Head or Heart :(

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

lincoln-piggies

Joined
Jul 3, 2012
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Lincoln
Recently got two sows from p@h - all seemed to be going fine, (other than the mite issue, which was being treated by the local vet), or so I thought until one of the sows began to display fairly aggressive behaviour to her pen pal eg. trying to ambush, mount, teech chatter etc.

Having read up on quite a few websites that this behaviour would only increase, I reluctantly decided to return both sows back to p@h. I am now mentally bashing myself, as to whether I made the right decison?

Coming home to an empty play-pen was just awful, and all I keep thinking about is rescuing the one that wasn't causing the problem, as she is the innocent casualty in all of this ...

However, what has prevented me from marching back up there and taking her back is the thought of how lonely she would be and of how she use to make such a fuss when her pen-pal was not next to her - I'm in such a pickle as to whether I acted too impulsively etc ... would appreciate any words of wisdom, or advise as to should I leave well alone and put this down to experience?!

Thanks, another piggie fan xx
 
Had you considered keeping one and bonding it at a rescue with another piggy ? (:
 
I did consider this as an option too, thought however it might take a while to adopt and the people at p@h did offer an alternative piggy. But ...

I had wondered if perhaps adopting an older sow would work better as an arrangement, alongside the ten week old piggie?

I just hate the thoughts of poor bubbles literally having to step into the role of being a guinea pig and thus having to experiment on finding the right companion once more - this making mates is alot harder than I first envisiaged!

Thanks for your response though, it's something I am pondering on.
 
When I got my first pair of piggies, before finding the forum I had a similar problem though mine were boys. One was biting and attacking Nibbles quite badly and on the advice from pets at home we returned the problem piggy and bonded Nibbles with another piggy, Nugget.

We were so inexperienced (read clueless!) we had no idea if what we were doing was right. Maybe you should chalk this up as experience and try adopting a ready-bonded pair from your local rescue. Not only would you be giving those piggies a second chance but you would also be less likely to suffer the stress of them falling out.

Alternatively you could go back and get the victim piggy to try and bond with a rescue one. Or take them up on their suggestion and try to bond her with another from the shop.

It is of course up to you what you do. If you have, as I suspect, fallen in love with that piggy then by all means go and get her back and do what you think is best.

Amy
x
 
Thank you so much to those that took the time to reply ... it really did help, and after much deliberation actually not that much, I have decided to go bring bubbles home tomorrow. Think we'll try and find a rescue buddy from one of the local shelters soon, to see if we can successfully bond her.

Really appreciate your kind advice.


Bws, a relieved mummy x
 
I thought you might! Please get some pigtures to show us. (I need something to drool over!)

Amy
x
 
Would love to have oblidged amy, but p@h won't let me have her back until she's given the all clear from the mite treatment. They have also now said that "both piggies are getting on fine", with the implication that they will only return them to me as a pair.

Don't think I could face a repeat of last week, it was so stressful wondering if a fight was going to break out! Really unsure as to what to do next, will just need to wait and see - as apparently they are being monitored!

Disgruntled from Lincoln, signing off xx
 
I had a similar experience with a different pet shop than p@h but doubt what they say is actually true unless they were put back in with a big group and they havent noticed any issues as there are more than just the two of them - how much time have they realistically got to watch the pigs and their behaviour, I doubt they are able or allowed to spend the time it takes to check for a proper bond between the two.

My experience was with my landlady and her hamster she purchased for her daughter. She brought a syrian hamster and was concerned about the difficulty in handling this 7 year olds pet and she knew I had experience with rodents. Even before I managed to catch this "childs, well handled pet" it was hissing at me, but I persevered to manage to hold gently the hamster which proceeded to sink its teeth into my finger (which I have happen too many times already thanks to a previous pet of mine). This hamster was not well handled and was actually very wild - wilder than any rodent I have ever handled so we took it back to the shop where they tried to blame mishandling (which I did not do, I am experienced and know what I am doing), the fact that we owned dogs (no dogs had gone in the room all the time the hamster was there, and then the farm cats (which live outside 24/7). After I had a discussion and relayed my vast experience they relented and offered a replacement, a chinese hamster that was actually very sweet natured and more suited. I asked my landlady how they removed the original hamster who was the only one in the housing at the time of purchase that week before and she said the chap picked it up in a toilet tube, never actually handled the pet nor offer the hamster over for her to handle. In all the years that I have had rodents I have never had an occasion where the staff dont handle the animals they are selling nor allow the customer to handle them - how will they know if you can handle them correctly, even expect it at rescues to be given the chance to handle and cuddle the animal you are adopting, not have it shoved in a box unhandled to take home.

Sadly sometimes they do not tell the truth and I think alarm bells are ringing if I was in your shoes regarding these piggies.

I know you have your heart set but would you consider a rescue pair, have a look at the map and see if there are any close to you https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=209994852075231951564.0004b8fd9391b4257d8eb&msa=0 you could find your perfect match is just waiting for you to find them. And I have been in p@h at one point and seen some really beautiful pigs available, I have a thing for abbeys and they had a couple, it took a lot of will power to not fall for them, not break my resolve and it was equally tempting to pop back and get them but then I would not have been able to adopt silver - my beautiful abbey boy and even my two big coronets which I never dreamed I would ever have.
 
Oh. What a shame. If it doesn't feel right then you should definitely see about rescuing a bonded pair.

Fingers crossed that everything works out and you join the ranks of piggy parenting soon!

Amy
x
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top