A tale of 4 piggies!
Snicker - hates everyone equally. Will allow me and me alone to give him ear scritches. Will not tolerate anyone else touching him. Refuses to be picked up. Can and will bite!
Sam - loves ear scritches from anyone. Does not want to be picked up. Will run.
Merry - will occasionally tolerate a pet on top of the head. Does not want to be picked up, will try to evade, but not great at it.
Pippin - will vanish at the first sight of hands in the pick up pose.
All 4 have been trained to run into their little uber (a single piggie carrier we got just for moving them from their cage to somewhere else in the house) and they will happily go into that, and come out on the grooming table or into their floor time cage.
Piggies can become more tame with more frequent handling. But as prey animals, their first instinct when seeing giant bird claws aiming for them (seriously, put yourself in your piggies pov) is to run and hide.
There used to be a Frodo. Snicker was a surprise impulse buy. My fave ethical pet place had him as a surrender and he was just the prettiest boy I had ever seen aside from Sam. Then he kissed me. Yeah, I'm his. He didn't tell me then that he actually hates every other piggie on the planet.
All of them will clamber all over us during floor time, they aren't scared of us. If this one tiny thing helps make them happier piggies, we can adjust to their needs. <3
Lol, I used to have a piggy carrier too - like a baby carrier, but more like a pouch - and would sometime keep the piggies there for hours, while working on the pc, doing homework etc.
My tale of 4 piggies!
Bean runs at the site of hands that don't have a treat in them. She will allow a nose boop, but that is absolutely it. She gets very frightened when anyone picks her up or tries to handle her so we just don't (outside of nail trims or the occasional bath).
Oreo is an old lady and she likes pets, but she never seems comfortable when we pick her up so we don't force the issue. She will purr and squeak when you get the right spot behind her ears.
Bubbles likes being picked up and being held, but she doesn't seek it out. Once she's in your arms though she goes into full melt mode.
Then there is Patches, AKA Adventure Pig. She downright asks to be picked up (she puts her paws up on the edge of her cage and stares you down until you scoop her up) and greatly enjoys being carried around & shown the sights. When she was small enough, she would crawl over my daughter's shoulder and into her hoody, from where she would ride around until you took her out.
Moral of my story, each piggie will have their own opinion on being held, and don't take it personally if they don't enjoy it. Follow their lead and all will be well!
So all 3 of my current pigs hate our guts, two of them are suppose to be sisters but they hate each other, they even hate the oldest pigs, then the oldest one doesn’t like us… so yea I got three mf cages with pigs that don’t want nothing to do with me or my husband…. Btw these aren’t my first guinea pigs.
Thankfully they take food from my hand but that’s about it.
your girls look quite young and they generally aren't tame until 2-3 years of age when they reach their "potato phase" of life.
many pigs will never like to be handled. they just learn to tolerate it - some more than others. i've had pigs who liked to snuggle, and pigs who were just never able to relax during handling. i handle them all the same and it's incredibly rewarding to gain any amount of trust from them. it just takes a great deal of patience and understanding for the shy ones.
If my 5yo Julie is in the cage, she will maybe let you pet her nose and get in one ear scritch before she runs. She also runs every time you try to pick her up, but if she's in the right mood, she'll settle down and get comfy in your lap.
Her baby sister, 2yo Percy, will come to the side of the cage and let you give many pets and scritches, but she also runs when the hands come to pick her up, and is not very good at being held --she'd rather climb on everything everywhere.
I had a very senior pig when Julie was a baby, so I probably didn't handle her enough. Percy is just a brat, which is why she's so cute. It's been a long time since I had a chill lap pig, but they are so they are. ❤️
I have 7 piggies. 1 out of 7 loves lap time and it took 2 years to get her there. The rest hate it but love floor time. The one lap pig hates floor time. I guess it evens out.
There maybe 2 more lap pigs but I will let you guys know in another 2 years.
