gooster Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 A few weeks ago, I got 2 guinea pigs from one of my mum's friends. They are both babies, but not litter mates. Badger is the younger one of the 2 and Honey is a couple of weeks older. At first, I know they will be timid, whilst they get used to their new surroundings, but they don't seem to be improving. As soon as you walk into the room, they shoot into their hiding place and don't come out. Their cage has a removable platform, that gives them a hiding place and bed area. As soon as you go to get them out of their cage, they both shoot in there and if you try and get them, they zoom around the cage until you either give up, or catch them. Am just wondering if it would be worth removing the platform for a few weeks, just to help them realise that we mean them no harm, or whether it would make their stress levels worse. I want them to be happy to be handled and come out of their cage, however at the moment, they just seem to to into flight mode whenever a human goes near them. Does anyone have any ideas on how to help them realise I'm not going to kill them?! (null) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pendlewitch Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 Time, patience and a hutching board, more commonly refered to as an utchin board! It's a mini version of a pig moving board to trap block piggy into a corner, you can then pick them up with less trauma than grabbing wildly. Pick them up from underneath if you can then they won't think you are a predator looking for lunch! They can and will try jump out of your hands at first and have no idea at all about height so watch for kamikazi leaps. You could take the platform out when you want to handle them but they do like to have a hidey hole, I used to have grassy huts for mine, they loved them. Well they eventually ate them but I think they are meant to! What sex are because if you have one of each females can and will breed at 4 months and are prolific, you can have males castrated though. Two males can develop a 'relationship' but both may not be happy with this idea, two females always seem to get on ok. I love guinea pigs, pictures please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted July 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 Thanks, they are both girls. Honey is a dark eyed cream - mum and dad nicknamed her pencil case, as she tends to freeze and not really move when you get her out of the cage Badger is a Dalmatian guinea pig, also known as fast ankles, as she tends to zoom around a bit more... (null) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow Posted July 19, 2012 Report Share Posted July 19, 2012 Lots of ways to tame them - they all take time but you will need to get them used to it as you'll need to be able to trim their nails and check their teeth from time to time - not to mention having to take them out to clean out the cage. Food is a great motivator with piggies especially high value tasty things like tomatoes, leafy celery, beetroot, or corn on the cob (with the leaves and fibre on if you can) fresh grass is their #1 treat and freashly torn out smells tempting too. Open the cage door and sit with a handful of fresh torn grass, if they don't pop their heads out to see whats going on after 5 mins just drop a wee bit in the cage by the door and leave them to it. Repeat as often as you can eventually they'll associate the cage opening with something nice and will come out and take it from you. I always wheek at my piggies so they learn the sound of my voice - I do it from the bottom of the stairs on my way up so by the time I get in here they are rattling the cage and shreiking at me to hurry up lol When you do handle them again always feed them a tasty treat so they know they are going to have a reward - much the same as dogs really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pendlewitch Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Ah, just how cute are those piggies, now I want some again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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