How to help a very, very anxious pig with a new arrangment?

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goldencolouredskies

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I adopted Selune almost a year ago now. All I know about her is that she's probably about 2 years old now, just over 1 when I got her, and that she was an ex-breeding pig.

She has, from the start, been so frightened. She used to scream if we tried to catch her for any reason (nails, that one time I thought she was squinting, etc), but has, over time, slightly come out of her shell and put on a fair bit of weight (she was around 600g when I got her, now about 1000g). Still, she's very skittish. She spends most of her day hidden away in her hide in the corner, only coming out for food, though I've occasionally noticed her lounging just outside her hide.

But we've recently moved her cage from the bottom floor of a 2 decker C&C to being at the same height as the other one, for ease of cleaning since cleaning the bottom level was a horrible backbreaking task, and she seems to have completely retreated back to her corner. Outside of dinner, I've barely seen her come out. She's refusing to take food from my hand, too, something she's been doing consistently for months, and when we lifted her hide to clean the fleece underneath she ran away like she was about to be murdered.

My poor girl is clearly terrified, and I don't know how to help her. Could I cover part of the cage in a towel/blanket to give her a bit more darkness like she's used to, maybe? Would that help?
Additional info: her cagemate is a very bold rex about her age, only about 3 months younger (Penelope). The two have never had any issues, mostly seem to just kind of live around each other. As well as this, the new arrangement puts their cage right next to the other two pigs, (Fizzy and Gingie) so now they can see each other through the bars.

This whole experience has made me think EVEN LESS of breeders, as I can't help but wonder if she has reason to be so scared beyond the basic prey animal nature.

Does anyone have any advice?
 
goldencolouredskies said:
I adopted Selune almost a year ago now. All I know about her is that she's probably about 2 years old now, just over 1 when I got her, and that she was an ex-breeding pig.

She has, from the start, been so frightened. She used to scream if we tried to catch her for any reason (nails, that one time I thought she was squinting, etc), but has, over time, slightly come out of her shell and put on a fair bit of weight (she was around 600g when I got her, now about 1000g). Still, she's very skittish. She spends most of her day hidden away in her hide in the corner, only coming out for food, though I've occasionally noticed her lounging just outside her hide.

But we've recently moved her cage from the bottom floor of a 2 decker C&C to being at the same height as the other one, for ease of cleaning since cleaning the bottom level was a horrible backbreaking task, and she seems to have completely retreated back to her corner. Outside of dinner, I've barely seen her come out. She's refusing to take food from my hand, too, something she's been doing consistently for months, and when we lifted her hide to clean the fleece underneath she ran away like she was about to be murdered.

My poor girl is clearly terrified, and I don't know how to help her. Could I cover part of the cage in a towel/blanket to give her a bit more darkness like she's used to, maybe? Would that help?
Additional info: her cagemate is a very bold rex about her age, only about 3 months younger (Penelope). The two have never had any issues, mostly seem to just kind of live around each other. As well as this, the new arrangement puts their cage right next to the other two pigs, (Fizzy and Gingie) so now they can see each other through the bars.

This whole experience has made me think EVEN LESS of breeders, as I can't help but wonder if she has reason to be so scared beyond the basic prey animal nature.

Does anyone have any advice?
Click to expand...

Hi

Yes, please cover the top of the cage and refrain from any predatory behaviours. Quite a number of piggies born to seriously stressed and scared mothers unfortunately set their own high stress default while still in the womb and have to live life-long with returning to that default when confronted with any changes and challenges.
All you can do it accept this, give them as much stability and a firm routine, try to mitigate any changes and lure them out of it that bit more easily each time. You will however find that this has nothing to do with trust - when these kind of piggies are ill, you'll discover that they trust you implicitly to care for them and make them better. What you sadly can't, is change that default setting.

I have over the years had quite a few piggies of that ilk myself. They still appreciate your good care and can often live long lives despite all this.

You will find the practical how-to tips and in-depth advice in these guides here helpful:
Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs
How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

Yes, please cover the top of the cage and refrain from any predatory behaviours. Quite a number of piggies born to seriously stressed and scared mothers unfortunately set their own high stress default while still in the womb and have to live life-long with returning to that default when confronted with any changes and challenges.
All you can do it accept this, give them as much stability and a firm routine, try to mitigate any changes and lure them out of it that bit more easily each time. You will however find that this has nothing to do with trust - when these kind of piggies are ill, you'll discover that they trust you implicitly to care for them and make them better. What you sadly can't, is change that default setting.

I have over the years had quite a few piggies of that ilk myself. They still appreciate your good care and can often live long lives despite all this.

You will find the practical how-to tips and in-depth advice in these guides here helpful:
Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs
How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
Click to expand...
Understood - I'll cover the cage and only pick her up for absolute necessity.
Is it fair to assume that she might eventually adapt and start to relax a bit again, so long as I'm patient and gentle with her? Obviously she'll always have that default, but hopefully she might go back to how she was before we moved her.
 
goldencolouredskies said:
Understood - I'll cover the cage and only pick her up for absolute necessity.
Is it fair to assume that she might eventually adapt and start to relax a bit again, so long as I'm patient and gentle with her? Obviously she'll always have that default, but hopefully she might go back to how she was before we moved her.
Click to expand...

She will be going back to how she was before the move eventually. Just be patient; once she is feeling safe, she will come out of herself again.

You may just have to brace for this being the way she reacts to changes. Over a lifetime she will gradually relax and at least come out of it sooner...
 
Give your piggy time to adjust to her new surroundings and then gradually start handling her. You can guide her into a telescopic plastic tunnel to lift her in, being careful she does not run out the front while being carried. Just spend time with her on your lap as you are in the picture and try to gently touch and stroke the top of her head. After a while she will start to get used to this. Piggies are affectionate, tactile creatures and are well disposed, given time, to being stroked. Alot of them detest being picked up though and are suspicious of being lifted for personal care and health checks. But you should be able to at least stroke her head eventually with her enjoying the stroking ❤️
 
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