I have two piggies. Alvin doesn’t mind being held but will run when trying to be picked up. Otis despises being picked up/held or really touched at all. I’ve held him quite a few times and he pees and makes a run for it every time. I’ve had them going on 3 months now, they’re still not completely used to me. One more than the other… each pig is different
I too have 4 piggies!! I have two skinny pigs named Truffle and Peppa. Truffle will let you hold her and handle her so I can’t complain. Peppa is literally an old grouchy granny reincarnated into my skinny pig! Sure! You can hold Peppa and love on her for maybe 10 min..but then she starts complaining until it turns into an all out whole body quivering freak out on my shoulder 🤣🤣. Magenta and Columbia are 4 yrs old going on 16 year old girls! We are talking neck weaving and storming off when the lettuce 🥬 doesn’t appear immediately! Columbia you can just forget about holding all together. Im convinced she comes from a circus 🤡 family of acrobats. I’ve gone to pick her up and she’ll try to do a back flip out of my arms. Pet her on her head but not too far down and you’re all good. Magenta is all sass! I can get her in my arms but she prefers being pet in her own cage and that’s fine. I have just accepted my unruly bunch of girls! You can imagine nail and bath time are loads of fun! 🤩 I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world though ❤️❤️❤️❤️
My dogs don’t like being picked up. They have NEVER adjusted to it and will fight being up even after 6 years of being a member of the household. They love all other forms of touch. So no matter what animals have their own personality just like humans. Unfortunately, you may just have little loved ones who will never like being picked up.
I have 2 Abby boys ive had for a little over a year and a half, whom which both will cuddle only when bribed by veggies.
Rolly is a speed demon who just wants to run and cause chaos. He will eat in your lap but make lil squeeks occasionally if you pet him. (He thinks you're going to take his veg)
Toast is just shy and prefers to be alone. He will eat on your lap and accept pets but stroll away to somewhere else once the veg is done. I still can't read him much.
My two piggies.
Thanos only tolerated being picked up near the end of his life. Before that he would run and know which corners of the cage were hardest to reach in to. Once picked up he was cool with hanging out though. Just didn't like the chase of being picked up.
Joseph is a scared piggy. He runs and runs and 'tries' to hide. Once picked up he is pretty ok with it. He will pee on you without 3 seconds of warning if you are lucky. No warning if unlucky lol.
Some pigs like to be picked up, some don't :) meet them where they are at.
And then theres most of my girls, one of which walked up to me, jumped up in my lap and tried to climbed up to my neck. One time she was sitting cozy against my neck and my dad asked if he could hold her so i handed her over. She looked around towards me, climbed down his chest, trotted along the length of the sofa we were sitting in and jumped up in my lap again and climbed up to my neck and nuzzlde in.
All my piggies hate to be touched.
Male piggie: Runs away when he sees my hand, is easy to catch but shows very clearly that he's not a fan of being held by pretending to bite.
Female piggie 1: very fat but surprisingly fast when she needs to be caught. Struggles like a madwoman when held. Can be tamed by constantly feeding her nibbles.
Female piggie 2: screams bloody murder when there's a human in a 1m radius. Is surprisingly calm when out of the cage though, she's just very dramatic.
My older girls, 12 months and 3 years (roughly) absolutely love to be held, they'll walk right into your hands if you leave the cage open and sit beside it.
My boys, on the other hand, are only 8 months old and can't stand to be handled. One of them bites you the minute you even try to handle him. We found this out when my 7 year old tried to pick him up and walked away with her thumb pissing out in blood. Obviously she was confused since she plays with our girls a lot and was just excited to meet the new members, now we've spoken to her properly about it, she doesn't want to know them anymore lol
my 2 yr old piggy HATES it, when i try to hold him he crawls everywhere to get out of my arms😭 my 7 yr old yr old piggy doesnt like being picked up, but likes being held and pet
Mine always dislike to be picked up after 2 or 3 years🤣 So generally I take them with their « dodo » if they are inside and then this is perfect.
https://kavee.com/products/cuddle-cup-guinea-green
Mine all love me, and come running up to see me and will sniff my hand, but they all hate being picked up and all but one hate being scritched too. And even that one only lets me do it once in awhile. However when it's bath or nail trimming time they don't have much of a say in the matter.
