Bringing Them Home

Guinea pigs are prey animals and instinctively wary of larger mammals and humans, and they are usually very shy and timid as youngsters. One of the most common questions I'm asked is "will my guinea pigs become tame?" and as I say to everyone, yes they will become tame with time, patience and interaction.

When you bring your new guinea pigs home, they're going to be scared of the new smells and surroundings and their first instinct is to hide from you, which is completely normal and nothing to worry about. At this early stage the best thing to do is to give them a couple of days to adjust to their new home in peace and quiet with little interaction with you. This will help to reduce their stress.

Place their feed and water near to their hiding place but not so close that they don't need to come out of hiding for it. By positioning their feed and water in this way, you are encouraging them to learn that it's safe to leave their safe spot and venture into the surrounding area.

First Contact

Once they've had a couple of days of peace to settle in, you can start to introduce yourself to them. A great start is to talk to them as you pass their hutch or cage to associate them with your voice. Putting your hand slowly into their home to change feed and water can also be used to make first contact because you can leave your hand in there for them to sniff and check out.

At dinner time hold vegetables out to them in your hand and wait and see if they creep out to take it from you. You should stay very still and quiet when trying this as small movements will frighten a timid guinea pig. It may take several days or weeks before your guinea pigs feel safe enough to actually take the food from your hand but it's worth the time and effort.

Eventually, after enough time spent gaining their trust by taking food from your hand, you might be able to stroke them. Again, do this slowly and quietly and take your time.

Attempts to pick the guinea pigs up should begin after the first few days grace of settling in time and after the guinea pigs have spent a further few days or couple of weeks becoming familiar with their new home and family.

When trying to pick them up you need to avoid chasing them around the hutch or cage as this will greatly upset them. Use your hands to slowly herd the guinea pig into a corner and then place one hand under the bottom and the other under the belly. Hold the guinea pig tightly to your chest and talk to it while wrapping it in a clean towel to help the guinea pig to feel safe.

The best place for bonding is sitting comfortably in front of the telly with some fresh vegetables to hand as a treat. Stroke the guinea pig gently but firmly going from the shoulders down to the rump.