Floor time for the boys!

[DougalandDiego]

Tried floor time for the first time for the boys this afternoon in the new house. They were both very confident and enjoyed having a good explore and hoovering up the goodies that we scattered around the room - even Diego our nervous pig was the first out of the tunnels looking round! There was a few rumbles and one very quiet chatter when they made each other jump but they seemed very happy and both fell asleep when they went back into their cage! Just being a paranoid piggy mum and sat in their room to check that it hasn’t started any dominance/fall outs but so far so good! Thought I’d attach some pictures of the handsome boys for you all

 

[Piggies&buns]

They look like are having a lovely time!

Have things calmed down between them now after their previous bickering?

 

[DougalandDiego]

They look like are having a lovely time!

Have things calmed down between them now after their previous bickering?

Thank you! I was very shocked at how active they were which was a nice surprise.

Yes so far so good *touch wood* they have the odd bicker and chatter like boys do but I think I’m better at convincing myself it’s normal boar behaviour! Hoping that the floor time won’t rock the boat - they’ve been ok so far (been sat in their room for about 30 mins) so do you think they’ll be ok?

How are your boys? Have they gotten over their funny five minutes too?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you! I was very shocked at how active they were which was a nice surprise.

Yes so far so good *touch wood* they have the odd bicker and chatter like boys do but I think I’m better at convincing myself it’s normal boar behaviour! Hoping that the floor time won’t rock the boat - they’ve been ok so far (been sat in their room for about 30 mins) so do you think they’ll be ok?

How are your boys? Have they gotten over their funny five minutes too?

I think that sounds and that it won’t cause problems. Once they are used to it, then it should be fine going forward as it’ll be an area they are used to.

My boys are good, thank you. They have - spring time hormones messed with his head, but he is back to being his normal self now!

 

[DougalandDiego]

I think that sounds and that it won’t cause problems. Once they are used to it, then it should be fine going forward as it’ll be an area they are used to.

My boys are good, thank you. They have - spring time hormones messed with his head, but he is back to being his normal self now!

Glad your boys are better too! Hoping as my boys get older they calm down! Yeah going to use the same fleece from today (as they didn’t make it dirty) when we do it again in a few days time and it should smell of them which should help!

Dougal is exhausted from his exploration and is fast asleep with his eyes wide open half out his hidey...

 

[Flutterby]

Looks fab!

 

[alpacasqueak]

So pleased it went so well!

 

[DougalandDiego]

Hi everyone,

Hoping to get a bit of advice about floor time (hope i’ve done the right thing by adding to an old thread and not starting a new one) We let the boys out for floor time in their room for about 20 minutes on Thursday. We put lots of hideys all over the room and spread lots of treats, hay piles etc. Round the room. The boys were fine and had one or two rumbles during. When we put them back in their cage they had a bit of teeth chattering but settled down fairly quickly. We decided to get them out again today and did the same thing and scattered some willow ball type things around too. They both of course took a particular liking to one of the balls and had a bit of teeth chattering (Dougal the submissive pig was also squealing and submissing) they then calmed for a couple of minutes and we took the balls away to stop them arguing over it. They then started to chatter at us as they knew they were going to be picked up to go back in their cage.

I’ve had them for over a year now but they still chatter when they think they’re getting picked up and Diego chatters much more since having medicine for a suspected URI a couple of months ago. I know this is to be expected but I find that because they chatter at us it also sets them off with each other. Is that normal?

Also thinking about leaving floor time until they become a bit older and calmer. I think they’re currently around 13/14 months as I find it causes a lot of stress and potential to de-stabilise their bond. I should add they both chatter and make a funny squeaky noise but never lunge at each other or mount each other just do a bit of a square off if they’re close.

Any advice or anything would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

 

[Piggies&buns]

Chattering is on the mild side of dominance.
If you think floor time is causing tension, then I’d leave it for a bit and let them settle down. I know they have a big cage so have plenty of opportunity to be active within their cage

 

[DougalandDiego]

Chattering is on the mild side of dominance.
If you think floor time is causing tension, then I’d leave it for a bit and let them settle down. I know they have a big cage so have plenty of opportunity to be active within their cage

Brilliant thank you. Yeah I’m thinking whether the best thing in the long run would be to make their cage even bigger so it was a 3x6 or 4x5 instead of a 3x5 so that space and exercise wasn’t a problem if it sets them off. I might see how they go for the rest of the night as to what I do about floor time but do find that Diego is chasing Dougal out the way more whereas before he just went near him to move him out the way.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[Piggies&buns]

As always, the more space you can give them the better. As before, if you do increase their cage size, do it carefully.

 

[alpacasqueak]

Hope they’ve calmed down this morning x