Three Girls Not Settling In

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Meganmckevittx

Meganmckevittx

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I have 5 Guinea pigs two males (benny & Blake) that are greatly behaved but three weeks ago I got three new girls (Rosie, blossom&explore) I got them at six weeks old from a local woman who's sow had accidentally fallen pregnant. I've had them for around 3 weeks now they live in a large hand made shed in my shed. They are so timid and hid in there house as soon as I enter the shed I've tried hand feeding them but there to scared and when I try to pick them up thy run away and there also really fast but I don't want to chase them round the cage because it might stress them out, please help!
Thanks Megan x
 
Welcome to the forum! Are they the guins in your avatar? I love the little white bits on their heads!

They'll come around in time. They probably didn't have much handling before they came to live with you, but they are very young so I'm sure they'll adapt quickly. If you haven't already, have a read of these threads:
How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?
How To Understand Guinea Pig Instincts And Speak Piggy Body Language

Handle them as much as you can (I recommend picking them up in a tunnel or cosy) and it always helps to have to veg for them to much while you have a cuddle.

Best of luck xx
 
Yes my avatar are my new girls hehe , thanks for the help I'll read all of them now, I've been getting myself really worked up since my boys settled in really well when I got them , thank you for your help means a lot xx
 
I was exactly the same, I had two boys that settled in super quickly and then I got two girls about six months later and they seemed to be absolutely terrified of me! One of them would squeal in utter fear if you tried to pick her up, not even touching her, just with you hands near her. It made me feel awful.
I just had to be patient and now they are both happy and settled and don't even run away when I sneeze haha.
 
aw, I was super worried I thought that there was no chance of making them comfortable around me I'm going to spend a lot more time with them to get them used to me and use some of the helpful tips I read on the threads you sent to me. Thanks you've been a great help , if you don't mind me asking is it your girls or your boys in your avatar? Super cute! Cx
 
A girl (left - Athy) and a boy (right - Six) - she is spayed so they live together. My two boys had a big fight and we had to separate them in the end :( But they are super happy now they get to live with girls, bless them!
 
Babies can be really skittish, particularly if they haven't been handled much before. Two of my girls (Sundae and Hadley) were both extremely fearful as babies... they were terrified of people, wouldn't come out of the pigloo during daylight hours, were very difficult to catch and handle, and were plainly terrified of us. However, given a few weeks of gentle handling and treats and they realized we were harmless and sometimes even had food, and both ended up being very friendly within a month or two of coming home. Sundae is now our resident old lady at age 5.5 years, has been through a ton medically speaking over the course of her life, and still loves us even though we are regular dispensers of antibiotics and spent months trying to clean out a really persistent abscess, so if that didn't turn her off us, nothing will! And Hadley has turned into a majorly lazy lap pig who even lets my kids play with her feet and trim her nails without a fuss! So don't worry, there is hope! I would just make sure to pick them up and hold them often in the least stressful way possible (maybe by picking them up in a cozy or a box and then holding them in a blanket so they can bury their heads if they get scared) and they will come around in time.
 
Piggies are prey animals and it takes a lot to overcome their natural instinct to run and hide. Patience, kindness and bribery usually work in the end! They also have different personalities. I have one hugely laid back and sociable pair, but the other pair are far less confident with humans. So don't stress if it takes them a while to settle in. They've had big changes to cope with already. I'm sure they will soon start to respond to you and demand your attention at meal times.
 
Freela said:
Babies can be really skittish, particularly if they haven't been handled much before. Two of my girls (Sundae and Hadley) were both extremely fearful as babies... they were terrified of people, wouldn't come out of the pigloo during daylight hours, were very difficult to catch and handle, and were plainly terrified of us. However, given a few weeks of gentle handling and treats and they realized we were harmless and sometimes even had food, and both ended up being very friendly within a month or two of coming home. Sundae is now our resident old lady at age 5.5 years, has been through a ton medically speaking over the course of her life, and still loves us even though we are regular dispensers of antibiotics and spent months trying to clean out a really persistent abscess, so if that didn't turn her off us, nothing will! And Hadley has turned into a majorly lazy lap pig who even lets my kids play with her feet and trim her nails without a fuss! So don't worry, there is hope! I would just make sure to pick them up and hold them often in the least stressful way possible (maybe by picking them up in a cozy or a box and then holding them in a blanket so they can bury their heads if they get scared) and they will come around in time.
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Thank you for your help, my girls are getting really good recently with hand feeding and get exited when I enter the shed X!x
 
VickiA said:
Piggies are prey animals and it takes a lot to overcome their natural instinct to run and hide. Patience, kindness and bribery usually work in the end! They also have different personalities. I have one hugely laid back and sociable pair, but the other pair are far less confident with humans. So don't stress if it takes them a while to settle in. They've had big changes to cope with already. I'm sure they will soon start to respond to you and demand your attention at meal times.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply they've come along really well thanks to a lot of tips I've read, thanks for the support X!x
 
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