Behavior Unable to play with my piggies

Do you ever just take them out for lap time

It's instinct that they run away. Guinea pigs are prey animals, so they are almost bound to run away anytime you come. I've had my pigs for over a year. They still run away when I come over to their cage. The more you handle them the more they'll get used to you.

I've had my boys for 7 months now. They are used to be interacting with them in their cage (feeding, very mild petting, etc.), but still aren't overly fond of lap time, nor will they really let me pet them. Some pigs just don't like that sort of thing, while others just seem to take a long, long while to get used to it.

How much time do you usually spend with them each day?

Hi!

Thank you for your replies.

I take them out now and again just for lap time, but because they didn't seem to enjoy it I didn't want to force it upon them.

I spend pretty much all day with them Nazgul. I work from home, my PC is also in the lounge so I'm sat in the lounge with them working and I'll talk to them/interact with them whilst I'm doing what I need to do on the PC.

That's normal. I've had pigs now for 7 years, and I've never had a pig that was like, "yes, please hold me!" I've had some who were more okay with being held than others, but overall guinea pigs run when you try to pick them up. Even if you were used to it, if a giant hand the size of your body swooped in and tried to pick you up you'd probably run too.

I always felt that guinea pigs are more for watching than handling, a bit like birds. Birds are for watching and listening to and guinea pigs are sort of similar. Most of them just aren't super cuddly and will always run away, that's just in their nature. I mean, they're certainly more cuddly to handle than birds and you should interact with them at least somewhat but... I'm sure you know what I'm getting at - They're just not lap dogs/cats.

Fay said:

I always felt that guinea pigs are more for watching than handling, a bit like birds. Birds are for watching and listening to and guinea pigs are sort of similar. Most of them just aren't super cuddly and will always run away, that's just in their nature. I mean, they're certainly more cuddly to handle than birds and you should interact with them at least somewhat but... I'm sure you know what I'm getting at - They're just not lap dogs/cats.

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This is a great way of stating it.
I have my cage in our living room at the end of one of my couches. I call it guinea-pig-avision. I'd rather watch them than the T.V. any day.
Also, my girls don't "like" to be picked up either, so I pick them up while they're in their cuddle sacks and then place that on my lap with them in it. They'll usually wander out, but sometimes they stay in and I just lightly pet their noses. One of them won't tolerate any petting, but it's just different personalities.
Don't take it personally. Love them for who they are.

I have 5 piggies, 3 cats, a dog and a hermit crab. If I want to snuggle, I have the dog or the cats if they want to snuggle, the dog is almost always, one cat too. I can pet one piggy if she is out all I want, so can anyone else. The rest run, it really isn't worth chasing them around except for care. They are super fun to watch when I put in huge pile of hay or a bag of hay for each. The other night I put in snuggle sacks for them and some have never seen them. They were funny. Lap time varies 5 minutes to an hour depending on the pig.

It depends on the piggie, I guess. My ADHD piggie can't sit still for more than 5 minutes, while a piggie I had years ago, would lie on his side against my arm and fall asleep, completely relaxed. Most don't really like to be picked up, but once they're settled in your lap they don't mind or even enjoy it.

One of the piggies I have now, George, has a traumatic past and he is still afraid of basically everything. I got him used to laptime with veggies and nowadays he stretches out in my lap, chattering away (even though he is the not-so-strong silent type). You could try to get them more comfortable with lap time by giving them veggies. Then they will start to associate lap time with good things.

They're all different. I have one that runs to the side of the cage to be pet or picked up. She loves attention. My other three run to me for snacks. Two like being pet and one of those likes to sit on my lap. The other will run when we reach in to pet her. I've had some that would lift my hand with their head for me to pet them if I put my hand in the cage.

My long haired pig absolutely hates being touched at all because he used to have mites that was painful. Plus his long hair makes him more sensitive to feeling. I''ve had him for 5 years and it has improved slightly but he still won't have any of it. My other pig however will let me pat him inside of the cage if I move slowly and be gentle. But generally speaking, it's normal for pigs to run. You just have to keep at it, and they will trust you more.

ClemmyOddieIndy said:

That's normal. I've had pigs now for 7 years, and I've never had a pig that was like, "yes, please hold me!" I've had some who were more okay with being held than others, but overall guinea pigs run when you try to pick them up. Even if you were used to it, if a giant hand the size of your body swooped in and tried to pick you up you'd probably run too.

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So is it abnormal that my Nugget absolutely loves lap time? He coos and coos and goes from my lap and climbs up on my chest and is just the happiest little thing. He does sometimes run when I try to pick him up, but once I have him in my lap, he's SO SO happy.

Pigs are different. Some like lap time, some hate it. You're lucky to have one that likes it.

TexasWendy said:

So is it abnormal that my Nugget absolutely loves lap time? He coos and coos and goes from my lap and climbs up on my chest and is just the happiest little thing. He does sometimes run when I try to pick him up, but once I have him in my lap, he's SO SO happy.

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My Charlotte is very similar in that she just has to be on my chest. If i set her in my lap, she climbs up to my chest, like she just wants to be closer. She purrs and chatters like shes annoyed with me but who knows haha.

