Hello. My name is Victor, also known as Victor the Red, to distinguish me from Victor the First, who went over the Rainbow Bridge years ago. Today I’m answering questions we get about Handling, especially those from new carers.

How to handle a guinea pig

In a word, politely. Another good word is carefully.

We may be quite small (about the size of your foot), but we have delicate bones. And we have fragile insides, as our senior vet said in a seminar online. Mummy watches those even though she’s not a vet.

A good idea for this is to put your hand underneath our tummies at all times. Some people (even knowledgeable ones) hold us up by our shoulders. But that is bad for our abdomens, so if you do need to lift us up, always support the bottom end.

Catching us in our cages

Many new carers have trouble catching us. It’s a good idea to have a snuggle sack or tunnel to encourage us into, then pick us up in it. When you have a nice firm surface for us to step out onto, we will.

But we may seem reluctant. That’s because we are very polite, and most of us want to pee or poo before we come and sit on your lap to be cuddled. So if we back into a corner, wait till we’re finished!

Most pigs are happy being encouraged with a hand behind them to move them forward. I am not one of those pigs.

When Mummy first did it, I whipped round to look at her hand. The second time I’m afraid I caught it with my teeth. I didn’t mean to, but the corners of them are sharp (all the better for biting my boxes or hay). Mummy realised this might be why I’d been rehomed lots of times. Then she noticed I fell over when running around. It turned out that even though I was only a year old, I had arthritis in my hip joints. Now I have painkillers for it, and I don’t mind her gently touching my hips any more.

Carrying

If you have to carry us somewhere, use both your hands, one underneath, and one on top. Most pigs have preference for facing into your elbow, but some enjoy looking out.

Or use a snugglesac or tunnel, with the entrance closed so we can’t fall out. Or a tent, if you have those. We each have a tent for the garden, but it doubles as a route for picking us up off the floor.

Whatever methods you use, please use patience, keep us secure, and let us take our time. Although if it’s an emergency, you have my permission to hurry.

Thank you,

Victor

PS. Use treats. Bribery often works. But you have to hold out for ages and have a lot of patience, or we know that if we wait long enough, you’ll give the treat to us anyway.