Nervous guinea pig... normal?

Question

my female guinea pig who is three years old is always nervous and never interacts with any of my family memebers. she hates to be picked up, petted, or even touched. she'd come up to you if you have lettuce but she's freeze and you have to wait about a minute for her to start to ease up and come up to us. whenever i get up from the floor (because thats where her cage is locaated) she bolts into her shelter den which we made for her. i really wish that she would ease up a little and would start to enjoy getting picked up. we just got her last monday so i guess its normals but she squeaks and cooes (the bad cooing, not the good cooing) whenever i try to pick her up and she bites and scratches. any methods of making her feel less hand shy?

Answer 1

that is normal trust me.

i remember when i first got my 2 guinea pigs it took them about 2-3 weeks for them to earn my trust.

they would hardly come out of thier igloos house and would even be afraid to take food from me =/

but now ive hadf them for 3 months and added a new girl piggie to the group and are more comfortable with humans. only one is really scared still.

but my other two love to be picked up or touched.

trust me its just a matter of time

plus you said your guinea pig is 3 years old so maybe she isnt used to humans as much.

heres a video of my lovely guinea pigs hope you enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MX3JKkIw...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19BdLpwep...

Answer 2

thats how mine is too

Answer 3

How often are you taking her out of her cage/interacting with her? Does she have the company of another guinea pig? Guinea pigs are very social animals and they need the company of another guinea pig.

My female guinea pig was the same way a couple of years ago, but ever since I learned that guinea pigs were social animals and got a second guinea pig, she hasn't been as nervous. I'm not giving you a 100% guarantee that she'll get better with a cage mate, but just letting you know what I done and what happened.

If you can't get another guinea pig, take her out her cage several times a day and give her special treats like carrots or lettuce she might get more tame. But, if she weren't handled often or correctly when she was young she might not become more tame ever.

P.S. If she always bites when you try to pick her up, use a oven mitt.

Answer 4

If she's three years old and you've only had her a week, I'd say she has not had sufficient time to get used to you, her new environment, or your family.

Guinea pigs are naturally skittish prey animals ---that is their instinct. They run & hide or sometimes "freeze" when they perceive danger or feel threatened. She does not understand yet that you don't want to eat her. Having said that, give the poor girl some time. It could take her up to six months to relax in your presence, considering she may have had a less than perfect life before you came along. She is a product of her environment and the behaviour you're seeing is a result of that.

It takes time to build a relationship with your piggie, but if you'll take it slow and be persistent and loving, she'll come around. It will be worth it.

Answer 5

my guinea pig is the same way, its pretty for them to act that way but i recommend that you take your guinea pig out of its cage for longer periods of time and maybe even take it outside but watch out for birds and keep it close to you. another way to help calm your guinea pig down is to put a towel on your lap and put your guinea pig on the towel and pet her for a long time.