I have a similar problem with my piggies, Ive had them now for 6 weeks but within that time they have been back and forth to the vets for injections and antibiotics, I feel at the moment my piggies dont trust me as the first part of being around me and my partner they had it spent in the vets and also one had a nasty experience one of the last times we went where the vet pulled some fur out of him! i was even traumatised and complained! but anyway, I feel they dont trust me yet and I think it will take time for them to trust me enough again.

HollyLeaf said:

My Charlotte is very similar in that she just has to be on my chest. If i set her in my lap, she climbs up to my chest, like she just wants to be closer. She purrs and chatters like shes annoyed with me but who knows haha.

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Nugget enjoying lap/chest time right now

My pigs have a tendency to try to crawl up to my neck/shoulders. I usually don't let them, because I'm highly allergic to them and any contact they make with my skin makes me break out in painful hives. It's hard to resist, though, because snuggling with piggies is oh so cute.

spy9doc said:

Sorry, but I completely disagree with you. I believe that any cavy can be gentled if you are willing to invest the time necessary. They are sensitive little creatures and very intuitive insofar as sensing if you are fearful of them, anxious, impatient, handle them too roughly, or just don't want to be bothered with them. And, most of all, each of them is different and needs to be tamed in a manner consistent with the personality. No, I'm not saying that any of you are offenders with the above behaviors, but just emphasizing that it takes a lot of time and patience to be successful.

I'm basing my opinion on starting with the piggies when they're young. I would imagine that it would be far more difficult with an older animal and especially with one who has been abused. That's why I have always made it a point to start with them young........just like children. I applaud people who adopt older, troubled kids, but I just couldn't do it for my family.

My two previous cavies (who recently died) would sit to be picked up only when they were older.......five and four years old. And yet they still often ran from me, more as "catch me if you can" type behavior vs. fear. I recently acquired two little boys at 4 & 6 wks old and am still working diligently with them at almost four months. Sparky has spoiled me in that he has been so easy to train that it is a delight. Chip is a bit of a problem case in that he is high-strung, anxious.......and a biter. He has been a biter from Day 1 but I sense that it is more from fear than a temperament issue. He doesn't know the difference between a nibble and a bite! One evening last week he bit my husband's nose so forcefully that his nose was bleeding profusely. Turns out that Chip had bitten him lightly to tell him that he was tired of lap time and wanted to go home, and when Gary ignored him, he then bit forcefully. Sparky is bonded to us both, but Chip always prefers to cuddle with me. I think that will change in time.

Just remember that cavies are as individual as we are!

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I was really relieved to read your post. I just adopted guinea pigs today and they are my first and they are rescues. She told me they were cuddly but that one was shy. I was able to hold the bolder one for quite a while, but he was still scared. The more shy piggie sat in my lap for just about a minute or two and that long only because I chased him around his cage and forced him to be held.

I've run a rat rescue for 9 years and have learned that there is no black and white answer to trust training. There are some general applications that work well but in the end it comes down to learning about the individual rat.

And you have to work the person into the equation too! I am disabled and can't sit on the floor. I will have to get the piggies to the point of being able to sit in my lap and be still in order to groom them because I have a tremor, so that has to happen quickly.

They have a very large space on the floor and I put a chair in it. I can sit on the chair and hold them and I can pick them up and carry them to the sofa or to my recliner and hold them. I will be teaching them dad any of those spots are safe. When I have held them today and then put them down I hold on to them very firmly and tell them, "You're okay I won't drop you. Be still." And they have obeyed. In my experience animals understand us in some way and talking to them really helps.

I am their fourth home in one year. I adopted them from a very crowded sanctuary. I know they have some reasons not to trust and that this is a very new situation for them but I figure I better dive right in there and teach them that I am their forever home and I will take good care of them and that I am trustworthy. And I'm doing that with food! Lots of fresh, organic produce and Timothy Hay.

Already tonight I was rewarded with two little piggies running out and wheeking when I added more hay to their hay manger before I went to bed.

Again I'm so glad I read your post. I came to this forum to find out what else I could do to trust train them and everything else I read said I should keep my hands off of them until they come to me. Had I believed that I probably wouldn't have adopted them in the first place considering my situation.

Also I read in several posts of people that had never been able to hold their guinea pigs. I adopted mine because I have had to deal with so many rat deaths and have six more coming up in the next year, likely. They only live two and a half to three years so I am constantly grieving. I wanted a small animal to cuddle and to be comforting as rats won't sit still for that most of the time. (And I wanted an animal that would live longer.) If I thought I couldn't cuddle with my guinea pigs I wouldn't have adopted them.

Everything I read in the past month, before adopting, said they are great cuddlers. So I didn't understand why I kept reading on this forum that people could not handle their guinea pigs. After reading your post I realized that there is some misinformation out there and that is sad. I'm so glad I didn't leave before reading your post. That would have been so discouraging.

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@dawnmb57, this thread is from over a year ago and hasn't been posted on since. You can always find the "latest posts" on the main page.