How to solve a problem like Tallulah...

PigglePuggle

PigglePuggle

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Cue the singing nuns from the sound of music! But seriously, Tallulah bat-hippo just isnt like the other pigs. She's less fearful than she was but she always seems angry about something. I know its early days, first 3 weeks, but... are skinny pigs sometimes not quite right? She's always starving (she gets 2 well balanced meals a day slightly bigger than the adults twice her size get, plus unlimited hay). She's always going too fast and very angry, like the illegitimate offspring of cartoon mouse Speedy Gonzales and hell hound Cerberus. Its kind of funny because she's just a baby bat-hippo, but I worry about her long term prospects... she took food from my hand for the first time today which should be a good sign but the way she did it (shaking her head like a pit bull then jumping up and down on the shredded coriander scraps stamping them into the floor making angry sounds) just doesnt seem right...
Will she settle? Are some skinny pigs prone to unusual or hyperactive behaviour? I love my little bat-hippo already but... she just doesnt act like a guinea pig very much so far! And she needs to make some kind of guinea pig friend, sometime, to learn guinea pig stuff... but she's a little cutie terror bless her little bald hippo bottom...
Here she is rushing out of her cardboard box shrieking with rage and flinging her salad about because red baby leaf salad leaves aren't quite to her taste...
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Hi! As I have no personal experience with keeping skinnies, I can't tell you.

They do have a faster metabolism and are eating more in comparison to normal piggies.

Please also take into consideration that how their mothers have been kept can influence the outlook of their offspring. I have several adoptees that were born to stressed out mothers in bad conditions or too soon after arrival in rescue for the mothers to relax. They come with a prey animal instincts on high alert default setting, which can take years to get past.
 
Thanks, I think her mum was a rescue pig from a breeder, and she was seperated from mum quite early. The way she went for a baytril syringe like it was the best dinner ever makes me wonder if mum rejected her pups and they were partly syringe fed... weird little she is! She's getting more good food per day than my chunky year old pigs who are still gaining weight, but she always acts starving and desperate... she's had 3 thorough vet checks in 3 weeks and physically she's fine, just... not like everypig else... poor little bat-hippo!
 
She sounds just like my Jasmine. Jasmine is a total spaz, if I accidentally touch her butt, she freaks out and spins around like she’s going to bite, then she puts her nose up and huffs at me. She hates all of the other piggies, I’m very lucky that I had Anna who is so submissive and sweet, she gets along with anyone. They seem very happy together. I’m not sure if she would be happier with another skinny pig instead of a furry one, but I like to think Jasmine likes the feel of Anna’s fur on her skin and Anna likes Jasmine’s extra body heat! I definitely see a very strange personality in her compared to the furries though! I’m not sure if it is due to a lot of inbreeding or maybe the fact that their skin is so sensitive to touch that they feel the need to be more defensive. We’ll see what other skinny pig owners say, but I think they are just a little different in their personalities. They are very funny to watch though. Jasmine is like a bratty kid throwing tantrums when she doesn’t get her way!
 
HeatherRose said:
She sounds just like my Jasmine. Jasmine is a total spaz, if I accidentally touch her butt, she freaks out and spins around like she’s going to bite, then she puts her nose up and huffs at me. She hates all of the other piggies, I’m very lucky that I had Anna who is so submissive and sweet, she gets along with anyone. They seem very happy together. I’m not sure if she would be happier with another skinny pig instead of a furry one, but I like to think Jasmine likes the feel of Anna’s fur on her skin and Anna likes Jasmine’s extra body heat! I definitely see a very strange personality in her compared to the furries though! I’m not sure if it is due to a lot of inbreeding or maybe the fact that their skin is so sensitive to touch that they feel the need to be more defensive. We’ll see what other skinny pig owners say, but I think they are just a little different in their personalities. They are very funny to watch though. Jasmine is like a bratty kid throwing tantrums when she doesn’t get her way!
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Thanks that's helpful to know she isnt the only mad oddball skinny! That just what Tallulah is like, she jumps up and down on the spot and spins round stamping her feet and screaming like a toddler having a tantrum if the salad is wrong... and snorting and flaring her nostrils like a bull or a mad horse... she's going to be very tricky to find a friend for! I was tempted to look for a skinny pal forvher but they are still quite rare in the uk, especially where we live in the north... none of the vets had seen one before, she's a total celebrity at the vets but a bit of a diva to say the least!
 
PigglePuggle said:
Thanks that's helpful to know she isnt the only mad oddball skinny! That just what Tallulah is like, she jumps up and down on the spot and spins round stamping her feet and screaming like a toddler having a tantrum if the salad is wrong... and snorting and flaring her nostrils like a bull or a mad horse... she's going to be very tricky to find a friend for! I was tempted to look for a skinny pal forvher but they are still quite rare in the uk, especially where we live in the north... none of the vets had seen one before, she's a total celebrity at the vets but a bit of a diva to say the least!
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It’s funny because I think Jasmine’s personality is rubbing off on shy little Anna, she has been much more bold since living with Jasmine!
 
I would like Tallulah to meet socially awkward shy Jezzy floof but... Jezzy may need therapy afterwards so I just darent do it! Maybe from opposite ends of the sofa with double parental supervision in a few weeks :)
 
PigglePuggle said:
I would like Tallulah to meet socially awkward shy Jezzy floof but... Jezzy may need therapy afterwards so I just darent do it! Maybe from opposite ends of the sofa with double parental supervision in a few weeks :)
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You never know, they might become best friends, opposites attract right?
 
