how long?

[Pepperdog]

has it taken your piggies to show their personalities and/or settled with you enough to enjoy your company?

I have loved watching the girls blossom and settle, I cant say how much I am enjoying this experience with them. It is a little upsetting that they still get very skittish but they are prey animals so its to be expected and even after 5 days the changes in them has been remarkable.

I learnt that crystal is the boss, she is brave, greedy and nosey. Fudge is the live wire of the group and being the youngest she has yet to go through the process of the hormones and growing into a young female piggy, but she is not hiding as much as she used to, she is settling in my arms a lot more and I am no longer holding a willy worm. Minty however has yet to start to trust, earlier today she did come close to the edge where I was stood - crystal was walking past too, she isnt sticking to the back of the hutch to get about, she is walking near the front and all 3 are not hiding when they hear me outside.

So how long did it take for you all to have the beginnings of the settled pigs you have now.

I also ask as new owners may find my settling in period posts helpful to know that time and patience does reward you with a better relationship with your piggies, I can already see this starting in 5 days.

 

[Lady Kelly]

ok well there are clear differences in my two. We got Bumble and Bea at the beginning of January (Bumble was 4 months and Bea 2 years). Bea is the boss but also the most timid of the two and as they were kept in a shed at the rescue it took them a while to get used to living in door and all the noise from me and OH.

Now I can pick them up with my hands.. they still run away a little but they don't get stressed out anymore. Bea still isn't as comfortable with me as Bumble is but that might be because Bumble had two weeks of antibiotics at one point where I had to get her every morning and syringe the medicine into her mouth so I think it kind of forced a bit of trust on her. I have also noticed that when I walk past the cage Bumble doesn't really hide anymore whereas Bea legs it asap Bumble also responds to my voice and looks around for me now which is sweet.

I must admit that it feels like its taken ages to get to this stage but its so very rewarding and every week we just seem to get a better bond

 

[Pepperdog]

I must admit that it feels like its taken ages to get to this stage but its so very rewarding and every week we just seem to get a better bond

indeed, this was why I thought I would start the thread as some people might get a little disheartened that after a few days they pigs are not coming up to them yet, or even after several months, especially after a pig may have come from a rescue situation where handling was not a daily occurance (not in the rescue itself, where they came in to rescue from).

I know from experience with rescue lurchers that it can take different lengths of time depending on each dog in how long they learnt your routine and to trust you. Some people had got concerned that the dog wouldnt get there, but they will in the end.

I wanted to use this as an encouragement to everyone, including myself.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Yes I see what you mean, I think I was a lot like that at first as my girls are my first ever piggies and I think I joined here the day we got them from the rescue so this place has been a god send for reminding me to take things slow and don't rush them. I think having the cage and run (at weekends) set up right where we are in the living room has probably brought them out of their shell more as they are used to us talking, watching tv etc

 

[Pepperdog]

well day 6 and fudge is really starting to explore the hutch on her own and I saw crystal popcorn twice for the first time :laluot_15: all because I had put out some cabbage Minty still wont take from my hand, fudge is only just starting to experiment with veg so I dont expect her to come to my hands for food and she is responding to her name, I said hello little one and she stopped still, then I said fudge, she looked at me x)

 

[Lady Kelly]

I've had a break through today they ate from my hand! (usually would have to be stick of celery or long lettuce leaf) but I found the magic ingredient... grass!

Its been raining again today so too horrible for them to go for a run so I brought a handful of grass in for them as a treat and they loved it, I sat on the floor with them both and Bumble wouldn't come out of the cosy so thought I would see if I can get her to eat grass before Bea wolfed the lot. Lets just say she loved it and a couple of times I even felt her teeth on my thumb/finger (I really don't want to be that close hehe). Bea also had a bit which surprised me as she is extremely timid... lets just say they will be getting grass more often hehe x)

 

[Wiebke]

Anything between nearly straight away from a beloved ex pet to several weeks from severely traumatised rescue cases (which I rehome for exactly that reason). The worst girl took several months until I get through to her - but Taffy was about as freaky as they come!