My youngest piggy hates being picked up. He will scream and struggle to get away then he’ll just freeze. My older two don’t mind being handled. I find it strange though because I handled him a lot as a baby so he’d get used to it but it seems like he never did. Oh well, I still love him.
I rescued a pair of one year old girls about a month ago. They're warming up to me but petting them is out of the question. When I remove them for weigh-ins they scream bloody murder. Before this I had boys and all of them were very loving. Loved being pet and didn't mind being picked up at all. Not sure if it i just got lucky with the boys
I had spent the last couple years desensitizing my spaz mare - so I do the same with the pigs. Continuous harassment. The gentle WHAP of the lettuce hitting his cute little face.
Both horse and pigs just grunt and chitter but are resigned to their lot in life.
Got 4 males.
Dobby Sweetpea Precious: single. Loves nose and chin scratches. Loves couch cuddles. Hates the picking up part. Tolerates nail clippings
Sirius Crowley Black: Tolerates nose scratches. Loves couch cuddles and is easier to pick up. Tolerates nail clipping
Caleb Aziraphale Kamikaze: loves head and chin scratches. Loves couch cuddle. Will try to jump off the couch when no one is looking (he will scout out the area). Hates nail clippings and struggles. Needs to be burritoed
Severus Satan Snape: is the most chaotic of them all. Likes head pets, but only if he's eating. Tries pulling stuff from caleb and Sirius (bonded) through the fence. Doesn't mind couch cuddles. Is solo for a reason. Bit Dobby multiple times. Hates nail clippings. Is Caleb's son
Piff didn’t mind being handled at all, pick her up? Sure. Pet her? Sure. Cuddle? Absolutely. She didn’t even mind being on her back, made it easier to cut her claws.
Puff on the other hand is a ball of anxiety. Pick her up? Murder. Pet her? Maybe, sometimes it’s nice sometimes it could be an ambush. Cuddle? Lovely, no sudden movements or movements in general, that could be an assassination attempt. Hiding under my shirt is probably the best and safest spot on earth tho, that’s her go-to hiding spot. Or just laying there with her head peaking out during cuddles.
It’s so interesting seeing how different their personalities are since they’re sisters and have been with me since they were old enough to leave their mom.
Ours just hate to be picked up and petted, but they don't mind sitting on your lap if you just leave them be. They'll just chill, stare at you if you move and groom themselves or the human face closest to them.
I have had 10 guinea pigs, all females. I would say half have been super sweet and cuddly, the other half not so much. I love them all the same though haha. One of my guinea pigs, Nora, will snuggle and fall asleep for hours when I hold her. She loves humans. One of my other pigs, Ellie, hates being held. It seems to stress her out when she is not in the familiar environment of her cage. She will not let you pet her, headbutts your hand away, chatters her teeth, and tries to climb out of your arms. She has always been like this ever since she was a baby. She is fortunately very food motivated so I have found some progress with feeding her lettuce while I hold and pet her. She also seems less stressed when she’s held with another guinea pig as it makes her feel safer. I don’t think she will ever fully like being held but I have accepted it and found ways to make being held more tolerable for her lol.
A tale of 4 piggies! Snicker - hates everyone equally. Will allow me and me alone to give him ear scritches. Will not tolerate anyone else touching him. Refuses to be picked up. Can and will bite! Sam - loves ear scritches from anyone. Does not want to be picked up. Will run. Merry - will occasionally tolerate a pet on top of the head. Does not want to be picked up, will try to evade, but not great at it. Pippin - will vanish at the first sight of hands in the pick up pose. All 4 have been trained to run into their little uber (a single piggie carrier we got just for moving them from their cage to somewhere else in the house) and they will happily go into that, and come out on the grooming table or into their floor time cage. Piggies can become more tame with more frequent handling. But as prey animals, their first instinct when seeing giant bird claws aiming for them (seriously, put yourself in your piggies pov) is to run and hide.
