Taming a Guinea Pig

Guinea pigs are extremely fearful and distrustful animals towards new people, especially females. Males are usually a bit more courageous and find their way around people more quickly. Taming a guinea pig can be quite time-consuming and can take up to several months.

It is important to remember that if a guinea pig is scared in the face of a threat, which it thinks is an unknown person, it will freeze with fear or simply run away. It will not be able to run a long distance because its small heart cannot handle it and it may suffer a heart attack if it runs for a longer period of time. Therefore, guinea pigs should not be stressed by us too much. Even a change of place of residence, a new cage, a new smell or sound around is stressful for the animal. In the first days in a new room, do not add to the stress for the guinea pigs and do not take them out of the cage. During the first three days, we should give the guinea pigs time to acclimatize.

To tame a guinea pig, we should first and foremost arm ourselves with patience. The taming period can take up to several months. Some guinea pigs will tame faster, others slower. Some guinea pigs are more trusting and open, while others are less so. It is definitely easier to tame a curious guinea pig than one that prefers to stay in the corner of the cage or house.

The initial taming task on our part should be to sit quietly near the cage and watch the animals. Remember that fast and impulsive movements will make the guinea pigs scared and run away to their house, where they feel most secure. Noises are also not good for taming, so let's turn off the TV. So that nothing disturbs us or the pigs. Sitting near the cage, we can start talking to the animals in a gentle voice. They will quickly get used to it and after some time, they will know that they are not in danger from us and can feel safe.

If the guinea pigs no longer hide in the house when they see us, we can go a little further in their taming. The next task will be to teach the pigs that when we are near them, something nice will always happen to them. Therefore, we should stock up on treats such as fresh dandelions, grass, chicory or cucumber and give them to the pigs straight from your hand. At first, they will be afraid of us. We should not shove food directly into their mouths. Guinea pigs have an extremely sensitive sense of smell and sight. They will know perfectly well what you have in your hand. However, they will think for a long time before reaching for the treat. It may take even a minute. It is best to approach them near feeding, then they will not resist for too long. At the same time, we can start touching them - scratching them lightly behind the ears, on the back and under the chin (they will then raise their noses and make incredibly funny faces!).

When the animal trusts us and does not run away during everyday touching and eats from our hand. We can slowly start putting them on our laps. They will certainly be afraid at first. We can tell this by the "freezing" of the guinea pig, it will not make any movements, and its pupils will dilate so much that the whites of its eyes will be visible.

The guinea pig will eventually relax as it gets to know us, our warmth and petting. Its body will then become soft and it will start to move its hind leg to the side and will put its head on our shoulder or knee. If it likes petting, it will start to jump gently. We can then assume that the guinea pig has been tamed.