Not Enjoying My Piggies

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Nic bee

Nic bee

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Hi, at risk of being judged I need to explain my problems with my piggies and hope there's some good advice out there!
I got my piggies 7mths ago from a rescue, I bought a 120 indoor cage, with a loft, made a haybag & fleeces and bought them a huge run which they go out in from 9am- 3pm. Theyre in ky living room so they get to see us all the time. At 1st they were scared then they relaxed & used to enjoy long cuddles on my knee.
For the past month the time they want to be petted has got shorter and shorter. Now within 1 minute they start biting my clothes to be put down, the smell bothers me, I clean them out every other day have just moved on to shavings for better smell. They're always fighting (nothing physical yet!). I'm really not getting anything from them except stress.
We're having building work done and when it's finished I'm planning to put them in their own room in a large c&c cage but they're not going to get the love most ppl give there piggies.
I'm sorry I got them. I'll still get them out for a handle every day and make sure they have everything they need but would they be better with someone else? ?
Huge post sorry! Ps they are 8mths and 11mths
 
Please don't feel you will be judged. We are here to help.
Are your piggies boys?I'm assuming they are but apologies if I'm wrong. If so they are at a very hormonal stage in their development. This is the age when many young boars start to test each other. Are most of the issues when they are in their cage? If so it may be that they need more space. Do you have 2 of everything in the cage as this can help reduce stress between them. They are sorting their dominance and this can be difficult with young boars.
At lap time do you have them out together or individually? This can make a difference to how long they are prepared to be petted.
There are many experienced keepers of boars on the forum and hopefully one will come along to offer advice. I will tag @MerryPip for you.
Please don't give up on them, they are at the stroppy hormonal teenage stage and need your help and love to work through their issues.
 
There's no shame and no judgement in stating that keeping any particular pet is no what you thought it would be.
As mentioned by @VickieA they are at the stroppy 'teenage' years where they will have minor spats, often frequently. They tend to grow out of this but it does take several months. Older piggies tend to settle down more readily on the lap. Fidgeting and nibbling can be a sign that they need the toilet and are not wanting to actually wee on you, but many piggies of this age are fidgety anyhow.
Sometimes it can be more rewarding at this stage to let them have the run of the settee and come and go to you for little veggie treats. Sometimes you get pigs that never want to settle at lap time, some don't even ant to be touched at all (I had one that would sit on my slippers and come up to me for nose-sniffs, she would even climb onto my lap when I sat with her, but NEVER wanted me to touch her.
When I was a little girl I experienced the delight of a snuggly piggy at the neighbour of my Aunt's house. From that day on I decided that one day I would have guinea pigs of my own. For some years I assumed all of them enjoyed chilling out and being stroked, but this is just not the case.

However it IS a great sign that your babies once sat for longer on your knee, it is entirely possible that when they are older they will do so again, and for longer.

Are guinea pigs for you? Should you rehome them? Well you are willing to give them the best that you can, and still interact with them. I suggest riding out the teenage storm (they're probably not as stressed out as you are watching it happen), the large cage you are planning will probably give a whole new dimension to it all, one that they and perhaps you will enjoy more than you think? With a bit of faith and carrying on with what you are doing, by the end of the year keeping them may become more in line with what you had hoped it to be. However, if you really don't take to them and grow to enjoy the experience then there is no guilt in rehoming them to someone you are certain will care for them to the same standards as you have.

Just please beware though that there are many guinea pigs in rescues, and many who languish in homes with just the basic of care, so please if you wish to rehome them I do urge you to take care on that matter. That's not intended as a guilt-trip to make you stick with them, but it's just something to be aware of.

Please do stick around. Please enjoy looking at our C&C cage pages, you may be inspired and enjoy planning some of the enrichment that people have tried with theirs. These things really can create a whole new and enjoyable dimension into keeping them.x
 
Thank you. I probably need to be told not to give up on them, I'm just feeling bad that I'm not loving having them like I have my other pets!
Yes they are boys and yes normally arguing in cage. I don't have 2 food bowls becase that'd mean less room to run.
I get them out separately mainly or sometimes I have one & my husband has the other. Occasionally I cuddle them together but they end up with my youngest trying to burrow under my biggest which never ends well . I can't understand why they've gone off cuddles.
I'll get them in the bigger c&c cage as soon as my spare room is built! Next month hopefully.
 
