Picking Up/cuddling/lap Time

Status
Not open for further replies.
DylElla

DylElla

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Aug 3, 2016
Messages
155
Reaction score
99
Points
275
Location
United Kingdom
So my boys are confidently hand feeding now, my girls do hand feed but are much more skittish about it. I see photos of people holding/cuddling their piggies and I want to cuddle mine so much. I got the girls out for floor time yesterday but struggled to catch Holly, even in a tunnel/cuddle sack and since put her back in her cage she's been chattering her teeth at me.

Do I just need to put each piggy on my lap each day to get them used to us more?

I try stroking them in their hutch/cage/run but they all just run away. How do I get them used to being stroked?
 
Guinea pigs are first and foremost prey animals; they are not living cuddly toys. By far not all piggies love cuddles. You have to respect that!

Here are some tips on how you can build up a relationship with your guinea pigs that respects their instincts and behaviours. if they eventually enjoy sitting with you, feel blessed, but please do not force them to be something they aren't! Anything they give you should be freely given and not forced if you truly love your pets. There are so many other ways to interact with your piggies that let you enjoy them.
There are sadly far too many "cuddly" videos and pics out there where piggies are anything but happy, and all they do is help promote and perpetuate a false image. :(

How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig
How To Understand Guinea Pig Instincts And Speak Piggy Body Language
 
Mine have always been much happier just with each other tbh. During laptime, Tilly used to whinge a lot and shove my hand away with her head!

Now Hettie is on her own we are getting her out more frequently although I'm not convinced that she is very happy about it!
 
Thank you. I'd never treat them as 'living cuddly toys', my 4 year old has been asking when he can hold them on his lap so I thought I'd pose the question.
 
DylElla said:
Thank you. I'd never treat them as 'living cuddly toys', my 4 year old has been asking when he can hold them on his lap so I thought I'd pose the question.
Click to expand...

Probably not for a while yet until they are relaxed. Try to turn it into project making friends with your guinea pigs and learn guinea pig language. Can you try to channel his energy into making toys for roaming time? ;)
Guinea Pig Toys
 
One of ours is much happier to be caught and cuddled. She is very much a lap guinea pig and likes nothing more than sitting on my daughter's lap while she watches TV. Our other sow really does not like to be caught and whilst ok to be held clearly does not enjoy lap time like her sister. We are respectful of this and I encourage my daughter to interact with her in other ways like hand feeding her. The other thing she likes to do it set up floor time with toys etc she has made for them. She has also learned that there is a lot of fun to be had watching their antics!
 
I meant to add that we do of course still pick up and handle Coco, because I think it's important she is used to being handled so we can check she is healthy etc We just don't keep her on our laps like we do with Dorothy who clearly loves it!
 
This makes me feel a lot happier as I don't, as a rule, cuddle my piggies. I prefer to let them 'be pigs' with their piggy friends but just handle when I need to check them, clip claws, weigh etc. Two of mine will take food from my hands but the two youngest have only just plucked up the courage to take a reeeeeeally long piece of parsley from me LOL. Two of my old piggies seemed to enjoy a cuddle but the others really didn't and just seemed to put up with it more than anything.
 
It's nice to watch them interact with each other. Luckily my children don't want to hold the guineas. When the guineas come out for floor time they climb over our legs, etc, but only one guinea I get out for regular lap time as she's old and cannot see well and very long hair so needs brushing daily.
 
I also thought it was worth adding that even guineas who enjoy lap time (we are fortunate to have 3 that do) will have days where they are just not in the mood for a cuddle.
Sometimes we will get them out and they will settle quite happily for cuddles and fuss, and some days they are wriggly and will even bite (gently) or pull at clothing, which we always take a sign that they are 'done' and immediately put them back.
 
I also would love to be able to just hold and cuddle my piggies, and I know my son (turned 5 yesterday) would desperately love to as well (think he's a bit disappointed he hasn't been able to so far). But we are still very far from that. And to be honest, it's looking like only one of them will be a lap pig as the other hates it.

Patches is the dominant piggy and is so super confident in the cage. When I bring food she stands up on her hind legs to get to it first, and will even put her front paws on my hand and sniffs me and nibbles me and doesn't seem scared of me at all. But if I try to stroke her she runs. When it comes to catching them (hearding them into a snuggle sack for lap time) she chatters her teeth a lot and gets scared. Once out the cage and on my lap (in the empty bath) she is terrified. She burrows so deeply and crazily into the snuggle sack that most of the time I can't get her out to cuddle at all. And she chatters a lot. I mean I could get rough and force her out, but that's cruel and I don't want to traumatise her. So I try a few times then rather resort to stroking her in the cuddle sack. Even getting her out to weigh her is a major mission and she stands on the scales looking totally terrified. When I got them out for nail clippings the other day she was the one that nipped me towards the end because she just couldn't stand being in my arms any longer.

Nia, on the other hand, is the under pig and more nervous of me in the cage. She's the first one to run away if my hand goes in, though she's definitely gotten more confident about taking food from me. But when I spot clean etc she runs and hides. She, however, is usually the first one to agree to go in the snuggle sack for lap time and she will sit happily on my arm for quite a while whilst I stroke her. No chattering. She does get somewhat of a wide eyed look about her initially, but that soon settles with stroking and talking. She's the one I suspect will become the piggy happy to do lap time and cuddles. But I definitely think we still have a few months before we reach that point.

I'm not sure there is really anything one can do to make it happen faster to be honest. I think some just like being held, and others don't.
 
It's partially my fault probably not researching fully about holding/cuddling them. I just feel for my son as he's desperate to hold and cuddle his pets and he's always adored Guinean pigs. We'd go to the farm that has a little rescue and he'd sit for ages with one on his lap and he just loved it.
 
DylElla said:
It's partially my fault probably not researching fully about holding/cuddling them. I just feel for my son as he's desperate to hold and cuddle his pets and he's always adored Guinean pigs. We'd go to the farm that has a little rescue and he'd sit for ages with one on his lap and he just loved it.
Click to expand...

That post could have been written by me! Exactly the same experience here.
 
DylElla said:
It's partially my fault probably not researching fully about holding/cuddling them. I just feel for my son as he's desperate to hold and cuddle his pets and he's always adored Guinean pigs. We'd go to the farm that has a little rescue and he'd sit for ages with one on his lap and he just loved it.
Click to expand...
I know when we first got ours it was torture watching videos of people cuddling. But patience pays off.
It's tricky, ours are never fond of being picked up, yet Duncan settles down happily. Godfrey tend to jump off and dash up to his cage, we generally give him a kiss then put him back when this happens, unless the fleece is being washed. Piggies are complex animals, sometimes they like a stroke but not a cuddle. All piggies are different, some are born to be "lap pigs"!
 
I have been getting in the run with mine since I got them. I have a 1m x1m puppy pen which I put towels down for and toys. When I get in and just sit there they go crazy and run around me in laps. They also climb on me, over me, beg up etc. They still don't like being caught but will tolerate it. They aren't as good on my lap yet as they just struggle and want to run up me. But by being in the run I still get close to them and hope that this helps build their confidence and trust.
 
When Hettie had Tilly for company we didn't get them out everyday as they were happy together. We did laptime about 3 times a week and did checks and nail clipping during one of these times.

However, since losing Tilly, we are getting Hettie out a couple of times a day and she has totally changed in that she is loving the attention!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top