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Behavior Can someone help me make my piggy trust me

Nickthestick

Active Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Apr 28, 2017
Messages
33
Im trying to figure out ways to make my piggy trust me more and not run away when i try to pick him up to put him back in the cage. I wanna get to the point of him eating vegetables and other things from my hand rather than waiting for me to put it down and how to play with him. I've only had him since February of 2017 and i think he is starting to trust me a little bit but is there anything i can do to speed up the process?


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Re: Can someone help me

Im trying to figure out ways to make my piggy trust me more and not run away when i try to pick him up to put him back in the cage. I wanna get to the point of him eating vegetables and other things from my hand rather than waiting for me to put it down and how to play with him. I've only had him since February of 2017 and i think he is starting to trust me a little bit but is there anything i can do to speed up the process?


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Every piggie is different. Some trust you right off the bat and some take even years. Hand feeding them veggies helps. When doing floor time, just sitting with them and letting them go up to you so they know you aren't a threat helps also. Talking to them every time you get close to them. But the main one though, food=happy pig. Human with food=a happy piggy

Be patient. It'll get better


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Patience, lots of patience's and time. @Karleen Garcia is right, every piggy is different. Hunter quickly adapted to me and we've created a bond. But some pigs take a lot longer. Here's what I did with Hunter. You can also watch this Yutube video on how to bond with your pig: [video=youtube;sJygRkYXgEA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJygRkYXgEA[/video]


Whatever you do, don't chase the pig around the cage, that scares them. Floor time was tricky. Hunter doesn't like to be picked up and I respect that. So I devised a clever plan. I placed a treat in her carrier and allowed her to go inside willingly. Then bring her to the floor and allow her to come out on her own. I don't have to chase her or force her.

From time to time, when she's awake - I place my hand in the cage. I don't try to pet her or pick her up I just let her come to me. To sniff, to nibble ect. If she doesn't come to me, I know she doesn't want to be bothered, so I leave her alone.

When I started playing with her on the floor I made sure she had tunnels, hiding places and lettuce (her fav) as treats. I remained still, let her do her thing. When she came near me I give her a piece of lettuce. Now she knows I have something she loves and climbs all over me.

My last tip. Don't get frustrated. It takes time to create a bond, and gaining their trust. But overtime, you'll see that he does love you. I hope these tips will help.
 
Patience, lots of patience's and time. @Karleen Garcia is right, every piggy is different. Hunter quickly adapted to me and we've created a bond. But some pigs take a lot longer. Here's what I did with Hunter. You can also watch this Yutube video on how to bond with your pig: [video=youtube;sJygRkYXgEA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJygRkYXgEA[/video]


Whatever you do, don't chase the pig around the cage, that scares them. Floor time was tricky. Hunter doesn't like to be picked up and I respect that. So I devised a clever plan. I placed a treat in her carrier and allowed her to go inside willingly. Then bring her to the floor and allow her to come out on her own. I don't have to chase her or force her.

From time to time, when she's awake - I place my hand in the cage. I don't try to pet her or pick her up I just let her come to me. To sniff, to nibble ect. If she doesn't come to me, I know she doesn't want to be bothered, so I leave her alone.

When I started playing with her on the floor I made sure she had tunnels, hiding places and lettuce (her fav) as treats. I remained still, let her do her thing. When she came near me I give her a piece of lettuce. Now she knows I have something she loves and climbs all over me.

My last tip. Don't get frustrated. It takes time to create a bond, and gaining their trust. But overtime, you'll see that he does love you. I hope these tips will help.

Thank you so much I'll definitely try these things as I want him to trust me alot more. I cut his nails today and for the first two feet he chattered his teeth at me and tried nipping at me but after that once i went to his front feet he just squirmed alot and stopped chattering his teeth and trying to nip me. Is that normal? I gave him a treat right after in hopes of showing that letting me cut his nails is good and he'll be rewarded after


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I haven't cut her nails yet so I might be wrong about this. But I assume he was scared when it came to the back feet because he couldn't see you (your hand). With Hunter, if she doesn't see my hand and I go to pet her, she gets scared and bolts. But when she sees my hand, I can pet her and she wont run. Treats are a good motivation that's how I've trained Hunter to go into the carrier, jump on my arm ect. Just make sure the treats don't have sugar, that's really bad for them.
 
I haven't cut her nails yet so I might be wrong about this. But I assume he was scared when it came to the back feet because he couldn't see you (your hand). With Hunter, if she doesn't see my hand and I go to pet her, she gets scared and bolts. But when she sees my hand, I can pet her and she wont run. Treats are a good motivation that's how I've trained Hunter to go into the carrier, jump on my arm ect. Just make sure the treats don't have sugar, that's really bad for them.

Thats kinda what i thought but just wasn't too sure. Also the treats i use are specifically for guinea pigs its called yogies and he loves them. I literally just picked up the pack to see the name and he went nuts weeking and popcorning


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I use to give hunter Vitakraft treats Hunter went CRAZY when she heard the back.. but then I read the back and found that they're is sugar in them. Now I give her Oxbow treats. Their hard has rocks though.
 
Why buy treats? Most pigs go nuts for things like cilantro, a bit of parsley, bits of fruit, or even veggies. Mine rarely turn up their noses at anything. And the fresh stuff is far better for them than anything you can buy in a bag.
 
Why buy treats? Most pigs go nuts for things like cilantro, a bit of parsley, bits of fruit, or even veggies. Mine rarely turn up their noses at anything. And the fresh stuff is far better for them than anything you can buy in a bag.

My piggy is from a pet store and refuses to even taste the vegetables so im gunna start diceing them into very small pieces and put it in with his food in hopes that he'll start eating them more


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That's what I did. When Hunter is in her house and awake, I placed a veggie in front of her little castel. if she wants it, she takes it and then I know she likes them. I've tried the dicing up and I had no success.
 
@Nickthestick aren't those "yogies" the yogurt drop treats? I know they make them for guineas but they are lactose intolerant and should NOT be given these.
I know it's confusing but you must do the research before you feed them anything. I almost made the same mistake. Please and thank you.
 
A really easy thing that I do to all my piggies is that I whistle every time I give them their food bowl (you can do any kind of noise, I just think whistles are easier )
So, after a while, you can start whistling before you give them food, veggies and treats, and they'll come straight at you to get it (you can start with pellets, since your piggie doesn't like veggies yet), and it will come to a point that you won't need to have food, they'll come to you just by whistling (I have a few piggies that run in my direction just by seing me, , but every pig is different.)


Also, I agree to @Happy Cavy, floor time is easier, I guess it's because you sit at their level, and maybe that makes them feel more confident ^^
 
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