Thank you critter that's really useful and kind of you to say. Ive already bought the grids so I'll build that up asap and hope that a bit of time will mellow them a bit!
I do try and give them floor time/sofa ime but they seem to wee everywhere!
Thanks again Vicki and Critter x
 
One of piggies, Sunrise, followed the same pattern as yours. I got her as a baby to go with an adult that was rehomed to me. Sunrise would enjoy cuddles at the start. She would be stroked and if we stopped she would act disappointed. As she grew she wanted to explore more, she even had a game that she would play on the settee of pushing a hidie-house off the settee and waiting for us to put it back. She grew to enjoy being on the lap less and less, and to explore the settee more and more, but she would still enjoy our interaction. By the age of two she started to settle down again and appreciate her cuddles more. She would more often (but not every time) stretch herself out and want a fuss.
As I've had piggies from various different ages and stages with different personalities I cannot tell you if this is true of most, but what I can say is that it's commonly observed that the older they get, the longer they enjoy their cuddles :) x
 
Weeing is an issue. I have waterproof lap pads that I spread out on the settee. They can't help it as they cannot hold their bladders for long.
I had one though, Shadow, and she was so polite that I'm sure she thought that the lap-pad was part of me, and when she needed a wee she would hang her bottom over the side to do it, so as not to wee on me! :) It defeated the object of having a lap pad, which is why I now spread them about :) x
 
Oh and floor time I do a similar thing, I have a large piece of vinyl covered over with a fleece blanket to save my carpet from being wee'd on :) Hope that helps x
 
I'd imagine the single food bowl being a source of tension for them. What I do is put pellets and veg split into two bowls a fair distance apart in the cage, so they have space to eat ther veggies without needing to fight for them, then when they are all gone tip the pellets into one bowl and leave it in until empty somewhere out of the way.
Perhaps you could try this and give their pellets in smaller portions so you can just take the bowl out when finished to give them as much space as possible?

It sounds to me that you're doing a great job of trying to provide a good life for them, they are lucky to have you. As others have said it's likely things will become more enjoyable in time, but if not I'm sure you will make any necessary decisions with their best interests in mind. Hang in there!
 
There is absolutely no way you can be judged for feeling like this, you've done nothing wrong and you have done your research and are a very caring owner.
I read the title of this thread and my heart sank, I do feel for you.
I got two baby boars in December 2014, I'd had older rescue boars in the past who were happy to be cuddled, enjoyed lap time and floor time. These two have behaved as if they hate us when being handled and spent floor time hiding waiting to go 'home'. They are now 17 months old and have started to relax a bit, Spike (avatar) in particular has started to accept lap time, especially if a pile of grass is involved. I suspect Peanut is always going to be very timid his character is entirely different to Spike's. When these two were about six months they started to have spats and were not happy, they were in a 120 x 60 cage and we felt they needed more room. We got a 160 x 80 (the biggest we could accommodate) and the transformation in behaviour was instant. As you say there is not much room for two of everything in a 120 but it does help, could you find smaller dishes for nuggets. I use two little china ones I think probably meant for hamsters. I put veg straight down on the fleece in two piles, it's only there for seconds anyway! I found vet bed better smell wise than fleece it seems to lock the smell underneath, I use puppy pads under this, they help with smell too.
I'm with the others who posted above -
older piggies seem to be cuddlier
boars behave better with more space
I think when you have a piggie room with a bigger C & C cage you and they will feel better. Some guinea pigs take a long time to settle and get used to being handled, don't give up on them yet they are very lucky to have you.
My OH keeps telling our two he's going to send them to pet school, they need to learn to be pets and enjoy human interaction :).
 
I think you sound like a great owner, and I think it is totally normal at times to feel like our pets (and kids!) are a lot of work, and feel overwhelmed by this.
You have already had lot of good suggestions, so I really hope you can make a decision that is best for you and your pigs.
 
Hi and welcome!

You may find the tips in this thread here helpful. Your boys are now at the stage where they are trying to be dominant with you, too. You need to establish your own dominance (in piggy body language) but then follow it up with telling them that you love them. This has helped a lot of people. It is not a matter of your boys not loving you, but one of how far can they push you. Once you have made it clear that they have reached the limit with that, their behaviour is going to improve again.
How To Understand Guinea Pig Instincts And Speak Piggy Body Language
 
I'm just glad you felt able to express your feelings and concerns in a forum where we care about piggies and their owners. We are here to help. It's hard to admit when things have been a bit of a disappointment but you can turn things around and start to enjoy your piggies again.
Many of us have had piggies with challenging behaviour - I've used Wiebkes guide to assert my dominance over one piggy I have who was tweaking us regularly. It worked a treat and she's now much more friendly. And boys will be boys. As a mum of teenage lads I see boarish behaviour played out in my home but as long as you can see an end to the troublesome period you can work through it. Please shout if you need any more help or support and please show us pics of the boys in their new c and c when it's built. We love piggy photos on here!
 
Nic bee said:
Thank you for the great advice and your experience everyone I really really appreciate it. X
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Hey, I just thought I'll chip in regarding the comment on smell. We have4x4+2x2 loft c&c cage for our girls, and are going through the difficult stage of dominant piggy trying to establish or rest abolish her dominance. It's extremely hard to watch and I cried many times seeing other one in distress, so I understand your feelings. However, everyone advises it always looks more rough to us to watch, so staying strong ( for now) hoping they'll settle.
You need to ensure they have two of everything indeed.

