Wondering what to do if your guinea pig is scared of you?
Cavies, as they are widely known, can be scared of many things.
This is because guinea pigs are “prey animals” and prey animals have always been hunted.
Research has also proven that guinea pigs can be really scared when they feel vulnerable or insecure.
Just like in people, fear can cause endless pain and mental stagger for a guinea pig, so you will need to gain your guinea pig’s trust.
A strong lack of deficiency in their defense logistics can make them afraid of their immediate environment and its surrounding elements.
Sometimes, when the affected animal is a single guinea pig, it can also display some element of fear when introduced to another guinea pig.
Nonetheless, guinea pigs are quite interesting to observe.
Guinea pigs are little geniuses and highly intelligent fancy animals.
They are fun to watch during their daily social activity such as interaction, relationships, communication with other guinea pigs and owners.
What To Do If My Guinea Pig Is Scared of Me?
Maybe your pet guinea pig is scared not of you, but of loud noises or the cage.
Worry no more as we will make this simple for you and let you know what to do.
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How Do I Know if My Guinea Pig Is Scared?
How do I know if my guinea pig is afraid, you might be wondering.
One awesome pick about guinea pigs is that they interestingly give identifiable signals when stressed or extremely scared.
So, oftentimes, it will be easy for you to note when the pet is scared, especially if the bond with your guinea pig is strong.
Your guinea pig may want to run away from you and you have to notice when that happens as it is important.
Guinea pigs display signs of fear by showing the white part of their eyes.
They might be squeaking in a dreadfully palpitating manner.
Likewise, guinea pigs can grind their teeth, shiver, and at times get locked in a cold freeze.
Unlike dogs that lower their heads to show honor to their owners, it is not so for guinea pigs.
Usually, when they lower their heads, that’s a sign of fear, especially if they see an unfamiliar face for the first time.
While some guinea pig displays just one of these attributes, you can see multiple displays of this with some other ones.
Watch out for any of these signs while meeting your new guinea pig pet for the first time.
What Makes Guinea Pigs Scared?
There are numerous factors that can make a guinea pig scared.
According to veterinary doctors and seasoned pet lovers, the three basic causes of fear for guinea pigs are:
- Genetic predisposition
- Early social experiences during the pet’s critical socialization period
- Environmental experiences during the remainder of their life
A close look into these three major causes can be further classified.
Your guinea pig may also react to loud noises; you have to try to draw your pet’s attention towards something else so your guinea pig can calm down.
Guinea pigs find loud sounds intimidating, especially sounds that contradict their own, and overshadow their sound pitch or range.
Guinea pigs also experience fear during situations that remind them of prior trauma and poor historical occurrences.
Wow!
So, if your pet is not comfortable in its cage, your guinea pig might want to run away from the cage.
In that case, offer them an alternative home.
Moreover, guinea pigs are also scared of toys.
Their vulnerability to noise and toys can be seen as both genetic and socialization problems.
Discover Fear In A Guinea Pig: Increase Their Friendly Behavior
You can help your guinea pig beat the fear and insecurity even when it already displays signs of anxiety.
The pet owner can engage the pet slowly in lively and positively interactive plays.
Also, there is no need to worry about when exactly they will change their behavior.
Guinea pigs are quite observant and can gradually change.
How To Approach a Scared Guinea Pig?
There are several ways in which you can approach a scared guinea pig. Check them out!
Always Give an Approach Gesture
Approaching your pet guinea pig from the side may be quite interesting and tickling for you, but it is not always so for the cavy, as it can from there sprout up in fear.
Guinea pigs are not always fond of surprises.
They learn spectacularly and they carefully take note of constant reoccurrences, so a sudden approach may not be part of your guinea pig’s expectations.
Pay attention to your gestures when giving your cute little pet a social treat.
Crouch Down
Giving a slow bent forward crouch can be appealing to ensure the guinea pig has a sense of familiarity and feel safe.
If you are playing with your pet guinea pig for a long time, an upright stand may be scary for them.
So it will be a good idea for you to lay down beside it, while you allow it to rally around you.
Ensure You Keep Practicing a Consistent Sign
Never change your method of communication with them except when necessary.
Guinea pigs generally retain specific occurrences, and in case of a bad occurrence, they register it and don’t forget it easily.
Keeping consistent and good gestures and sounds will be favorable in your relationship with them, while you obviously ignore the bad ones.
Always Be Timely With Meeting Your Guinea Pig’s Basic Needs
Pigs do not have a human voice neither do they speak human language.
This would mean that it would require efforts on the part of the guinea pig owner to foster a mode of communication and look for ways to help them improve on their basic character model.
Always meet basic needs like food, accommodating bedding, water, regular medical care, a random retreat pen.
Get Your Guinea Pig Safe Toys
One of the major threats to avoid when getting toys for your piggy is to avoid toys that can easily form dust upon scratching.
This is highly dangerous and represents a health risk that ranges from respiratory problems to optical deficiencies.
A good practice of getting friendly toys for your pigs will ensure they are kept safe in the house, and also ensure that the guinea pig is not easily distracted by little environmental interference.
Guinea pigs may suffer boredom if they don’t feel engaged.
Toys such as ping pong balls made of selected wooden materials and accompanied by other toys may be of great help as guinea pigs always love to chew and chase.
Get Your Guinea Pig Used To Their Safe Hiding Place
To help your guinea pig adapt to its surroundings you can let it explore new places and people.
Likewise, you should put some toys in your guinea pig’s cage so it can enjoy its playtime and want to go back to its cage.
It’s important to make sure that your guinea pig feels safe all time.
Their feeling of insecurity may not necessarily arise because of you.
It sometimes comes from an external presumable attack.
Simply, they might find a gesture intimidating, although you might not perceive it as such.
But don’t forget that guinea pigs are prey animals and that they can get scared of sudden movements.
So if a guinea pig has a safe hiding place and is familiar with its surroundings, it will find shelter within its own confinements.
Make sure you provide your guinea pigs with small but enough space.
If your guinea pig is scared from its cage make sure you give them some time to get used to it.
They might need more time than you have anticipated.
Nonetheless, when a guinea pig gets used to the surroundings and has a familiar hiding spot, it will trust the owner and feel safe irrespective of what they experience from other rodents or persons.
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Last update on 2023-05-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Why Is My Guinea Pig So Scared?
Generally, learning to breed an adorable pet such as a guinea pig is not easy.
Getting used to one another and creating a strong bond with your guinea pig takes time.
You might feel like you’re being successful at it, but be patient.
You have to get to know your pet and let your pet get to know you, which indeed takes time and cannot be accomplished overnight.
You will learn about your guinea pig pet’s needs and how to respond to them.
Stay friendly and honest to your guinea pigs.
They have just a fractional part of your whole existence to stay around, so make life a better place for your guinea pigs.
Final Thoughts
You need time to gain your guinea pig’s trust, which you can easily do.
The good news is that a new pet might feel scared for a while, but if you spend time bonding with your pet every day, the fear will gradually go away as soon as they completely feel comfortable in their new habitat.
Don’t forget that your small animal needs time to adjust to the new environment and get to know you.
Guinea pigs love to play and, as social creatures who love attention, they will be happy if you initiate a game.
Hand feed them vegetables and fruits and play hide and seek, as this is the best quality time you can offer to your pet.
