Very Confused

[GuineaPig24]

I know I've been posting a lot, but that shouldn't matter too much.

I recently got a new guinea pig who is the most timid girl I've ever met. She's nothing like my boy, Guinea. Penelope is her own little girl.

She came from another home, and is now in possession because my godmother told us about her neighbor's children "outgrowing her".

When we got Penelope her cage was filled with WOOD SHAVINGS, and she was so scared that just touching her made her heart pound fast. And not in a good way.

That's all we know about her. She's come to warm up to me, but every time I try to pick her up, she gets so scared and jittery as if I'm going to drop her. She twitches when she doesn't see my hand before I pet her, and she's always hiding in her igloo.

And even though she's very active, she has no intention on exploring. She's three years old, and is a scaredy cat.

She won't even eat food from my hand unless it's in her bowl, and it took her three days to start squeaking softly.

Is this behavior normal? Because by the way she acts, I feel like her previous owner's kids abused her and the owner was trying to get rid of her or something similar. I'm just concerned about my baby, because both of them are the sweetest animals alive.

 

[Julie M]

I would just give her time. She's probably just stressed out with moving homes. Once she realises you're not going to hurt her she should be a bit less jumpy. I got 2 boars off gumtree (unwanted ex kids pets x2, I'm their 3rd owner) and they took ages to trust me. I can pick up fudge now by putting his carrier in his cage and he jumps into it. And Alby (Who sadly died) had come on leaps and bounds and was always first in line to be fed. Lol. Don't loose heart she will come round eventually.
And well done for helping her.

 

[Flowergarden]

Yes, this is perfectly normal. Guinea pigs are prey animals so they are instinctively scared of the unknown, and when they are picked up, if they aren't used to it, they assume they are going to be eaten. I'm sure you can imagine it would take a long time to get over that fear!
It seems unlikely she was abused before if she arrived in good health, and wasn't undernourished. It is more likely that the children had no interest in her and didn't interact with her much. Therefore she needs time to get used to your presence and interest. As you say, she is already warming to you - you must be really pleased. Keep trying, give her as much time as she needs, and bear in mind she may never be really happy "cuddling" - not all guinea pigs are.

 

[*kate*]

I've had Hettie for over 2 years now and she is still skittish and runs away from me. She will take food from my hands though now.

I think some piggies are just more timid than others!

 

[Freela]

This sounds really normal, especially if she hasn't been handled much in the past. Guinea pigs are prey animals and as such, they have a healthy fear response (it would keep them alive in the wild, after all!) A lot of pigs, even pigs who have been handled a lot, are timid and don't enjoy being picked up or being patted in the cage (I had one who was fine being picked up, but it took her YEARS to not run from a hand trying to touch her in the cage or during floor time.) Some pigs are very bold and others are very cautious, and you may have one at either end of the continuum. She will likely calm down as she gets used to you and her new environment, but she may never be as bold and confident as your other pig. At various times I've had very bold pigs and real scaredy cats, all living in the exact same environment. I'm not sure if others have noticed this trend, but for me my dominant pigs have been the calmer confident pigs and my subordinate pigs have been much more skittish. Sundae in particular is very nervous and was much more so when she was between friends after an older pig passed away and while a new friend was being quarantined. She was afraid to even come out of the cage for food on her own, and this was a piggie who was four years old at the time and who had lived with us since she was 12 weeks or so. She seems to read the dominant's pigs emotions and if they are calm, she is calm. When alone, she is very anxious. Your nervous girlie might benefit from a calmer dominant friend to make her feel more secure at some point in the future too.

 

[sport_billy]

Totally normal behavior as others have said above and a fab reply from @Freela I am yet to find a piggy that likes being picked up it goes against their prey instincts.

We use this technique in the video below, it may help

 

[Tiamolly123]

I know I've been posting a lot, but that shouldn't matter too much.

I recently got a new guinea pig who is the most timid girl I've ever met. She's nothing like my boy, Guinea. Penelope is her own little girl.

She came from another home, and is now in possession because my godmother told us about her neighbor's children "outgrowing her".

When we got Penelope her cage was filled with WOOD SHAVINGS, and she was so scared that just touching her made her heart pound fast. And not in a good way.

That's all we know about her. She's come to warm up to me, but every time I try to pick her up, she gets so scared and jittery as if I'm going to drop her. She twitches when she doesn't see my hand before I pet her, and she's always hiding in her igloo.

And even though she's very active, she has no intention on exploring. She's three years old, and is a scaredy cat.

She won't even eat food from my hand unless it's in her bowl, and it took her three days to start squeaking softly.

Is this behavior normal? Because by the way she acts, I feel like her previous owner's kids abused her and the owner was trying to get rid of her or something similar. I'm just concerned about my baby, because both of them are the sweetest animals alive.

I would agree she has probably been abused, but the other thing it may have been is she might have been left in her cage with a handful of food & no human interaction. I'm so glad she's come to you, she'll get the love, & lots of cuddles.

 

[Tiamolly123]

I would agree she has probably been abused, but the other thing it may have been is she might have been left in her cage with a handful of food & no human interaction. I'm so glad she's come to you, she'll get the love, & lots of cuddles.

But reading other people's posts I think it could be the latter