Depressed about no piggie love

I am distraught I got my 2 female cavies a week ago and while 1 does come out to say hi to me neither will let me pick them up or even pet them....

I know that they need excercise and love and petting on a daily basis to stay alert and healthy, but how can I get them to feel ok about me to the point I can pet them or take them out of the cage ?

[CavySpirit]

It takes way more than a week for new piggies to get comfortable in their new environment. Give it some more time and patience.

So any suggestion you might give to breaking the ice more ?

I offer them treats like carrots and wood to chew on & I always speak softly and move slow.

I hate to say this but I don't think piggies are ever supposed to just come to you unless you've got something really tasty. I've heard of it but it's rare. The article I read said that you have to do things to make them interract with you but not frighten them.

<a href="http://pages.zdnet.com/mooble_99/thepigshed/id2.html" target="top">pages.zdnet.com/mooble_99/thepigshed/id2.html</a>

About halfway down this page is the taming technique that I used. I cannot say whether it is "right" or not. I can only say that it worked for me.

It basically tells you to do everything in steps to get them more and more comfortable with you a couple days at a time. I would also suggest that when trying to pet them or offer them food, make sure you are not towering over them. You want your hand to be lower than their eyes and move slowly. Also try petting and feeding at the same time. Sometimes they'll stick around for the food and realize that you're ok.

Maybe when they stay and lets you pet them a couple times you can start picking them up. But do it quickly so that they don't have a chance for flight to kick in :evil: If you have to chase them it'll just be a big scary experience. The only good thing I found from buying a store cage is that it's so small that they can't go too far so it's not all that chaotic so they got used to me quickly ahahhaha

Now my piggies will accept food from my hand, and one will ocassionally let me pet her for a long time while she eats hay and lets me pick her up on very rare ocassions.

You can also try giving them an article of clothing that you've recently worn to snuggle with if you're a cuddly type. I didn't do this with my GPs but I did it with my short tailed opossum and it worked.

If you try some of this, or if you don't, let us know how it goes!

Luck!

When I was "taming" mine (Jeep, Layza & Nelly B), I did the following. I put a child's sand pail in the cage on its side. Of course, the piggies loved it and would often just sit in it. I would approach the cage at face level (so I wasn't over and intimidating) and whisper to them and say their names and give them small amounts of treats. Slowly I would pick up the bucket (not too fast, they might jump out when your picking it up and hurt them). Then I would go to the couch, lay down and put the bucket on my stomache. Eventually they come out and I just let them walk all over me, sniff me, lay on me whatever they were comfortable with. After a month or so, it seemed to work (except Jeep-she was a little pig in a pet store all alone and I felt bad for her..I don't know if they treated her badly but, it's been a year and a half and she still doesn't like being touched that much...Good luck to you, and I hope this helps.