Piggies still afraid of me

[newcavymom]

I've had my two boys since March 2005, and they still run from me. When I feed them, they run for cover. When I clean their cage, they run around the cage and make it hard for me to pick them up.

They also spend a lot of time hiding under their bedding instead of using the hiding places I've put out for them. I use cloth bedding so every time they get under there it messes up the environment.

Help me make my piggies like me.
Thanks!

 

[aqh88]

Guinea pigs are prey animals and they have not been bred specifically to be friendly. I would say they are far less domesticated than some other animals because other animals that run away tend to not be kept and bred. With guinea pigs majority of the people that have bred them haven't paid attention to personality. Some will never get used to people and will always run away. Some are born being friendly.
What's helped with our guinea pigs is just letting them wander around a whole room while we watch a movie, play games, or use the laptops. Chris also can't leave them alone for more than a few hours before he's scooping one out of the cage. The more they are out seeing the house the less they run away. At first it was almost impossible to just catch them in the cage but yesterday Chris walked up to Snickers while she was loose in the room and just picked her up. She didn't even try to run. Another thing that helped alot was making them come get the veggies or treats out of my hand without picking them up. Just hold out lettuce with 1 hand while squishing a bag with the other and they won't resist. You might have to start with setting the lettuce down in the cage and just standing there at first then work your way up to having them take it from your hand. Do not catch the pigs untill at least a half hour later or they will associate coming near you with being grabbed. Always when you pick them up treats and some floortime. Usually I find Rolo out sitting on a couch or the coffee table at least 5 times a day because of Chris. She also shares anything he's eating no matter how many times I say that's not guinea pig food.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

I have had one of my pigs for 8 1/2 months and she still runs like a bat outta heck when I go to pick her up. It's their natural instinct to run. It doesn't really have anything to do with whether your pig likes you or not. Just scoop your pig up quickly and give lots of lap/cuddle time. Chatty hates the picking up part, but she loves laptime.

What type of cloth bedding are you using?

 

[newcavymom]

I have had one of my pigs for 8 1/2 months and she still runs like a bat outta heck when I go to pick her up. It's their natural instinct to run. It doesn't really have anything to do with whether your pig likes you or not. Just scoop your pig up quickly and give lots of lap/cuddle time. Chatty hates the picking up part, but she loves laptime.

What type of cloth bedding are you using?

Good to hear I'm not the only one they're running from. They do like to sit with me when I finally catch them.

For bedding I use newspapers, then towels, then a fleece blanket topper.

 

[My Baby Mu]

My pig Mu doesn't run if he is in his cage (floortime is a different story from Mu's point "I don't want to go back never!!!!") The other two run. I won Mu over by treats that was the main thing.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

I use fleece too, but I put sheets or mattress pads under it with newspaper or puppy pads next to the coroplast. I am having the same problem with my boys getting under the fleece too. I put binder clips around to hold the fleece but they still manage to get under it. The girls have never gotten under the fleece.

 

[RubyPiggie2]

You guys could try velcro- it's incredibly cheap.

I have had my pig for over a YEAR and she still runs when I go to pick her up. She dosen't even like me petting her! She'll come up to me, but is still a little frightened. Her mom comes up to me, dosen't like to be pet but dosen't run when I pick her up and likes lap time. Weird.
My boy Simon is the FRIENDLIEST pig I know! He lets ANYBODY touch him.. Even people he's never seen before, and even lets people pick him up at anytime- cept when he's eating. He's always been a loner and I've just spent so much darn time with him, and he's so friendly. Dosen't seem lonely at all, he's got a cage full of girls next to him and his brother in the cage over.

 

[newcavymom]

I thought of velcro last night as I was cleaning their cage. I'm going to try it.

 

[AmiableAnimals]

My 4 personal pigs will come over to the side o the cage when I enter the room, to beg for food, but if I reach in the cage they scatter. I have had them more than two tears now . . .

 

[Binas Cavys]

Wow, I just got my piggies and they are very scared of me. I hope they start to like me more.
-Bina

 

[aqh88]

Out of all the animals I've kept guinea pigs have to be the most difficult to tame. To really get one to come to you, be petted, picked up, and not run away takes alot of work over months. We've had guinea pigs since I was 2years old. The only ones we've had that were that tame was 2 adults and then babies that were born at our house and we played with constantly. I had a female and the 2 female babies living loose in my room with me when I was about 12. They had a pet carrier with their water bottle on it and a litter box in every corner. The mother, Pie, would run up to me and let me carry her around everywhere. She loved being around people except she would pee on anyone that held her besides me. The other was a male we adopted named Oreo. Every morning I opened his cage at the end of my bed and put his ramp up. He'd run down the ramp and out into the kitchen where he'd stand on my mom or sister's feet begging for food. After he got his veggie he'd take it behind the couch to his box and eat it then spend most of the day running around the house and for the most part returned to his cage to pee. After a guinea pig has been chased around the cage a few times it's nearly impossible to tame them to that point. Which means by the time you've changed the cage a few times and caught the guinea pigs to keep them out of the way they've already associated you with chasing them. One of Pie's babies is now 8years old and still runs up to people. He spent most of his life in my aunt's 2nd grade classroom and he's one of the few pigs that actually loved the commotion of 20 little kids. He's a bit lost now that he's retired from teaching.

 

[Tiffany]

Of course, both my pigs run from me when they don't want to be picked up or if I move too fast or they are in the mood... Something that helped Fritz be less afraid of us was that we gave him a higher place by putting the cage on a higher table. I think that now he can see we are his people and not giant scary torsos. Sometimes he still runs though.

 

[cutemomome]

Don't worry newcavymom, I've adopted my 2 girls around the time as you had your boys, and each time I try to pick them up, I am TEMPTED to sign them up to the 100m dash event in the Piggy Olympics!

Beibei comes over to the cloroplast and stick her ehad WAY OUT to scream "mommy, cuddle". Meimei will waddle her butt at me if I come anywhere with a mile from her... Every pig is different, but rest assured, you are not the only one with running piggies!
Momo