Behavior: I need help!!!!

[KimmyKimmy91]

I've had my guniea pigs for about 3 months now but the older one (Brownie) is still kind of afraid of me but butter and I (the younges) is a little closer...She does get afraid here and then but i wan't both of my guniea pigs to like me. What do i need to do????

[suzilovespiggie]

Piggies, are prey animals. They will always be a bit skittish when you go to pick them up. They see you as this big thing that is going to eat them.
What you can do, is just keep loving them, handling them in a gentle, manner, talk softly to them, give them lap time. You can put your hand in their cage, just let it dangle there and talk to them. They are curious and should come up and try to figure out what you are, especially if you have food. The more you interact with them, the better they will be. Each pig has their own personality and timetable. Just give them time.
Adorable piggies. I just love the face on the carmel and white one.

[SnowFlower]

If the cage isn't already, try elevating it off the floor. Put it on a sturdy table, build a stand with cubes, etc. You will be more level with them and they won't see you so much as that terrfying GIANT!

[PixieStix]

Hand feeding them veggies also helps them warm up to you. I trust you have hideys in the cage? Contrary to belief, hideys do not make a pig more affraid, but rather help them settle down if they have somwhere 'safe' to run to. Don't be worried, this is perfectly normal behavior. If you do a search on hand taming pigs or something of the sort you'll find loads of these threads.

[tehdoc809]

The first thing to keep in mind is that this is not going to be an instant process. Guinea pigs, as stated before, are very timid creatures. They scare very easily. In my experience 3 months isn't long enough for them to get use to everything. Excluding our newest pig, which we've had going on 4 months now, all my other pigs are use to us walking up to the cage and will come up to us to see if we have food. However, all of them but one will run from us if we try to pet them and we've had them for almost a year now. The one that doesn't run anymore is our boar, and we've had him for almost exactly a year and a month. So it's quite a wait for them to be not scared of you, and in some cases, you might have pigs that are always scared of you.

[KimmyKimmy91]

Originally Posted by suzilovespiggie

Piggies, are prey animals. They will always be a bit skittish when you go to pick them up. They see you as this big thing that is going to eat them.
What you can do, is just keep loving them, handling them in a gentle, manner, talk softly to them, give them lap time. You can put your hand in their cage, just let it dangle there and talk to them. They are curious and should come up and try to figure out what you are, especially if you have food. The more you interact with them, the better they will be. Each pig has their own personality and timetable. Just give them time.
Adorable piggies. I just love the face on the carmel and white one.

Thanks for the help!! I really appreciate it, i just love this site. You guys are always helpful and thanks for the compliment her name is butter. Thats my baby =)

[CavyGarden]

Originally Posted by suzilovespiggie

Piggies, are prey animals. They will always be a bit skittish when you go to pick them up. They see you as this big thing that is going to eat them.
What you can do, is just keep loving them, handling them in a gentle, manner, talk softly to them, give them lap time. You can put your hand in their cage, just let it dangle there and talk to them. They are curious and should come up and try to figure out what you are, especially if you have food. The more you interact with them, the better they will be. Each pig has their own personality and timetable. Just give them time.
Adorable piggies. I just love the face on the carmel and white one.

Well said. ;}