinea pigs two weeks ago from pets at home they are roughly 10 weeks old. I was told to leave them and let them settle for four days without handling which I did. I just spoke softly and give them their veggies twice a day, fresh hay and pellets.
A week later I followed the advice for taming and I spent time talking to them and hand feeding them, leaving my hand in the cage for a bit. They are happy for me to hand feed them but the moment I try to stroke them they run away and into their hidey houses. They squeak when their veggies are on the way and come up to the bars on the cage and sniff me when I talk so they seem to be getting more comfortable.
When I have tried to pick them up they run away and then chatter their teeth so I back off when they do this. A friend of mine came round to help and ending up chasing them round for 10 minutes as they run so quickly before we managed to get hold of him and they calmed down once held but they were really scared. But I dont know whether I should keep doing this to get them used to me or if it make things worse.
I got the indoor rabbit/guinea pig feraplast casita 120 cage with a stand which pets at home said would be suitable for two guinea pigs but after doing some reading I have realized this was probably not the best cage to get.
So I have an indoor play pen which I let them run around in almost every day for about an hour but to get in there as I cant pick them up I put some veggies in a pet carrier and then when they run in there I put it into the playpen and same to get them back in the cage.
In the playpen I sometimes go in at their level and they sniff me etc but as soon as I try to get near them they chatter their teeth loudly and run. So do I need to keep trying and be more patient? Does the teeth chatter mean they are scared or just upset. I understand all guinea pigs are different and they may just not like to be held but I just wondered if I should continue to try tame them or if they will get stressed out. I know its only been two weeks so I'm not sure if this is normal or not.
Any advice or help will be greatly appreciated.