Neither guinea pigs are much demanding, nor do they have much upkeep; just keep their cage clean and provide them a balanced diet and your guinea pig would love you to bits.
There are many signs and behaviors that make novice guinea pig owners think that their guinea pigs hate them. But it is mostly not the case. Guinea pigs are just too nice to hate someone. And why would they hate their loving owners, who feed them, keep their cage clean, and let them have safe floor time?
If you think that your guinea pig hates you or you are having trouble bonding with your guinea pig, continue reading. In this blog, we are going to discuss all about making your guinea pig fall in love with you.
How to Get Your Guinea Pig to Like You?
If you are a novice guinea pig owner, here are a few things you can do to get your guinea pig to like you.
1. Know the Things That Guinea Pigs Hate
Besides being prey animals, guinea pigs are sensitive little creatures with many fears and phobias. So to get your guinea pigs to like you would should know the things that they hate. If you do the following things to your guinea pig, it will hate you:
- Guinea pigs hate loud noises. They are easily startled.
- They hate lower or higher temperatures. They are sensitive to both cold as well as hot weather.
- They hate open spaces with no hides. They are prey animals and thus feel vulnerable in open spaces with nowhere to hide.
- They are very social creatures and should be kept in pairs. They hate to live alone by themselves.
- Guinea pigs don’t like to be touched on their rear end. They think some predator is sneaking up on them.
- Guinea pigs are fastidious creatures. They hate it when their cage is dirty.
- They hate being chased. If your guinea pig is running away from you, he might think you are a predator so if you chase them, they would be scared for their life.
- They hate being held for too long. No one wants a clingy friend who will have no regard for your privacy. Besides, guinea pigs also have to poop and pee quite often.
- Guinea pigs hate swimming. They hate getting wet as they get soaked up to their skin.
2. Provide Your Guinea Pigs Quality Floor Time
Guinea pigs are active rodents. They love to explore new spaces. Therefore, you must regularly take your guinea pig out of its cage and let him run around and explore a guinea pig-safe space. Your guinea pig would really love you for the quality floor time.
3. Keep the Temperature Moderate
Guinea pigs are sensitive to heat as well as cold. Where a hot environment would make them prone to heatstroke, a cold environment would make them susceptible to pneumonia and breathing issues. Therefore, it is crucial that you keep them in moderate temperatures. The ideal guinea pig temperature range for guinea pigs is 65° to 75° Fahrenheit. Your fluffballs would love you if you could keep the temperature of their habit in between their ideal temperature range.
4. Learn How to Properly Hold a Guinea Pig
Guinea pigs are very fragile, mishandling could fracture their bones. Therefore, it is crucial that you learn how to properly hold your guinea pig before you try to pick up your guinea pig. You should also learn where guinea pigs like to be petted. Having learned this, you would make holding and petting sessions enjoyable for your guinea pigs and would not be hurting them unknowingly so, of course, your guinea pig would also learn to appreciate you. Read our helpful guide on Do guinea pigs like to be held?
5. Get them a Cage Mate
Guinea pigs are social beings. They hate to live by themselves. So, there would nothing in this world that your guinea pig wants more than a cage mate who will always be there to play with him, run around and explore new spaces with him. Guinea pigs kept in pairs are happier and more confident than guinea kept alone. So you can expect your guinea pig living with a cage mate to warm up to you soon.
6. Understand Guinea Pig Voices
Guinea pigs cannot speak our language, but they do speak to us by making unique sounds. As responsible guinea pig owners, we should try to understand guinea pig noise and learn what they are trying to communicate. This would help build trust and strengthen your bond with your piglet. Having learned guinea pig voices, next time your guinea pig is whining, chirping, squeaking, purring, hissing, or chattering its teeth, you will know that something is wrong and would be better able to identify the cause of discomfort or fear and sort it out. This would take your relationship with your guinea pig to a whole ‘another level.
7. Keep Them in a Peaceful Environment
Guinea pigs hate loud noise. They hate to be placed in the hallway, where they often have to face strangers and other pets in the house. The strangers (guests in the house) and the cat might not be planning on preying on your guinea pigs but they think otherwise. Because of their prey animal instincts, they get scared to death every time they spot a cat or a stranger facing in their vicinity.
Your guinea pig would really appreciate it if you placed the guinea pig cage in a quiet room, free of all the commotion. If you put a few guinea pig toys in the cage, you won’t have to worry about your guinea pigs getting bored.
8. Keep Guinea Pig Cage Clean
Guinea pigs are clean and fastidious little rodents. They like and are pretty good at keeping themselves clean, but they cannot clean their cage as well. Therefore, they really hate it when their cage is not cleaned by their owners. As it becomes impossible for them to keep themselves clean in a dirty cage. Living in a dirty cage, guinea pigs may smell bad, which they hate. Therefore, your guinea pig would appreciate it if you cleaned its cage every other day.
9. Feed Them On Time and Offer Them Treats
Guinea pigs love eating. While guinea pigs would like you if you feed them their meals on time, they would love you to bits if you offered them their favorite treats every now and then. You can try offering guinea pig-safe fruits and veggies to your piggies and learn what they like the most. You can then offer them their favorite food items when you are holding and petting them.
To find out which fruits and veggies are safe for guinea pigs, check out our guides to what guinea pigs can or cannot eat:
| Squash | Dandelions | Arugula |
| Peppers | Corn | Onions |
| Pickles | Lemons | Basil |
| Avocado | Spinach | Peanut Butter |
| Plums | Collard Greens | Aloe Vera |
10. Familiarize Yourself With Signs of a Sickness in Guinea Pigs
Guinea pigs are stoic creatures. They tend to hide their signs of sickness. So, it is quite hard for novice guinea pig owners to tell if their guinea pig is sick. However, if you familiarize yourself with common signs of sickness in guinea pigs, you will be able to tell if there is something wrong with your guinea pig.
One thing that you can do is learn about guinea pig urine chart and guinea pig poop chart. By taking a look at your piggy’s poop and pee, you will be able to tell if something is not right. Where normal guinea pig pee color is pale to bright yellow, healthy guinea pig poop is oval-shaped, brown to black, and has no smell. If guinea pig pee and poop are different from the normal color, there could be something wrong with your piggy friend.
Identifying ailments in guinea pigs at an early stage and then getting your guinea pigs a timely treatment will help you keep your guinea pig healthy and happy. This would most definitely strengthen your bond with your guinea pigs.
