Picking up Piggie!!

Question
uhm hello,
         Uhm i was just wondering if your Guinea Pig doesn't let you pick it up for the first week you got it,is that normal?

Answer
For a guinea pig, this is normal. Guinea pigs, if not raised right, are naturally skittish. They need human contact at a very young age to be tame and docile. However, adults can become docile; it just may take years to do so. If you bought your guinea pig from a pet store chances are, he or she was probably mistreated. Mistreated meaning not being held and shown affection, a whole variety of people being allowed to pick them up and not holding them correctly, a bunch of little kids trying to paw at the guinea pig, and then yelling and squealing when it's absolutely terrified. A majority of pet stores won't say a word to someone not holding an animal correctly or doing something to it unless it's a blatant display of abuse. After all, the pet stores want to make a sale. If they tell someone what to do, chances are, that person won't want to shop their store again, and may just walk out without buying a thing. Or your guinea pig could have just been abused. Maybe someone hit it, or yelled at it. It's hard to say. Just like your parents influenced how you'd turn out, a baby guinea pig mimics it's parents behaviors. If it's mother is absolutely terrified of people, then chances are, the baby will be like that. Now, there are guinea pigs who will just fight you all of the time to be picked up because they find it fun. It becomes a game to them. However, there are pigs that are just scared to be held. I reccommend that when you go to pick up your piggy to not make any loud noises. No yelling, this spooks them. Maybe, if you wanted to, try to sing a soft song to the pig. Have a towel or a blanket on hand. You can either try to just pick your piggy up, or you can set the towel on it and try to pick it up. Now the towel thing doesn't always work, but usually the pig will set still. Get him or her on the towel/blanket, and hold him/her. Stroke and pet your pig. Compliment them. Tell them how much you love them. Brush their hair, even if it's a short haired pig. I find the way to almost anyone is by feeding them their favorite food. Get some raw fruits or veggies and try to feed them. I reccommend carrots, apples, dandelion greens(those yellow weed flowers in your yard you used to play with as a kid don't feed them the yellow, they prefer the jagged edged leaves. Do NOT do this though if your yard is chemically treated!!! This will kill your pig), lettuce (NO ICEBERG LETTUCE! Deadly! This is lighter in color and is primarily what makes up bag salads, spinach is great) tomatoes, and cuccumbers. Those are the top several picks with my pigs. Cut them up in long pieces so you can feed your pig without them accidentally nibbling your fingers. When your pig takes food from you hand, this is a sign of trust. I also find that holding your pig for long periods of time helps, although sometimes they do have accidents. This is what the towel is good for. Make sure to hold your guinea pig at least once a day. If you already just set fresh fruits and veggies in your pig's cage, stop. Give your guinea pig an incentive to want to be held. He'll eventually realize that when he's being held, he'll be rewarded with something tasty. Also, with fruits and veggies, think SMALL. Even though you can eat a whole apple, your guinea pig can not. So if you cut something up, you better be hungry too, or wrap it in plastic wrap tightly. I hope this helped. If you need any more advice or have any more questions, feel free to ask. I LOVE answering questions. Please, don't give up on your pig because of his/her skittish behavior. I can't tell you how many pigs get put in shelters and then euthanized (killed "humanely"). I wish you both the best of luck. :)