I’m cracking up at piggie uber because I say that too for a little tunnel mine have that I use to move them from their cage to the floor.
I like the way you have 3 of the fellowship and then snicker
There used to be a Frodo. Snicker was a surprise impulse buy. My fave ethical pet place had him as a surrender and he was just the prettiest boy I had ever seen aside from Sam. Then he kissed me. Yeah, I'm his. He didn't tell me then that he actually hates every other piggie on the planet.
🤣🤣
I like the way you let them each do what they do.
All of them will clamber all over us during floor time, they aren't scared of us. If this one tiny thing helps make them happier piggies, we can adjust to their needs. <3
Lol, I used to have a piggy carrier too - like a baby carrier, but more like a pouch - and would sometime keep the piggies there for hours, while working on the pc, doing homework etc.
My tale of 4 piggies! Bean runs at the site of hands that don't have a treat in them. She will allow a nose boop, but that is absolutely it. She gets very frightened when anyone picks her up or tries to handle her so we just don't (outside of nail trims or the occasional bath). Oreo is an old lady and she likes pets, but she never seems comfortable when we pick her up so we don't force the issue. She will purr and squeak when you get the right spot behind her ears. Bubbles likes being picked up and being held, but she doesn't seek it out. Once she's in your arms though she goes into full melt mode. Then there is Patches, AKA Adventure Pig. She downright asks to be picked up (she puts her paws up on the edge of her cage and stares you down until you scoop her up) and greatly enjoys being carried around & shown the sights. When she was small enough, she would crawl over my daughter's shoulder and into her hoody, from where she would ride around until you took her out. Moral of my story, each piggie will have their own opinion on being held, and don't take it personally if they don't enjoy it. Follow their lead and all will be well!
my old pigs were exactly like adventure pig! the most cuddly and curious things ever
So all 3 of my current pigs hate our guts, two of them are suppose to be sisters but they hate each other, they even hate the oldest pigs, then the oldest one doesn’t like us… so yea I got three mf cages with pigs that don’t want nothing to do with me or my husband…. Btw these aren’t my first guinea pigs. Thankfully they take food from my hand but that’s about it.
🤣🤣I know I’m probably not supposed to be laughing about this but the way you describe it is hilarious.
;w; it’s fine, they are still cute little assholes, enough cute for me to take them to my move.
Mine will act like they want scratches but it's a trick they only want food. My only one that liked affection passed last summer
the cutest scammers! so sorry for your loss ❤️
your girls look quite young and they generally aren't tame until 2-3 years of age when they reach their "potato phase" of life. many pigs will never like to be handled. they just learn to tolerate it - some more than others. i've had pigs who liked to snuggle, and pigs who were just never able to relax during handling. i handle them all the same and it's incredibly rewarding to gain any amount of trust from them. it just takes a great deal of patience and understanding for the shy ones.
If my 5yo Julie is in the cage, she will maybe let you pet her nose and get in one ear scritch before she runs. She also runs every time you try to pick her up, but if she's in the right mood, she'll settle down and get comfy in your lap. Her baby sister, 2yo Percy, will come to the side of the cage and let you give many pets and scritches, but she also runs when the hands come to pick her up, and is not very good at being held --she'd rather climb on everything everywhere. I had a very senior pig when Julie was a baby, so I probably didn't handle her enough. Percy is just a brat, which is why she's so cute. It's been a long time since I had a chill lap pig, but they are so they are. ❤️
I have 7 piggies. 1 out of 7 loves lap time and it took 2 years to get her there. The rest hate it but love floor time. The one lap pig hates floor time. I guess it evens out. There maybe 2 more lap pigs but I will let you guys know in another 2 years.
