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Are My Piggies Happy?

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ruthi

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hi all, I would like your opinions please :nod:

We have had our two ladies since Wednesday, we have just had a second try at lap time. Younger piggie bella sits very still and doesn't move at all when on my knee and seems frightened, slightly older piggie tuffie does lots of exploring, sniffing and some squeeking. We've put them back in their cage and now they are running laps around it and bella is leaping with her backside going to one side - is this popcorning?

I'm hoping bella will get used to laptime although I accept that she might just not like it and that's her personality, I will love her all the same!
 
Thank you, I have read them both. Perhaps bella was relieved to be back in her cage! I've only had her out for around 5-10 minutes at a time in the aim to break her into it, we shall have to see how she goes.
 
It is VERY early days for Bella. It usually takes several days to get the bearings and a few weeks until she really starts settling in.
 
It sounds like Bella was happy to be back in her cage, but that doesn't mean she doesn't or won't eventually like being out of her cage. My piggy likes to be out but its clear when he wants to go back in and he popcorns every time.
 
A lot of young pigs are nervous being held at first. It sounds as though Bella is still in that 'freeze and maybe they won't see me' stage, whereas Tuffie is feeling more confident. Bella will get better with time... I've had some very, very skittish pigs turn into real lap pets once they realized that I was friendly and was not going to eat them! The bouncing is popcorning, and means she's happy/excited... not necessarily that she is happy to get away from you, but it shows that she is liking her cage and feels safe enough to be boisterous there. A lot of little pigs get really excited about everything and some are bouncier than others... one of ours was named Frenzy Popcorn because she was so wildly excitable about EVERYTHING as a baby, she would literally bounce off the walls!
 
Don't lose hope about Bella warming up to lap time! I got my first piggie about 3-4 weeks ago and he did the same freeze and look scared thing every time I put him in my lap for about two weeks. He was from a local pet shop and very skittish. Around that two week mark he started to snuggle into a towel if I curled him up in one and hide there. A few days ago he began to actively look around, nibble on the edges of my homework, and allow me to snuggle my face into him. Just keep petting your piggie gently and wrap her up in a blanket or towel for comfort perhaps. She will adjust and her personality will come out :)
 
Thank you all :nod: we've made good progress with bella, she now purrs when she is stroked and Tuffie has had a lie down on my lap too! Sadly we had to separate them about three weeks ago, see my pregnancy thread :mal: tuffie is actually a boy! Bella is much more confident now, her and tuffie chatter all day and have a kiss between the bars! Lots of rumbling from tuffie, he misses her more than she does him. its hard to try and settle tuffie for laptime sometimes as he just can't concentrate knowing bella is not far away, hormones I'm guessing!
 
Aaaww, what a shame that you had to split them up. But at least they can still talk to each other and are not lonely. Do you plan on getting Tuffie neutered so that you can put him back in with Bella? :tu: Neutering is a fairly straight-forward procedure and not terribly risky, or expensive. :nod:
 
Yep exactly what we are doing @7squeakers :-) still on pregnancy watch and waiting for tuffie to be old enough and then yes, back together again. It's all a it Romeo and Juliet between the bars bless them!
 
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