As for the smell, I think wood shavings keep the smell, rather than neutralise it. We feed ours in the loft where they have the hay racks and that's where they pee /poo the most. Downstairs we have a fleece with puppy pads underneath but will be changing to home made fleece pads with Zorb fabric inside, as one pig decided to burrow underneath the fleece so she can chew on a puppy nappy

I'll recommend Carefresh as bedding other than fleece, as it is fantastic and no smells whatsoever. I know it helps my girls are mainly toilet trained so they use them downstairs most of time, but having carefresh upstairs may work for you when you have a c&c cage and decide to have a loft/kitchen space for them.
Good luck x
 
I completely agree with @oxtinamona . Having fleece or vetbed works best when you have a separate area with disposable bedding (Carefresh is excellent, Fitch is pretty much as good but costs much less, and there are others out there). Fleece can work really well in combination with disposable bedding as an area for their hay. Placing water bottles over this can also be useful if your bottles drip. Wet fleece from wee or even from dripping bottles can soon smell, and is basically just not nice for the piggies either, but if you use a tray with disposable bedding the guinea pigs will normally choose to do most of their wee's in this area. It's then very simple to either scoop out the wet bits or just bin the lot and replace with fresh, and you will find the fleece has far fewer wee's on it. There would still be the matter of scooping poo off it each day, but this generally doesn't take long.

Having the entire cage filled with disposable bedding may mean you end up with them weeing anywhere and everywhere, and you will have more to replace each day, meaning more cost and more time spent on this, and more waste for you bin.

At the end of the day we all have our preferences, but many of us find fleece on it's own to not be very successful, disposable bedding on it's own to be a chore and costly, but a combination of the two often works well. :)
 
Critter said:
I completely agree with @oxtinamona . Having fleece or vetbed works best when you have a separate area with disposable bedding (Carefresh is excellent, Fitch is pretty much as good but costs much less, and there are others out there). Fleece can work really well in combination with disposable bedding as an area for their hay. Placing water bottles over this can also be useful if your bottles drip. Wet fleece from wee or even from dripping bottles can soon smell, and is basically just not nice for the piggies either, but if you use a tray with disposable bedding the guinea pigs will normally choose to do most of their wee's in this area. It's then very simple to either scoop out the wet bits or just bin the lot and replace with fresh, and you will find the fleece has far fewer wee's on it. There would still be the matter of scooping poo off it each day, but this generally doesn't take long.

Having the entire cage filled with disposable bedding may mean you end up with them weeing anywhere and everywhere, and you will have more to replace each day, meaning more cost and more time spent on this, and more waste for you bin.

At the end of the day we all have our preferences, but many of us find fleece on it's own to not be very successful, disposable bedding on it's own to be a chore and costly, but a combination of the two often works well. :)
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I use a large fleece on the cage base and pads dotted around in the main pee areas that way they can be changed if n when. I spot clean twice daily and check pads each time and their beds too and I give a whole cage clean once a week changing everything. I've never encountered any smells and I have 2 male pigs I have a hay loft n rack and a hay tray which is changed daily. I've used megazorb n I hated it cudnt even leave it two days don't know how people say they leave it a week the only time I would use it again is if I was ill and I could physically clean the piggies but that would be a dire emergency as I wouldn't have them living on that stuff. But as everyone says it's each to their own sometimes I like to clear a space at the bottom of the cage to have newspaper n hay and the pigs loved that I've also had newspapers n hay and again the pigs enjoyed that as they love to explore and forage but I found it hard to know and see when it needed cleaning and didn't like the idea of feeding on hay they had soiled in but I do like to change it so they experience all types of flooring
 
You sound like a fab caring owner, hang in there and don't give up! I'm four months into owning my first two boars and I feel like you sometimes, one of them I have no control over he will not be held or petted whatsoever I cannot do anything with him.

If you are able to equipped to provide them with the care and attention they need then I honestly think you should stick at it and appreciate them for what they are. I'm slowly learning that mine are not like cuddly cats and dogs and just the fact that they count on me for their nutrition and wellbeing makes me a proud owner.

Good luck and keep up the good work :)
 
It's hard when we have an expectation of what pet ownership is going to be like, only to find that the reality is not like what we had pictured. I feel that way about parenthood some days! Just kidding... sort of! Right now your pigs are in the teenager years. They are likely to settle down more in the future if you can ride this out. I would keep trying to handle them daily (I also wouldn't necessarily decide that nibbling clothes means they've had enough... some pigs just like to chew clothes. Hadley LOVES to eat the people clothes!) Could you give them a snack to keep them seated longer so you get a big more time to enjoy them? Do you hold them one-on-one or together? I find that my pigs sit longer when they are the only pig there and always do lap time one at a time (also, one of my previous pigs did not like to share the humans and would get aggressive if we held her and another pig at the same time, but I have found they are less likely to want to run off when they are on their own.)

As for smell, have you tried paper beddings? I use Fresh N' Comfy (not sure if it's available in the UK, but it's similar to Carefresh) and don't notice much of a smell at all.

Hope this helps a bit- hang in there!
 
Is there any chance that the building work is upsetting them?
 
The builders haven't really started yet so the furry's can't use this excuse yet! But good thinking!
Thanks for your opinions/advice everyone.
 
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