Bonding I Frightened my guinea pigs :(

[yougotchinked]

Hello everyone!

I recently purchased two guinea pigs from Petco on Tuesday with a decent size cage( The cage has a stair and a tunnel below it). Their names are Yaya and BenBen, the two are females. I think they are around 4 weeks old and possibly they are siblings, despite they don't are similar in color.

Just now, I frightened my guinea pigs. 1 hour ago, I believe I got impatient and handled them too early because I was reading posts and it tempted me to try to interact with my piggies. I went to put my hand inside their little tunnel where they hide often every time they see me closely. Then I decided to pick up BenBen and she was squealing nervously but I continued to grab as gently as possible out of its cage. Her heart was beating really fast, but then as I continued to pet it, I think it got calm. This is the first time I interacted with my piggie. I laid back as it relaxed and I let it lie on my stomach then when it noticed my hands were off it, it ran away to my desk where there's a small tunnel. I got nervous when it went under the tunnel connected to the desk because it was really dirty and I didn't want it to be in there. So I went on to grab it, but it was really difficult. The tunnel was much tighter and difficult than the one in the cage. So I had to grab it slightly more harshly, but not too harsh. It started to bite me but I just let it and continued to grab it. I feel like on the last grab to get benben out was too rough. It bit me and squeaked really loudly for the first time. I may have injured it when, I was trying to grab it. After grabbing it I cuddled it and apologized to her saying constantly sorry. I tried to pet her to calm her but her heart rate wasn't going down so I just placed her back in the cage where she could be with yaya.

Right now, I feel absolutely terrible. I feel like I lost all trust for Benben and she is probably going to tell yaya as well. But most of all I feel sad that she might not forgive me forever. I feel really discouraged. I know that I handled it pretty roughly. I should have not grabbed it when it was still in the cage. Nor should I have went after her when she went to hide under the desk's tunnel. I should have waited it out because she will eventually come out. I just feel awful, is there any way for me to regain benben's trust again or will she forever be frightened by me?

On a daily Benben likes to eat constantly with yaya. However, benben is more brave and comes out to eat more even when Im next to them on my computer desk. Yaya likes to hide under the tunnel, but at night she comes out and eats a lot. The two have unlimited resource of hay as well as food and water. The cage is decently wide.

Well the question is, "Benben going to be afraid of me forever? IF not how can I regain her trust again?"

I want to become a better guinea pig owner.

Thank you for reading it to the end.

 

[bpatters]

First, turn both pigs over and compare their pertinent parts to make sure you've got the same sex. If they look different, separate them immediately. Guinea pigs can breed at around four weeks of age, but pregnancy and delivery are VERY hard on young sows especially, and the death rate is high.

Second. no cage sole in a pet store is large enough for two guinea pigs. You need at least eight square feet at a minimum, and shelves are useless. You can probably clean it up and return it to get your money back. See https://www.guineapigcages.com for information on recommended cage sizes and how to build a C&C cage, or see https://www.guineapigcagesstore.com for how to purchase one.

Your pig is not permanently traumatized. Just keep feeding her, and she'll come around. Food works miracles at soothing offended guinea pigs.

Here's some recommended reading for new guinea pig owners:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/113176-Information-for-new-guinea-pig-owners
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/107827-What-NOT-to-do-for-your-guinea-pigs!