How Do You Know If Your Guinea Pig Likes You?

One of the most common questions that guiena pig owners ask is; how do I know if my guinea pig like me?

If you are looking for signs that can tell you if your guinea pig likes you then you’ve come to the right place. In this post I will share what I’ve found by researching several huge posts on the topic.

How Do You Know If Your Guinea Pig Likes You?

Look for the following signs to find out:

1. Your guinea pig lets you hold it
2. Your guinea pig eats off your hand
3. Is comfortable with your presence
4. It doesn’t give you its teeth
5. It climbs over you happily
6. It shows interest in you

In this post, you will not only learn more in depth about these signs, but also learn how you can make your guinea pig like you if it does not do so right now.

What are the Signs That Say That Your Guinea Pig Likes You?

  • Your Guinea Pig Lets You Hold it
  • Your Guinea Pig Eats off Your Hand
  • Comfortable Can Imply Liking
  • Your Guinea Pig Doesn’t Give You its Teeth!
  • Your Guinea Pig Climbs on You Happily
  • They Show Interest in You

Guinea pigs, unlike humans, make it apparent when they like someone. You do not have to be a mind-reader, but just a keenly observant person, in order to figure it out. Even though it may seem like they hate you, it is just because they get easily scared. In spite of it, you can look for the below-mentioned signs to know if your guinea pig likes you.

1. Your Guinea Pig Lets You Hold it

These animals get easily scared, and run in search of safety even when they hear the most subtle of noise. They generally are social within themselves, but when it comes to interacting with other species. they do not mingle appreciably. So if your guinea pig lets you hold it, you can be a hundred per cent sure that your guinea pig likes you.

2. Your Guinea Pig Eats off Your Hand

Guinea pigs do not actually get along with their owners right away. It takes patience and love if you have to get connected with your pets.

So in the initial days, you may just leave the food in the cage. Let them choose at least their own meal times because obviously, the menu isn’t their choice! Gradually, try feeding them their food from your hands. Wait for the day that they are happy to eat from your hand, and that day my friend, is the day that you know you have found the best love in the world- the love from a pet!

3. Comfortable Can Imply Liking

Don’t you feel different levels of comfort with different people? You don’t necessarily have a reason for it, but you can’t feel comfortable with everyone. It is the same with guinea pigs. You cannot actually force them to like you, but if they are comfortable with you they sure do like you.

You can know that they are comfortable with you when they show any of the following signs. They follow you around, they stay beside you, they let you play with them, and any related sign means they’re comfortable with you. At the end of this post are tips that have a shot at making your guinea pigs more comfortable with you.

4. Your Guinea Pig Doesn’t Give You its Teeth!

If you have ever seen a guinea pig, you would have noticed that they have nothing to defend themselves except for their teeth. If they bite you, they probably are trying to defend themselves from you. When they get to a point where they no longer see the need to defend themselves from you, you can be sure that they like you.

Although, you may have to remember something more important. In the case of guinea pigs, according to their oestrous cycle, females can deliver about five litters every year. If you are not mating these females with some males, you are more likely to experience their bites due to hormonal changes that occur parallel to their oestrous cycle. So this sign might not be completely conclusive of your guinea pig’s liking for you. But it does make a good enough definition of such a sign.

5. Your Guinea Pig Climbs on You Happily

When you are relaxing on the floor after you have just let your guinea pigs free, if it climbs over you and sits happily on your chest, you will be relieved to know that they really love you! Like said before, guinea pigs take time before they interact comfortably with humans.

6. They Show Interest in You

When you approach their cage, to feed them or maybe to just let them free for a while, they show interest in you. As in, they try to push their nose through the bars on the cage. But if they do not show excitement in such a case, it does not mean that they hate you. Sometimes it could mean that they are dehydrated or in some other cases they could be loneliness.

If you have just bought or adopted your guinea pig to your home, then you may have to wait for a few more weeks with patience and faith. Don’t worry, if you give unconditional love, they will too, (unlike humans!)

Read more about how your guinea pig recognizes you in this article we wrote here.

Signs That Your Guinea Pig Hates You

Hate is a strong word. Please don’t be hard on yourself if you notice some telltale signs that your guinea pig is slightly or strongly uncomfortable around your presence.

These actions and behaviors can change with time, trust and bonding. Right now, let’s look at what happened to me when I thought my guinea pig hated me. He was showing signs of:

  • Anxiety
  • Aggression
  • Fear
  • Freezing in one spot
  • Fidgeting around
  • Throwing his neck upwards and looking up high
  • Hissing
  • Teeth chattering
  • Hair fluffing
  • Strutting

My guinea pig was uncomfortable and wanted to show me signs that I needed to back off for now. I gave him ample space and a hiding area in this cage so he could comfortably retreat. Being exposed in the open without a place to have some privacy exacerbated his discomfort.

I offered treats, toned down my voice to a calm, soothing sound and repeated his name over and over again. He relaxed after a couple of weeks of diligent practice and much more patience on my part.

What are the Best Ways to Make Your Guinea Pigs Like You?

There is no specific way that fits well for every single guinea pig, in which you can make them like you. But there are some ways that you can experiment.

  • First of all, do not raise your voice when you are in front of them, they get scared. Do not show your villain face to these innocent creatures.
  • Feed them generously.
  • Give them a lot to play with. Little pieces of wood, ping pong balls, a cage where they can dig short burrows, a cave within the cage, and many more entities of entertainment for your guinea pigs are necessary in order to keep them happy.
  • Let them roam freely within the house with you. Make them feel welcome in your home as members of your family rather than just pets in a cage.

These signs of you show them that you really love them. And they will give twice that love (or even more) back to you. You can read a complete list of the toys, foods and types of petting that guinea pigs like the most here.

If you have ticked all the above in your checklist and read the complete list article, but you still feel your guinea pig doesn’t like you, then you have no other choice than to wait for them to be comfortable with you and the new environment you provide. In the time that you wait, make sure to give lots of love, if you ever want it back. Give love, take love!

Related Questions

What does it mean when my guinea pig does not allow me to change its location?
Guinea pigs have a great memory, and usually, feel comfortable when things do not change. If you keep changing the location of their cage, and the location where you keep their food or water, chances are greater that your guinea pigs are mad at you for messing with their memory.

How you would feel if I take you away from your put you in the middle of a desert?  Even though it is not the same as that to put your guinea pig’s cage from the living room to the kitchen, you might wanna remember how confused you get if you mix two albums in your photo gallery.

Anna

My name is Anna and I work full time in my local pet shop where we sell many animals that I write about on this site. I love all animals and love writing about them.