In the end, mine have always come round with a bit patience and persistence, but how quickly depends on age, background and character.

 

[PopcornPigs]

It varies like you say with the rescue lurchers.
I got Frazzle and then about a week later he had settled. He is the most outgoing guinea pig I have ever met though. For example he was in the run the other day, I got in and sat down and 5 minutes later he climbs up onto my leg, onto my lap and then lies down to go to sleep... like a little cat!
Annie was very nervous when I first got her in November, however I'm now at the stage where she'll respond to her name and come up to the bars to say hello for a nose rub, and then take food and she doesn't try to run away when I'm handling her, whereas before she'd just try to climb me and hide in my hair.

 

[mellyb]

I have had my 2 boys since Thursday and it only took Basil about 24 hours to settle in and he now takes food from my hand, responds to my voice and lets me stroke him in the cage when he's eating his hay.

Elvis is very, very timid and I know it's going to take him a while. But i've had a breakthrough this evening, just put in some veggies and they are both out of their sleeping area and eating |)

 

[Pepperdog]

Thought I would add how things have gone since I last posted, especially as some new members have been worried about upsetting their new piggies, obviously each piggie is different.

After I introduced flash into the herd the girls became more confident around the hutch and me, flash is still quite skittish and will run and hide more often than the girls.

Minty my abby has turned into such a sweetheart, she is a cuddle monster, she loves to be on my chest - still hates being caught but will happily sit on me for some time. She still wont take food from my hand but I am so happy that she has relaxed so much more being handled. I love her baboon bum, and her monkey cheeks - her rosettes have given her an interesting hair dos.

Crystal always was the most confident and she remains the same with the group. She was the first to start wheeking her demands at me, she will happily eat from my hand and even comes to the front of the hutch for a special yummy treat when I am getting the veg ready to put in - she has figured this out rather quickly and I am happy to accomodate her demands I have noticed her white coat (although she really needs a bath) has some dark markings in places, she has a small dark patch on one side of her nose but not dark enough to be a himi. She still twitches when I touch her but she loves to be combed, she still chatters away to me while I hold her and I think she is just a more vocal lady than the others.

Fudge still tries to bite me given half the chance and she is still a right fidget when I hold her, she is still really unhappy about being caught and will vocalise her protests rather loudly. She will take food from my hand but she will not take food from the front of the cage, I have to be holding her to get her to stay still enough to eat anything mind. She has put on so much weight and is only about 100g behind the older pigs, might have to call her fatty fudge the fidget

Flash once caught insists on sitting on my tummy, or to try to get on my shoulder, he is shy about me cleaning up his willy rolleyes he has brought so much into the group and although he remains the most skittish of the gang I love him to bits for being so silly, i am sure he will come round as much as the girls have given time.

So, two months on, this is how things are going.

 

[Pepperdog]

just to add to this as I have a new run and have changed the catching regime now.

I have also been grooming them before putting them back in and they are enjoying the brushing, although crystal is still a little jumpy when touched, she does still chat to me x) such a sweetie.

I use the cat box to carry them to and from the hutch and run, I usually manage to get two in from the hutch a time and I try to herd them into the box without grabbing them so they dont get so worked up. Once in the box I can handle them out the box and check on them etc.

To get them home again I have two foot stools in the run that I turn on its side and using a few bamboo sticks (as I cant reach under the fill wooden section and its less stressful) I create a moving wall to get them to move down the now made tunnel and into the cat box. In just two attempts now they have realised the box is the way home and they are quite happy to pop inside and are less worked up than if I try to grab them.

I can still at anytime catch them individually in the hutch but much as it seems I am backing off from handling I am just training them to move into the cat box with as least amount of running about and squeeking at me as possible.