will my piggies ever love me?

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pigpigpiggie

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hi all,
its time to start asking the 101 questuons i have.
I don't have much info on the life my guinea's had before i got them but i know they lived in a garage all year round in an indoor huch so i'm guessing they had very little contact with anyone (as well as being very cold!). I try to handle them as much as possible, bath time was fine, giving edward antibiotics was not a problem, but getting them out of the run is a nightmare! they just don't want me to pick them up and when i have they scrabble. when we give them cuddle time, bella puts up with it but edward shoots of my lap under a cusion. It obvously isn't fun for either of them. should i keep trying or just except that they don't love me as much as i love them? 8...
 
I have to say mine were like that for ages, and I have lost count of the time spent trying to catch them in the run but over time they have realised I am not going to murder them! Some of mine love lap time and others are not so keen. One thing that built the confidence with my more nervous pigs was me sitting on the floor during floor time because that meant that they came to me and then we took it from there.

Please don't take it personally, trust needs to be earned and you are taking all the right steps.
 
Be patient -they are obviously not used to being handled!

You can try and make a ritual with your pickup. For my very skittish Llewelyn I used a upturned pigloo (nowadays you can buy pigloos with a bottom). Just put a rag in the bottom to make it comfy and a treat right at the end. Let them go in and out for at least a couple of days before you start moving the pigloo with a piggy inside, so they are comfy with it. Invent a phrase (I use "walkie walkie"), so the piggies will learn what's up. It may take a few weeks until they get it, but Llewelyn was really cooperative once he realised that I was NOT handling him when he went in and he got lots of praise and a treat as well!

You can also cuddle them when in the pigloo. Otherwise put a towel or fleece on your lap and let them crawl underneath (or underneath your pullover if you don't mind being peed on when the piggies eventually relax a bit too much!). Confined spaces and hides do make them feel safe.

Always give a little treat afterwards. praise them for every little thing they're doing right like little dogs.
 
They do love you - you said 'bath time was fine'. But perhaps they have had a bad time when being handled on someone's lap in the past. You may be having to work carefully and slowly past previous trauma, so please don't give up on them. It can take a very long time before they relax on you completely, but the more they are handled without problems and with happiness the easier they will find it.
 
My sow Ruby is a year and seven months old, and she's still skittish being handled. Some pigs are actually always uncomfortable being handled, but it doesn't mean you can't form a bond with them.
 
My guys still run when I try to pick them up but once I have them they settle reasonably quickly and even doze off.
I sit on the floor with them a lot and now if there is a noise that startles them they run onto my lap drool drool
keep persevering with it I am sure they will eventually settle on you but picking up amy always be more problematic.
 
The piggies running off is very normal. My piggies do this when I have to put them back indoors/back in their hutch/know that medicine is coming. it's second nature. My piggies usually settle within in seconds. However, Chocolate, my boar, used to love running around so he would be off my lap in seconds.

The only sure fire way I found out that my piggies loved was when I left them in the capable hads of my sister. Two days later we returned. Chocolate was popcorning all over and even let me pick him up. Gertie 'looked' as if she was pleased to see me. Then snuggled (never usually happens.

The second time I realised they loved we was at the vets. In their carrier, they were sat in the corner closest to me. When they vet picked them up they were looking for me and struggling to come back to me.

Guinea pig trust is a lovely thing. When you realise they ultimately trust you, it becomes a life defining moment.:(|)
 
thanks

thanks to all who made me feel better, will be getting a pigloo today!
any ideas on sutable treats? the only food they loooove is watermelon and go nuts when they hear me cut it but i don't think i should be giving it to them every day, should I?
 
Dandelions are in season now - go get them while you can, as it doesn't seem to be very long. Otherwise basil, coriander and mint seem to be favourites.
 
o thats great! i have tons of mint and basil crowing in my garden! my grass is over run with dandilions so thats not a problem either lol
 
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