My guinea pig is afraid of me

Question
My name is Alex, I'm 9.  I got a guinea pig 5 days ago her name is Amy and she is in a cage in my room.  There is a plastic pipe in her cage and she stays in there most of the time.  If she comes out and I go near the cage to open the door to pet her she runs away from me and goes back into the pipe. How can I get her to let me pet her and not run away?

Answer
Alex --

It seems to me that you're just going to have to be patient.  Here's why.  In the wild, guinea pigs are prey animals - that means that other animals want to eat them.  Now, imagine yourself in Amy's place.  If you were three inches tall and less than a foot long, would you be frightened of someone your size?  Humans look enormous to guinea pigs, and she is probably afraid that you are going to try to eat her.  She'll learn to trust you in time.  For now, if you want to pet her, just chase her out of the pipe and then remove the pipe.  It'll be much easier to catch her.  Then you can hold her on your lap and pet her.  

Overall, just give her time to learn to trust you.  Be gentle and patient, and eventually she will stop running away.

Hope this is helpful.  If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.  Good luck with your new pet!

Lorena