I’m pretty sure my guinea pigs despise me, my heart hurts, and I’m exhausted.

I’ve thought this post through and mulled it over so many times over months now. After seeing some others in similar positions, I feel a bit more comfortable sharing (so PLEASE be kind).

I rescued two guinea pigs two years ago. I’d had rats and chinchillas as pets within the small animal category before. All of them were extremely attached to me, which always felt incredibly rewarding. Well, my boyfriend and I had been considering getting a “together” pet aside from my dog upon moving in together. I was moreso vouching for another dog or chinchillas again. He fell in love with the idea of guinea pigs. So, we researched together for weeks, gathered every supply we could possibly need, and prepared. I’d been looking at local rehoming groups, Craigslist ads, and other locations as I knew lots of piggies were in need of new homes.

Once I landed on a free listing for two males, never given fresh veggies, kept in a tiny pet store cage on cedar chips, given that horrid low nutrient diet… I didn’t want them to fall into the wrong hands again as we all know the sad reality of free rehomes. So, I took them. I gave the prior owner $75 as their reasoning was inability to afford their care, I started acclimating them to our home. Within days, they began to actually make noise, run and play in their new home (2x4’ they’re not incredibly large males, this was the best I could do with our space given we both work from home). I’d tried getting them a foldable playpen for floor time with me, but it was destroyed beyond repair within days, so I just bit the cleaning bullet and allowed them to free roam while I sat on the floor. I would speak softly, offer them veggies and oxbow hay and apple treats, and allow them to approach me. Obviously they had been traumatized by the neglect they’d experienced for who knows how long, so I knew and accepted that it would take time to build confidence. Nail trims were easy at first, which was a massive win!

Fast forward to about 6 months ago. I don’t know how, when, nor why as nothing had changed, one of my pigs just absolutely lost it when I had scooped him up for a nail trim. Ear piercing screams, wriggling all about. I tried to place him on my chest and gently scratch his head, but he would only bite me, continue to scream, and teeth chatter. I gently wrapped him in a hand towel to complete his nail trim, which seemed more comforting for him. Upon placing him back in the enclosure, both of them began to teeth chatter at me and sprint away if I even shifted within the room. I no longer feel that it is safe to allow them to free roam when I deep clean their cage, as the initial offender refuses to enter their hide (a handy little acrylic hide with a handle I was using to transport them to and from the cage in hopes to avoid trauma) regardless of any food offered, me leaving the room, nor hours of waiting. In the end, I had to inevitably scare the poor guy and catch him in a hand towel. I attempted some relaxing lap time… nope.

They’ve always rumblestrutted at each other frequently, though from my understanding, can be a playful behavior between boars (the prior owner informed me that they are actual brothers). So, I’ve thought nothing of it! Their behavior has completely changed from positive progression to wanting absolutely nothing to do with me. They’ve been wheeking constantly and at what I could only hope is the loudest and highest pitch possible for pigs despite all needs being met. I cannot go into my home office nor open my fridge without an instant splitting headache. Provided that the first pig to regress tries to avoid attempts at hand feeding and bites me instead, cage cleaning multiple times per day has become even more exhausting than it had been before. They have an elevated water bowl, which is promptly filled with poop even if I’ve just deep cleaned or vacuumed the entire cage. I genuinely don’t know how people who commute to their jobs are capable of taking care of piggies… between the poop water and the poop mountain every 20 minutes, I’m wondering if my pigs aren’t normal (that’s more of a joke).

So, here I am. I’m genuinely sad, I feel like an awful pet owner despite committing hours each day to the best care I can provide for these boys. My head is pounding, I’m overstimulated, and I might just curl up in fetal position and sob if I need to unclog my vacuum from poop one more time. I’m not ever one to give up on animals by any means, I’m always beyond attached to them despite any quirks or issues, but this actually feels like too much for me. I know that piggies aren’t often incredibly cuddly with people, but the chattering every time I approach genuinely feels like a, “I hate you.” from both of them.

I’ve considered rehoming at this point primarily due to the fact that I have no clue how old they are and desperately want them to spend the last of their years with someone they adore. Though, that is a whole can of worms within itself. They’ve been through so much that I cannot tolerate anything other than the best care possible for them if they aren’t under my roof. Though, I feel beyond guilty for even thinking of it. So, in the kindest way possible, what do I do? Also, please disregard how lengthy this post was, I’m sort of pouring my heart out after mulling it over for so long.

TLDR: My previously neglected rescue piggies started to like me and absolutely hate me out of nowhere, I don’t know what to do.