PigglePuggle said:
Thanks that's helpful to know she isnt the only mad oddball skinny! That just what Tallulah is like, she jumps up and down on the spot and spins round stamping her feet and screaming like a toddler having a tantrum if the salad is wrong... and snorting and flaring her nostrils like a bull or a mad horse... she's going to be very tricky to find a friend for! I was tempted to look for a skinny pal forvher but they are still quite rare in the uk, especially where we live in the north... none of the vets had seen one before, she's a total celebrity at the vets but a bit of a diva to say the least!
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If the salad is wrong! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
 
They eat like pigs, that much is true! I do find both my girls are a little more temperamental than my 'haries' but i wouldn't say crazy really. It could be the way she's been brought up, which means in time she'll realise she can relax a little. As for bonding i'd definitely get her living next door to other pigs as soon as possible so she can interact and learn, her bonding process may take longer than others but it will be worth putting the time into. She's gorgeous BTW!
 
Thanks! She's living right next door but needs to stand on her hind legs to see into the main cage, I'm hoping to try next door playpen time later this week so she can interact properly through the bars more. Just need to move that pesky desk and armchair which are preventing my piggies having wall-to-wall playpen set-ups...
 
Yes I think my need for a desk is definitely less important that the piggies needing 32 square feet of floor space for their combined play pens! I already ditched any ideas of having a dining table and chairs so the piggies have their own room, and ditched the idea of keeping clothes in the wardrobe so I could fill it with bags of hay... I guess they can have the living room too... as long as I can keep my bedroom, but Theo even turned up there on sunday night, piggy daddy brought him up for a late night visit and he pooped on my pillow... gotta love the piggy chaos :)
 
My skinny pigs ate so much when they were babies that i thought they might explode. Yet they only grew quite slowly, it is definitely a metabolism thing. They are also more fussy about their food than our haired piggies. One thing i have noticed is that unlike our haired piggies, they much prefer to sit on top of their hay and don't bury themselves in it, i have just assumed that it is because their skin is so sensitive.

Dora, my skinny pig sow, is still a bit manic compared with Ginger (the boar). She walks round making a constant noise and doesn't like to be touched, except for the furry bit on her nose. You can pick her up and put her on your lap but after that there is no touching, especially if your hands are cold. Although, if my OH puts out his hand at floor level, she will actually put both her front feet on his hand so that he can pick her up. She won't do this for me!

Both skinnys are very sociable and will happily settle down for some lap time.

It definitely sounds like Tallulah needs the company of an adult guinea pig to learn some piggy life skills from.
 
YvonneBlue said:
My skinny pigs ate so much when they were babies that i thought they might explode. Yet they only grew quite slowly, it is definitely a metabolism thing. They are also more fussy about their food than our haired piggies. One thing i have noticed is that unlike our haired piggies, they much prefer to sit on top of their hay and don't bury themselves in it, i have just assumed that it is because their skin is so sensitive.

Dora, my skinny pig sow, is still a bit manic compared with Ginger (the boar). She walks round making a constant noise and doesn't like to be touched, except for the furry bit on her nose. You can pick her up and put her on your lap but after that there is no touching, especially if your hands are cold. Although, if my OH puts out his hand at floor level, she will actually put both her front feet on his hand so that he can pick her up. She won't do this for me!

Both skinnys are very sociable and will happily settle down for some lap time.

It definitely sounds like Tallulah needs the company of an adult guinea pig to learn some piggy life skills from.
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Can I just say, I love seeing Dora and Ginger whenever they are at Guinea Collected (once they were there the same time as my piggies). :love::love:
 
Although not a skinny she reminds me of my Jess, a mentally disturbed strange one! :)
She was separated from mum and sis far too early so had lived alone for a few weeks, only 7 weeks when I took her on, really was odd compared to other pigs I've had! Did the two gentlemen's heads in she's lived with (poor Sheepy got ill and had to separate her before he was PTS, she just wouldn't leave him alone) and Rupert put up with a lot for a few months!

She's great now, Rupert's the calmest boy ever so rubbed off on her I think, still 'not quite right' though! Had her six years soon and a still a bloody nutter! But on her good days she's loverly! The others I do wonder how Rupert puts up with her! Veg thief and just loopy!

May take a special one to click with Tallulah but sure they're out there :D
 
We are having parallel play pen time this morning, with Tallulah in a small play pen joined on to the main play pen... and its going very well!
I served Tallulah's breakfast mixed in with a big pile of hay next to the dividing bars and this attracted everypig to come eat hay together. There's been a fair bit of face licking through the bars, a big sloppy kiss from Theo that had Tallulah popcorning like mad, and only a bit of minor teeth chattering from big pig Clover...
Here's Piggle and Theo going to take a look at Tallulah :)
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Well that was all really positive, Tallulah acting like a guinea pig, friendly interactions through the play pen bars with everypig except Clover, and even Clover sat eating hay by her bat-hippo-nemesis for 20 minutes with only 1 episope of teeth chattering and 1 aggressive lunge from Clover, which Tallulah responded to by spraying pee which is much better than biting or freaking out! And both times another piggy came straight over and positioned themselves between Clover and Tallulah, first Puggle then Blodwen, they told Clover to calm down and she did, looked embarassed and submissive.
I think Blodwen the sassy lilac sunshine piggy wants everpig to be friends and is lining up for a very charming herd leader takeover bid, with a lot of support from Puggle and Jezzy floof... and Clover loves Blod and lets her get away with anything...
I love a good piggy soap opera! I'm going to do a few hours of parallel play pen time twice a week for a month then re-assess if we might try the introductions again and make a big herd of 7... or if not then at least my mad little bat hippo is socialising and might be ready to meet a friend...
 
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