One Human Over The Other...

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Flamestriker

Flamestriker

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Is it normal for piggies to 'take' to a human quicker than others?

My OH is on leave from work -he gets the 6 weeks - and the girlies are already taking food from his fingers!

On the other hand they are terrified of me! They will permit me to stand very quietly in the same room as them and watch them, and I can talk in a soft voice. But any more than that and all I see are piggy dust trails, even when I give veggies in the morning. All my OH has to do is rustle bags and they wheek like mad and get very excited!

They are as cute as buttons, and I suppose it's better than them hiding all of the time from me. Sigh. It seems that only the hamsters love me...:(
 
Mine are starting to trust me more and don't quite run away as fast anymore, but they definitely seem to prefer my husband over me. Not sure if it's maybe a male thing or what, but all my husband needs to do is walk near to their cage and they start popcorning and wheeking at him and generally look and sound thrilled that he's there. He never feeds them. Never handles them. Never does anything more than occasionally chat to them.
I on the other hand talk to them, spend ages sitting by them, clean their cage, give them food, etc etc etc. But if I walk past their cage they run and hide. They have definitely gotten braver and come out sooner, but they are also definitely more scared of me and more thrilled to see him.
 
Awww they will come round, give them time... i am the one who feeds them and they wheek when i walk into the room.. OH walks in - no noise lol..... my daughter always gloats about getting kisses each time she puts her hand in the cage!
 
You know what? I've seen quite a few people posting who say they prefer the men. I don't know if it's something to do with a male scent or the deeper voice. I am the main carer for my piggies but they rush to the front of the cage when my hubby approaches. I'm the one who feeds and handles them, though my younger son (he's 17) does sometimes too.
But they will tame to you, it can take a lot of time with some piggies x
 
Mirroring everyone else here; I do most piggy care, but they definitely prefer my OH :)). They know his foot-steps from mine, but hilariously they can't differentiate him from his brother, so when BIL was visiting a few weeks ago they were wheeking furiously (ears flapping) every time he came in the room, much to his bemusement.

I reckon this is probably due to me being the one to pick them up for laptime (which they aren't huge fans of), and being the nail-clipper and wiping pee stains off their noses (OH just holds them gently and stuffs veggies down their face while this is happening). He also feeds them a pea-flake every time he comes into the room, which probably helps!
 
Flamestriker said:
Is it normal for piggies to 'take' to a human quicker than others?

My OH is on leave from work -he gets the 6 weeks - and the girlies are already taking food from his fingers!

On the other hand they are terrified of me! They will permit me to stand very quietly in the same room as them and watch them, and I can talk in a soft voice. But any more than that and all I see are piggy dust trails, even when I give veggies in the morning. All my OH has to do is rustle bags and they wheek like mad and get very excited!

They are as cute as buttons, and I suppose it's better than them hiding all of the time from me. Sigh. It seems that only the hamsters love me...:(
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Yes, guinea pigs can have preferred humans - it can be somewhat gutting if you are not the one. Just be patient and persist, and they will come round to you, too, eventually.
 
I'm quite smug to report that 3 of my current 4 piggies prefer me but one has eyes only for my husband (Mollie) which also may have something to do with the fact that she's his favourite.
I know that they "go off" me when I'm giving regular meds they dislike or attending to their personal hygiene when they'd rather be stinky but that's natural I guess.
 
VickiA said:
I'm quite smug to report that 3 of my current 4 piggies prefer me but one has eyes only for my husband (Mollie) which also may have something to do with the fact that she's his favourite.
I know that they "go off" me when I'm giving regular meds they dislike or attending to their personal hygiene when they'd rather be stinky but that's natural I guess.
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I can relate to them going off you, My Freddie took a while in trusting me again after all the squeezing I did on his cyst and the meds I forced down him after his op. He has definitely got his confidence back with me now, especially after some persuasion with some coriander while on my lap, but he cringes ever time my hand goes new the place his cyst used to be, I think in the back of his mind he knows that my hand plus that area = squeeze-pain. I don't touch him there often as a result but every now and again I do, I want him to know that there's no more nastiness from me there! Poor love.
Oreo is my girl. She doesn't trust easily but is quite trusting of me.
Penny and Ruby are trusting, Rosie still skittish unless I have food, but all except Oreo and Rosie seem to be fascinated by my hubby, as I said. :)

Lucky you that three of yours prefer you. You must have that magic touch! :) x
 
I think maybe its gender related? Archie certainly prefers women over men, the prettier the lady, the more he turns up the charm.
 
I seem to be very lucky then. Both my boars are complete "mommy's boys" I suppose! The second I pet them out come the chookens! Even though I also bathe and pick them up they love me the most. They tend to hide from my partner as he can be loud at times but it doesn't matter how loud I am they know me well enough that they just go about their business. They adore my mom though as she's the "treat bringer" loving to spoil them rotten with carrots and other veg. Still think they prefer me though as my eldest Keiko won't let her pick him up at all.
 
My two will wheek furiously when I come home from work, standing up on their hind legs trying to get to me and will follow me around like little puppies. However, if my Mum tries to pet them or stands too close to them they run a mile! Even after a year, and even though my Mum has them during the day if I'm at work :doh: they will take food from her but the minute she tries to pick them up or if they feel she's too close they leg it to the nearest hidey house :xd:

I think maybe they just have a preference for some reason :P
 
They are indeed funny little piggies!

As they are going through the dominance phase, although it is calming down as they sleep and eat together now, can I put them in the run? I know this can last for weeks, and I don't want to disrupt this phase. What about cleaning out? Smudge has now taken food from me but Poppy is still too shy.
 
My pair love my husband best but they now run over when they see me instead of running away.

Funnily enough though we have been away a couple of times over the last couple of weeks. They had only ever hid from my MIL but whilst she piggy sat they made friends. Now we are back they are hiding from her again! She was good enough when she was the bringer of the veggies and sweeper of the poo but now she is just visiting they are no longer interested. Fickle pair.
 
I've definitely seen different bonds to different people. I'm not sure what the reasoning is. It doesn't always seem to be the person who feeds them. For instance, Hadley has a real affinity for my teenage son and will look for him if she hears his voice. She'll crawl across a row of people on the couch to find him. I always wonder if it's the voice, he has a really deep distinctive voice that she seems to notice! On the flip side, one of my past pigs didn't like men. I'm not sure if it was the scent of the lower voice, but she would run from them and didn't want to be held or petted by men (my son got a pass because he had a kid voice at the time!) They definitely know when unfamiliar hands are coming for them too... both of mine are fine and don't run when the kids and I put our hands in, but they bolt if my mom tries to pick them up!
 
Smudge will take food from my fingers through the cage bars, but Poppy is still too shy. Smudge will also occasionally trundle over to me to see if I have anything tastey for her. They both whistled like mad yesterday when I got in from work, and the OH told me that they had been quiet all day.
 
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