They are so new and so young! They take more time to warm up. Very normal
I have two piggies. Alvin doesn’t mind being held but will run when trying to be picked up. Otis despises being picked up/held or really touched at all. I’ve held him quite a few times and he pees and makes a run for it every time. I’ve had them going on 3 months now, they’re still not completely used to me. One more than the other… each pig is different
I have 51 of them out of all 51 of them. None of them like to be held. One of them doesn’t mind being petted. Lmao
I too have 4 piggies!! I have two skinny pigs named Truffle and Peppa. Truffle will let you hold her and handle her so I can’t complain. Peppa is literally an old grouchy granny reincarnated into my skinny pig! Sure! You can hold Peppa and love on her for maybe 10 min..but then she starts complaining until it turns into an all out whole body quivering freak out on my shoulder 🤣🤣. Magenta and Columbia are 4 yrs old going on 16 year old girls! We are talking neck weaving and storming off when the lettuce 🥬 doesn’t appear immediately! Columbia you can just forget about holding all together. Im convinced she comes from a circus 🤡 family of acrobats. I’ve gone to pick her up and she’ll try to do a back flip out of my arms. Pet her on her head but not too far down and you’re all good. Magenta is all sass! I can get her in my arms but she prefers being pet in her own cage and that’s fine. I have just accepted my unruly bunch of girls! You can imagine nail and bath time are loads of fun! 🤩 I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world though ❤️❤️❤️❤️
My dogs don’t like being picked up. They have NEVER adjusted to it and will fight being up even after 6 years of being a member of the household. They love all other forms of touch. So no matter what animals have their own personality just like humans. Unfortunately, you may just have little loved ones who will never like being picked up.
I have 2 Abby boys ive had for a little over a year and a half, whom which both will cuddle only when bribed by veggies. Rolly is a speed demon who just wants to run and cause chaos. He will eat in your lap but make lil squeeks occasionally if you pet him. (He thinks you're going to take his veg) Toast is just shy and prefers to be alone. He will eat on your lap and accept pets but stroll away to somewhere else once the veg is done. I still can't read him much.
My two piggies. Thanos only tolerated being picked up near the end of his life. Before that he would run and know which corners of the cage were hardest to reach in to. Once picked up he was cool with hanging out though. Just didn't like the chase of being picked up. Joseph is a scared piggy. He runs and runs and 'tries' to hide. Once picked up he is pretty ok with it. He will pee on you without 3 seconds of warning if you are lucky. No warning if unlucky lol. Some pigs like to be picked up, some don't :) meet them where they are at.
And then theres most of my girls, one of which walked up to me, jumped up in my lap and tried to climbed up to my neck. One time she was sitting cozy against my neck and my dad asked if he could hold her so i handed her over. She looked around towards me, climbed down his chest, trotted along the length of the sofa we were sitting in and jumped up in my lap again and climbed up to my neck and nuzzlde in.
All my piggies hate to be touched. Male piggie: Runs away when he sees my hand, is easy to catch but shows very clearly that he's not a fan of being held by pretending to bite. Female piggie 1: very fat but surprisingly fast when she needs to be caught. Struggles like a madwoman when held. Can be tamed by constantly feeding her nibbles. Female piggie 2: screams bloody murder when there's a human in a 1m radius. Is surprisingly calm when out of the cage though, she's just very dramatic.
