Great advice given so far! With the skittish ones here I am feeding small amounts of veg at sitting with them while they munch at the moment I am not holding the veg as I am trying to get them relaxed with someone being there first so am talking quietly and being still while they approach the veg and eat.
As they are pregnant handling should be at a minimum at the moment, these poor girls have had a lot of changes lately and also have a trip to the vets monday so one more unsettling experience to go through unfortunatley but due to their age I think it is best to have them examined by a vet, to make arrangements for what to do in event of any problems (I hope there won't be but just in case) during birth, and have an opportunity to pick the vets brains.
Some of the guinea pigs that came in with your girls are very handleable, the two boys are an absolute joy and the Mum is slightly nervous but coming round well and her babies are very good, the sow I picked up after the rest is a total wreck bless her she is still when you hold her but this is down to being petrified more than anything else :'( I think some of these guineas were handled regularly whilst some were just fed and watered.
The three that went to Cheryl are ok with being held and seem to relax a bit but are very nervy about being picked up. The guineas were housed outdoors and their contact with humans was limited to feeding and then being handled by the previous owners some regularly and it appears some not.
Given the girls have had constant harrasment from males and lived with many other guinea pigs in a small space to be in a pair and having to be moved to new homes will have stressed them getting them to associate your company with food is the first step, to be honest if you hold the veg I am not sure that they would even try to eat it at the moment, just talk to them when you go in and sit quietly til they calm down add the veg, (I have been making it small enough to fit through the bars so they don't jump at the sound of a cage door opening) and continue to sit quietly and talk to them til they eat the veg. With these girls getting them relaxed with someone near their cage is the first step I think. If they associate your voice with food and are calm then in small steps door opening, eating from your hand, and in time gentle stroking are the next steps to go through.
Will definately buy you a pigloo when we go to the vets, the very nervous girl here is now sitting outside hers but it is a bolt hole at the first noise she hears, in the mean time do you have a shoe box or something they could use? These girls have never had the joy of their own space or privacy so they will probably dive straight for cover then gradually learn to trust you and their environment but it will benefit them to have a safe space where they can always retreat to if they feel nervous. .
It was a hard decision whether to put these girls through a trip to the vets or not, but while they are in the earlier stages of pregnancy I would rather they endure the trip now and any problems spootted early and advice given than when they are closer to giving birth if it was necessary the babies are not mobile yet, and after weighing up the pro's and cons it seems the best to get them checked out now rather than to move them later on when they would be more oncomfortable and would have begun to settle where they are and then have another change.
The black/white coronet is the more confident of the two and will probably come round in time but the other sow is extremely nervous as you know and I am not sure if she will be that comfotable with handling in the long term. Slow steps and lots of time and love which I know you will give them in bucketfulls. Once they have been to the vets I would let them settle for a week just popping in food and spending time talking with them then start trying getting them used to cage opening etc. Hopefully that will be the end of them being moved around and they can start feeling safe and secure at home.
The babies here are coming round well, as they are indoors and hear us all the time they are getting more used to humans and are fairly relaxed and explore their new accomodations with great interest. I spend a lot of time just sitting and talking to our indoor guineas so they are relaxed when they hear my voice. The babies are popcorning like crazy in their new large accomodation and are rapidly getting used to people coming and going past their cage so I have great hopes that they will be tame and happy with being picked up. So there os hope for the babies that these girls may have they are small and cute and did I say small and adorably cute so I guarentee you will find it hard to not be spending time with them.
The web cam is a superb idea for keeping an eye on them, for the moment I am having to settle for listening to them, we can hear from every room in the house (small bungalow syndrome lol) and can easily check through the doorway.
You are doing a fabulous job Ron see you Monday O0
