Teaching your guinea pig that you have kind hands
Your hands should never chase your guinea pig and grab her to put her into situations that she finds uncomfortable. When your guinea pig is settled, start teaching her that you have kind hands. That she should never fear them. Hand taming actually has many steps involved to it. The goal to this step is to get your guinea pig to comfortably approach your hands.
1. Hands in far side of cage
Put your hands on the side of the cage opposite of where your guinea pig is. Use slow and gentle movements so you don't startle her.
If your guinea pigs get scared and hide, don't pursue them. Let them hide. Don't give them a reason to fear your hands or else taming will take much longer.
2. Hands anywhere in the cage
Slowly start to see if your guinea pig is comfortable with you placing your hands in the middle of the cage and then see if she lets you put your hands on the same side of the cage where she is. Don't try to touch her or feed her from your hands. Some bold guinea pigs will even approach your hands at this stage.
Click on the link below to read an article on why you should add food to the taming process only after your guinea pig is comfortable with your hands.
3. Offering treats
Your guinea pig should be pretty used to your hands being in the cage and near her. Now, you can start offering treats from your hands! When offering the treats, hold them in your hands and wait for your guinea pig to come on her own accord to eat them. Don't bring the treats to her; let her come to the treats.
If she's shy, start with large/long treats for her to nibble and then slowly progress to smaller treats.
4. Introducing treat delivery
Once your guinea pig is comfortable with your hands and can eat treats from your fingers, it's now time to see if she'll eat a treat you bring to her.
Start with large treats for her to take and let her run away if she needs. Eventually work towards smaller and smaller treats until she stays near you and begs for treats!
5. Introducing a training marker
A marker is anything that marks your guinea pig's good behavior and tells her that she has earned a treat. It allows you to use shaping to train your pets. Shaping is my method of choice for several of the foundation skills in this taming guide.
Click on the link below for written instructions on how to introduce a training marker to your guinea pig.