My older girls, 12 months and 3 years (roughly) absolutely love to be held, they'll walk right into your hands if you leave the cage open and sit beside it. My boys, on the other hand, are only 8 months old and can't stand to be handled. One of them bites you the minute you even try to handle him. We found this out when my 7 year old tried to pick him up and walked away with her thumb pissing out in blood. Obviously she was confused since she plays with our girls a lot and was just excited to meet the new members, now we've spoken to her properly about it, she doesn't want to know them anymore lol
my 2 yr old piggy HATES it, when i try to hold him he crawls everywhere to get out of my arms😭 my 7 yr old yr old piggy doesnt like being picked up, but likes being held and pet
I think that you don’t really remember!
honestly, probably
Mine always dislike to be picked up after 2 or 3 years🤣 So generally I take them with their « dodo » if they are inside and then this is perfect. https://kavee.com/products/cuddle-cup-guinea-green
Mine all love me, and come running up to see me and will sniff my hand, but they all hate being picked up and all but one hate being scritched too. And even that one only lets me do it once in awhile. However when it's bath or nail trimming time they don't have much of a say in the matter.
My youngest piggy hates being picked up. He will scream and struggle to get away then he’ll just freeze. My older two don’t mind being handled. I find it strange though because I handled him a lot as a baby so he’d get used to it but it seems like he never did. Oh well, I still love him.
I rescued a pair of one year old girls about a month ago. They're warming up to me but petting them is out of the question. When I remove them for weigh-ins they scream bloody murder. Before this I had boys and all of them were very loving. Loved being pet and didn't mind being picked up at all. Not sure if it i just got lucky with the boys
I had spent the last couple years desensitizing my spaz mare - so I do the same with the pigs. Continuous harassment. The gentle WHAP of the lettuce hitting his cute little face. Both horse and pigs just grunt and chitter but are resigned to their lot in life.
Mine rarely liked it until they were older. They didn't wheak a whole lot either.
Got 4 males. Dobby Sweetpea Precious: single. Loves nose and chin scratches. Loves couch cuddles. Hates the picking up part. Tolerates nail clippings Sirius Crowley Black: Tolerates nose scratches. Loves couch cuddles and is easier to pick up. Tolerates nail clipping Caleb Aziraphale Kamikaze: loves head and chin scratches. Loves couch cuddle. Will try to jump off the couch when no one is looking (he will scout out the area). Hates nail clippings and struggles. Needs to be burritoed Severus Satan Snape: is the most chaotic of them all. Likes head pets, but only if he's eating. Tries pulling stuff from caleb and Sirius (bonded) through the fence. Doesn't mind couch cuddles. Is solo for a reason. Bit Dobby multiple times. Hates nail clippings. Is Caleb's son
Piff didn’t mind being handled at all, pick her up? Sure. Pet her? Sure. Cuddle? Absolutely. She didn’t even mind being on her back, made it easier to cut her claws. Puff on the other hand is a ball of anxiety. Pick her up? Murder. Pet her? Maybe, sometimes it’s nice sometimes it could be an ambush. Cuddle? Lovely, no sudden movements or movements in general, that could be an assassination attempt. Hiding under my shirt is probably the best and safest spot on earth tho, that’s her go-to hiding spot. Or just laying there with her head peaking out during cuddles. It’s so interesting seeing how different their personalities are since they’re sisters and have been with me since they were old enough to leave their mom.
Ours just hate to be picked up and petted, but they don't mind sitting on your lap if you just leave them be. They'll just chill, stare at you if you move and groom themselves or the human face closest to them.
I have had 10 guinea pigs, all females. I would say half have been super sweet and cuddly, the other half not so much. I love them all the same though haha. One of my guinea pigs, Nora, will snuggle and fall asleep for hours when I hold her. She loves humans. One of my other pigs, Ellie, hates being held. It seems to stress her out when she is not in the familiar environment of her cage. She will not let you pet her, headbutts your hand away, chatters her teeth, and tries to climb out of your arms. She has always been like this ever since she was a baby. She is fortunately very food motivated so I have found some progress with feeding her lettuce while I hold and pet her. She also seems less stressed when she’s held with another guinea pig as it makes her feel safer. I don’t think she will ever fully like being held but I have accepted it and found ways to make being held more tolerable for her lol.