How to hand-tame piggies?

Having had my gorgeous piggies for almost two years my biggest failure is getting them to enjoy being handled.

Does anyone know where I'm going wrong? They hate to be touched, despite their curiosity, and when I eventually DO pick them up (only when necessary) they're terrified. Does anyone have any hints or tips for me?

AMETHYST

Sorry i don,t.My piggies are exactly the same.One is alot better than the others but they all hate being handled.

all i can reccomend is to handle them alot,
I have Star (male) who is the cheekiest of piggies, who always comes to say hello,and has never been very shy, he hates the initial pick up, but then settles on my lap for cuddles and will actually sleep on me, his wifey Maisy is very timid, and will run away from me, once I hold her though she is fine (although always wees on me).
Charlie (male) always runs away from me, but I have had him a year now and he is much better, and once caught loves being stroked under his chin.
His wife toffee, was a very scatty guinea pig when i first got her, now almost two years on, and with lots of handling she is very tame and loves a cuddle, rests her head on my arm.(still gives me the run around first though) LOL, Time time and more time is the only advice I can give.

I've had the 21 piggies (now down to 16) for nearly 3yrs and from what I can see it's down to their personality rather than anything you do or don't do. I've got piggies that are easy to handle and piggies that aren't - most of them run away when you try to pick them up although I do have a few that just sit there and don't try to get away. I treat them all the same and there's no reason to it so it must just be their individual personality. I keep handling to a minimum, and if they struggle a lot when I pick them up we go for a walk together till they calm down, and I find a bit of veg to feed them while I'm holding them - if you put them down while they are struggling they learn that struggling will work, so you have to hang onto them till they've calmed down.

PS - mine didn't really get tamer till I'd had them about 2 years - and they definitely calm down as they age, you just have to be patient.

Ditto what Elve said. Caramel was the skittiest pig I've ever known when we came here, totally stressed him out to be picked up and now he comes wheeking to the front of the hutch and puts his fet on the bars and I have to say him "Get down or you'll fall out you daft pig - I cant open the door with you there". He's like a dog cos he actually sits and waits for me to open the door:lol:. It just takes time and they do mellow with age.

To tame my piggies I have always started off by just sitting with my hand in the cage letting them come to me, then after about a week with both hands in the cage. After another week I offer then some tasty spinach with one hand and gently but firmly stroke them from just behind the ears to half way down the back (they tend to scurry off or kick if you go any further at this stage). Once the piggy is happy to be stroked like this I stop giving the spinach and continue to stroke them. After about 3 days the spinach comes out again and I stroke them further down, and around the sides. This then continues, with or without spinach for about a week.

Next we come to picking them up. I start by stroking and feeding spinach. When the piggy is settled I slide my hand round so that my fingers are under the chest and my thumb is on the top of the pig, then I place my other hand under the pigs bum. We then have a week or 2 of sitting on the sofa and hey presto tame piggy! :lol:

Obviously its not as simple as that but I have found this works with young and old pigs, Not every pig likes to be handled either. I have 2 brothers (Delboy and Rodney) who I have handled since they were born and 2 years on they still hate being handled :roll:

As long as you do things slowly and gently you should be fine, and never under estimate the power of spinach!! :lol::lol:

yeah when I hold mine I alway put my index finger around their neck too - it stops them shooting over your shoulder - but really it's putting them down safely that I find harder as they tend to leap - and one leap could kill them, so I tend to hang onto their hips as I remove my hand from around their tummy - they are barmy

All but one of my 8 piggies is tame.

Milly squeals like shes being slaughtered. Shes quite fat :roll: so i am slightly worried that maybe picking her up is squishing her little organs. But if she doesn't get picked up she won't get any exercise...which she so desperately needs.

Think it just come with patience and plenty of handling.

well my are house piggies and they are really friendly iv had them since the was tiny all three girls and they never run away hide. ohh inky loves to get layed out next to me when where watch tv :lol: haha but im with them aall the time.