Floor time

[Lawzdot]

Hi guys

one of our piggies has really started to trust us and today we have managed to get her out for some garden time. I picked her up using a cosy. She seems to have really enjoyed running around in the outdoor playpen and even climbed onto my daughters lap.

the other one will take veg from us but only through the cage doors as soon as we try to get close to her with the cage door open she runs away. I tried to use the same cosy but she was just running away from it. I didn’t want to stress her out so I gave up and left her in the cage but I feel bad that she missed out on grass time with her sister.
Is it likely to harm their bond if one has time out of the cage without the other?

 

[Siikibam]

It’s better if you can keep them together for floor/garden time. Perhaps try putting in a tunnel or something else she can go into to be taken out. Then herd her in and hopefully she will comply.

 

[Piggies&buns]

If you can’t get them both outside, then don’t put either of them out. Always keep them together. It’s stressful and scary for them to be apart.

My boys sound similar to yours - one of them is fine with me but the other one is much less comfortable. I use a cat carrier to put them out in the run as the carrier is big enough for them both to be in at the same time so they are both transported to the run together. My more confident piggy will walk straight into the carrier as soon as I put it on the cage floor, the more shy piggy 9 times out of 10 will walk straight in but it can sometimes take a bit more persuading and herding. Once he sees his friend is already in the carrier he is happier to hop straight in.

 

[Lawzdot]

Thanks will keep them together in future. I will probably try to get the shy one out first and if she is not happy then I won’t take either of them out.

 

[Siikibam]

You need to maintain their hierarchy and deal with the top pig first. Perhaps use a box they can both hop into. Or a carrier if you have one.

 

[Piggies&buns]

As I say, try using a larger cat carrier and you’d hopefully be able to catch them both at the same time and then nobody needs miss out on run time! They will get used to it. Their ultimate goal was to stick together so I really only ever needed to catch one and the other would follow. At first, I put the cat carrier in the cage and used the gap down the other side as where I would put my hand/arm as to herd them towards the carrier, they ran in as it was the only option for them if they wanted to avoid me! Now, over time, they recognise the carrier as play time transport, no blocking required and they just hop straight in.