Why Doesn’t My Guinea Pig Like Me?

Guinea pigs are calm animals that get scared easily. They will take time to get used to new environments before they can get comfortable.

You can take all the time to gain your pet’s trust and get them to relax around you but after a while, they may begin running away from you and seem to want nothing to do with you.

What can bring this up? Could you have done something wrong? Keep reading to find out.

Why doesn’t my guinea pig like me?

If your guinea pig doesn’t seem to like you, it could be due to various reasons that wouldn’t necessarily have anything to do with you. Reasons behind it could be sickness, environmental changes, loud irritating noises, and strong smells that are affecting your once friendly guinea pig.

If the problem can be identified and solved, your guinea pig can get back to their normal social self. Keep in mind too that some guinea pigs are not naturally social and they’ll always try to stay as far from you as possible no matter what.

Signs that your guinea pig isn’t comfortable in your presence

Guinea pigs express themselves using body language and various sounds to show feelings like happiness, irritation, annoyance, etc.

Reactions to show that they are uncomfortable near you include:

Running away

Guinea pigs run away when they are scared or don’t want something. It’s their means of defense and hiding makes them feel safe.

If your guinea pig starts running away to hide from you all of a sudden, then something is wrong.

Freezing

Guinea pigs will freeze when they sense danger so as not to draw the attention of predators. They will also do it to signal other guinea pigs that a predator is nearby.

If your guinea pig starts getting stiff when you go near them then they are scared of you. You should figure out what you did to frighten them.

Stop eating from your hand

If your guinea pig suddenly won’t eat from your hand anymore it could be because they don’t like how your hand smells. Maybe you have begun using a new strong scented soap. It could also be because they don’t like the food that you are trying to feed them.

Reasons why your guinea pig doesn’t seem to like you

If your guinea pig is social and friendly with you then all of a sudden they become cold and distant, there are reasons behind such behavior.

Sickness

Guinea pigs have a natural instinct of hiding their pain to avoid attracting predators. This makes them good at hiding any illnesses they may have so you will not easily recognize a sick guinea pig.

When they are sick or in pain, they may seem to avoid you or move away when you try to touch them. This could make you think that they don’t like you anymore when they are actually unwell and not feeling too friendly.

Environmental changes

When changes happen around guinea pigs they may become stressed. They could be new to a place like if you just adopted them or you moved to a new place, you could have relatives or friends staying over with you for a while or you could have changed the position of their cage.

Changes in their usual environment may affect and stress them making them withdrawn and seemingly unfriendly.

Loud irritating noises

Guinea pigs have great hearing capabilities that are even better than humans’. This makes them highly sensitive to noise.

Volumes that are normal for humans can be too much for them. Noises irritate and distress them which could make them less friendly to you.

Strong smells

Guinea pigs not only have really good hearing but also a highly sensitive sense of smell. Strong smells affect them and your new perfume could be the reason they have become distant and don’t want you to go near them or touch them.

They could also be smelling other animals nearby like cats and dogs making them scared of coming out of their hiding places.

Naturally shy

If you have done everything under the sun to try and gain your piggy’s trust yet they don’t want to come near you, remember that guinea pigs are different. Some are social while others are shy.

They have different personalities like us and not each piggy will like being cuddled, petted, being around you, or even eating as you watch. Your guinea pig could be naturally shy and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Let them be and show them as much love as you can by giving them treats and talking to them even as they hide away. Even if they won’t be brave enough to let you touch them, they will still know that you care about them and trust you from a distance.

How to know if your guinea pig likes you

If your guinea pig likes you they will show you with actions like:

Let you hold them

Guinea pigs are easily scared because they have predators all around them. If a guinea pig becomes comfortable with you holding them that means that they like you.

Eat from your hand

If your guinea pig is comfortable enough to eat from your hand it shows that they trust you.

Comfortable around you

A guinea pig will rarely sleep out of their hideys unless they are comfortable in their surroundings and your presence. If you see your guinea pig sleeping out of their hiding place, around you, or just looking relaxed in your presence then they like you.

Come to you

When you go to their cage and they come close to the cage bars near you, then they do enjoy having you around.

When out of their cage they could run to you and curl up on your lap or neck even after you put them down. This is a perfect way of knowing that you have gained their trust and they like being held by you.

Interested in you

When you take out your guinea pig and they keep following you around, watching what you are doing and sniffing you, that curiosity shows that they like you.

Conclusion

Friendly Guinea pigs can suddenly change and stop being friendly due to various reasons. Just because your guinea pig is naturally shy doesn’t mean they don’t like you.

Some reasons are easy to identify and rectify. If your pig seems to fear you for longer yet you cannot tell what the reason is, talk to a vet.