Any guinea pig experts around?

[PJ's Mom]

As you may know, we have 2 guinea pigs...Herbert and Wilbur. Wilbur is my pig, and although I'm horribly allergic to him, I try to spend some time with him every day.

Wilbur is around 9 months old, and he hates me. He won't let me pick him up without a struggle, and he'd rather be anywhere else than with me. When we spend time together, I usually take him out of his cage and let him run on my king size bed, where he gets to eat a little apple and some parsley.

I've seen some of the other piggies on this site and they don't seem to be nearly as high strung as Wilbur.

Is there anything I can do to make him a little more tame?

[Amber]

Im not a piggie expert, but maybe try talking to him in a smoothe voice everyday. then maybe try putting you hand in the cage, and try petting him. When he gets comfortable try picting him up. When he does good offer yummy treats. then hopefully he will gain your trust.

hoped I help a little.

[PayItForward]

I'm no expert either but I used to be owned by a Gpig and bunny when I was a kid.

Lucky the Gpig, never liked being picked up either.

I remember reading that Gpig should never be lifted off the ground. It causes too much stress, as naturally they would live at ground level.

But this was 20 years ago, when it was recommended that bunnies & Gpigs should be housed together in outside hutches. So that advice may be very outdated.

What about ringing your vets for advice over the phone ?

Good Luck

[wolfie]

Hi!

Is Wilbur an abysinnian pig? Because my Amelia is, and she doesn't like to be held, and isn't very tame, and bit me a couple times. I though it was something I did, but I read that some lines of abysinnians are like that.

In the end I just gave up - she's happier not being petted and held, so I just take Lily out. I still love Amelia very much, and give her lots of love, but I just don't take her out, because she doesn't like it.

Oh, and they have a big C&C cage, so it's not like by not taking her out she doesn't get any excersise!


Edit: Oh, and in the pic in my sig, you can see that Lily is just alone on the grass, but I'm holding Amelia - and she's struggling to get away! Lily just sat happily on the grass, but if I tried to put Amelia down to take her pic she'd run away. So you're not alone!

[PJ's Mom]

Wilbur is a regular old guinea pig. He's got the same short coat as your Lily (who is very cute!)

I guess it's good to know that I'm not the only one.

Have any of you tried walking your pig on a lease? I bought a harness and leash for Wilbur. He hates it!

[cali]

remeber the piggies are prey animals, there is the occasinal piggie who enjoys being held, and being with people but its rare. mine all run and scatter when I walk into the room, piggies are hardly like rabbits at all. I know kari runs to greet me, but the piggs run and scatter, they have all been handled from birth(litterally they were born here). wilber is just being a regular ol' piggie

[PJ's Mom]

Ok, good. Whew!

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

[wolfie]

Maybe Lily's the oddball then!

And no, I've never tried a pig harness - but I have looked at them in the store. I thought how funny it'd look if I walked them down the street. lol

[PJ's Mom]

I wish I could get Wilbur on tape wearing his. He's so funny. He runs really fast in circles. I quit putting it on him when he did the back flip.

[RubyMutt]

I've had two piggies in the past. They were both incredibly tame and sweet (and they were both abyssinians). The only thing I would suggest is just to keep on socializing with him I spent A LOT of personal hands on time with my piggies so maybe that's why they got so lovey. Either that, or I was just lucky to get two oddly friendly piggies

I'll see I can dig up some old photos of them. They were such sweeties. Cuddles, the male, was primarily black with a white band around his middle. Cream Puff, the female, was white with a cream colored patch on her bum

I'd love to see photos of all your piggies! They're defiantly one of my favorite animals

Oh yeah, I had a harness as well! Lol, they weren't much for walking though. They mostly just liked to sit around and nibble on grass

Well, good luck! I'm not sure how much help I was, but I just can't resist a post about piggies!

[PJ's Mom]

Do any of you have two males together? Herbert is 3, Wilbur around 1. If I put them together, they either fight or um...well, let's just say Herbert thinks Wilbur is sexy.

How can we get them to be friends?

[cali]

herbert is just dominat over wilber thats why they fight, neither wants to be below the other. I personaly have 3 males in one cage, and 2 in another. it used to be 3 and 3, but smudge was causing problems(he is VERY tough, he is dominant over a bunny twice his size, he has total control of kari. he was doing this to the other boys as well but they would not take it! however you would have to do slow introductions on neutral ground. mine are generally fine because they are related, smores and patch have lived with friskit just about there who lives, as soon as they were old enugh to leave there mom they lived with friskit, spud and blizzard have lived together since birth, before birth technicly lol they are litter mates. I have never put unrealted males together but with proper intros it could work

[Merry]

You might want to post on this board, if you haven't already

www.cavycompendium.com

There are lots of piggy experts there who would be more than happy to help you

In my opinion, it sounds like it's just the little guys personality. Some piggies don't like to be held or handled. You're doing the right thing though, giving him treats and stuff.

Good luck

[tatsxxx11]

Merry just posted posted the link I was going to suggest. There are so many experienced piggie Moms there, happy to offer supoprt and excellent advice. I've had 3 piggies total...and 1 foster with babies Happily, all of them have come to love being held and will gladly sit on my lap forever, enjoying chin skritches and purrring up a storm. Mine have all been rescues and I noticed that initially, some were more skittish about being picked up than the others. A lot of rescues are turned in due to "no time." I doubt if many of them have ever been handled at all! My Moon was the biggest wiggly worm imaginable! But I persisted, picking her up and holding her safely in my lap, talking to her and petting her gently and with each passing week she became more and more accustomed to being handled and picked up. Of couse, they all have their own distinct personalities and some are just naturally more skittish. But constant socialization plays a big role in making your piggie more accepting of human touch Piggies are definitely "social" animals and most actually crave the attention of humans, especially if they don't have a piggie pal! While at the shelter, I asked if a male/male, female/female or female/male (one spayed/neutered of course) was best. They said that it really depends on the pigs! I do my introductions gradually and monitor their interactions to get a better idea of how they will respond to each other. Right now I have 2 females, unrelated, that get along great, though Moon is definitely the pushier one! Good luck and keep up the good work! And keep us updated!

[Rowan815]

I have two piggies- two females named Karma and Kismet. They are both very shy, and hate to be held. I try to spend time with them , but they'd rather be off exploring on their own than having anything to do with me

I have had snuggly piggies in the past, but these two definitely are not. Like someone said in a previous post- they are prey animals- anything bigger than them is usually seen as an enemy. Mine run like the hounds of hell are after them when I put my hands in their pen. Try to approach Wilbur from his level, and slowly, rather than reaching straight down and scooping him up. Its instinct for them to take flight when you do that, because they are a favorite food of birds of prey in the wild.

Good luck with Wilbur