New piggy from a animal Sanctuary

Gem&Bowie

Gem&Bowie

New Born Pup
Joined
Nov 25, 2019
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Hello everyone!
I’m a new mummy to Bowie who is 1yr 6m. He’s such a beautiful giant boy who I adopted from a animal sanctuary. They say
he prefers to be on his own as he wasn’t so good with others due to his size and that’s why they think he’s ended up with them but they said he came in with good health . I’ve had him since Friday, I’ve left him alone to settle except to clean his cage. He hides all the time and he makes no noise. He comes out when no one around or I’m on my own and it’s quite (so he thinks he’s on his own)
what I want to know is should I just leave him to it? When should I encourage him that I’m his friend? I talk to him and try encourage him to take food from me but he’s not having none of it. Am I trying too soon? I just want him to be happy! I’ve attached a photo of the beautiful big lad (a rare opportunity while cleaning out!)0C145A51-9016-489B-9391-DE4D8754F7B1.webp
 
Hello and welcome! He is gorgeous.

The information in the link and guides below will help you. Ultimately though, it’s only been a few days and it takes many piggies a long time to completely settle. Give him time, take things slowly and at his pace and he will come round in time.

New Owners' Most Helpful How-To Guides and Information

It’s not common for a piggy to truly want to be a lone piggy. It does happen though and there are some that just won’t be bonded to another pig, but usually it is down to not having found the right friend. His size is highly unlikely to have anything to do with it. Mutual liking and character compatibility is the main thing when it comes to finding a guinea pig a new friend and he may just not have found the right piggy to live with. It can take many meetings with other piggies before the right one is found

Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities
 
Piggies&buns said:
Hello and welcome! He is gorgeous.

The information in the link and guides below will help you. Ultimately though, it’s only been a few days and it takes many piggies a long time to completely settle. Give him time, take things slowly and at his pace and he will come round in time.

New Owners' Most Helpful How-To Guides and Information

It’s not common for a piggy to truly want to be a lone piggy. It does happen though and there are some that just won’t be bonded to another pig, but usually it is down to not having found the right friend. His size is highly unlikely to have anything to do with it. Mutual liking and character compatibility is the main thing when it comes to finding a guinea pig a new friend and he may just not have found the right piggy to live with. It can take many meetings with other piggies before the right one is found

Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities
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Thank you for your help, it’s made me feel really sad for Bowie now. I wonder if the sanctuary tried him with anyone? I’m going to go and ask as I’d hate it if he was lonely! And I’d be more than happy to get him a buddy.
ive read through the information but I’m still unsure of how much space to give him and for how long? I don’t want to be a bull in a China shop..will I just know when he’s ready for more interaction? Could he just be like this all the time? Will him been a bit more older make any difference as in ‘you can’t teach a old dog new tricks’ I’m sorry for all the questions I Accept him however he is...a happy Bowie is a happy me! ☺️
 
I adopted Micah a few months ago because he had been labelled as having to live alone.
He came home with me, was neutered and now lives an ecstatica happy life with 3 sows.
As @Piggies&buns says - it’s about finding the right companion.

Welcome to the forum and I must say that Bowie is just gorgeous.
I hope we will see lots more pictures of him
 
1yr 6 months is really very young to consider keeping him alone, when he might live for 8 years. Perhaps you might consider getting him neutered and finding him a nice lady friend or two? Then you have natural love instincts on your side! I'm surprised the rescue hasnt had him neutered already, its usually common practice I believe if a boy is young and in good health and wont bond with other boars for the rescue to get him neutered and try pair him with a wife. Our gorgeous Ollie pigwig had failed to bond with other males so he was neutered at the rescue and we took our girl Tallulah (who had attacked 3 of the girls in my main herd) to meet him, it was an instant love match!
He looks very handsome and like he could make a few piggy ladies very happy post neuter :)
 
It would certainly be worth looking further into getting him a friend. They are highly social herd animals who thrive with company. as the others have said, if you can’t find him a boar friend, then neutering and finding a wife for him may work!

Start by offering him food from your hand while he is in his cage. Once he accepts food from your hand, you are then onto a good thing! He may never progress beyond that, but he just might with time!

Each piggy is different. However, as prey animals it is quite normal for them to not want to be touched and cuddled. They simply aren’t all the cuddly creatures people think they are, but they do get used to human interaction. I’ve had my two boys for almost 17 months. One of them is happy to come for a chat and be around me. He will take food from my hand and is a friendly but doesn’t really like being touched, the odd chin rub he will tolerate, but hates being picked up. The other one runs and hides as soon as he sees me coming, he won’t take food from my hand (I think he may have done it once but I’m pretty sure he couldn’t see my hand at the time so had no idea he was taking it from me) and will not entertain the idea of being touched. I obviously have to pick them up to do health checks etc but it isn’t an entirely pleasant experience for them as they simply don’t like it (my more timid piggy did actually seem to enjoy the cuddle that came long with his last health check, but it has taken over a year to get to this point).
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
Is he neutered at all? I agree he is gorgeous. A friend will bring out his full happiness 👍
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I asked the guys at the sanctuary and they said they do not do it as haven’t the funds to do the smaller animals, I am going to get him registered at a vets and find out more☺️
SkyPipDotBernie said:
Is he neutered at all? I agree he is gorgeous. A friend will bring out his full happiness 👍
Click to expand...
 
Piggies&buns said:
It would certainly be worth looking further into getting him a friend. They are highly social herd animals who thrive with company. as the others have said, if you can’t find him a boar friend, then neutering and finding a wife for him may work!

Start by offering him food from your hand while he is in his cage. Once he accepts food from your hand, you are then onto a good thing! He may never progress beyond that, but he just might with time!

Each piggy is different. However, as prey animals it is quite normal for them to not want to be touched and cuddled. They simply aren’t all the cuddly creatures people think they are, but they do get used to human interaction. I’ve had my two boys for almost 17 months. One of them is happy to come for a chat and be around me. He will take food from my hand and is a friendly but doesn’t really like being touched, the odd chin rub he will tolerate, but hates being picked up. The other one runs and hides as soon as he sees me coming, he won’t take food from my hand (I think he may have done it once but I’m pretty sure he couldn’t see my hand at the time so had no idea he was taking it from me) and will not entertain the idea of being touched. I obviously have to pick them up to do health checks etc but it isn’t an entirely pleasant experience for them as they simply don’t like it (my more timid piggy did actually seem to enjoy the cuddle that came long with his last health check, but it has taken over a year to get to this point).
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Thank you again for advice I’m definitely going to find out more for the big fella..I’m also going to take it nice and slow with him 😊
 
PigglePuggle said:
1yr 6 months is really very young to consider keeping him alone, when he might live for 8 years. Perhaps you might consider getting him neutered and finding him a nice lady friend or two? Then you have natural love instincts on your side! I'm surprised the rescue hasnt had him neutered already, its usually common practice I believe if a boy is young and in good health and wont bond with other boars for the rescue to get him neutered and try pair him with a wife. Our gorgeous Ollie pigwig had failed to bond with other males so he was neutered at the rescue and we took our girl Tallulah (who had attacked 3 of the girls in my main herd) to meet him, it was an instant love match!
He looks very handsome and like he could make a few piggy ladies very happy post neuter :)
Click to expand...
Thank you it’s something I’m definitely taking further, I’m going to start at the sanctuary and the vets and take it from there 😊
 
Merab's Slave said:
I adopted Micah a few months ago because he had been labelled as having to live alone.
He came home with me, was neutered and now lives an ecstatica happy life with 3 sows.
As @Piggies&buns says - it’s about finding the right companion.

Welcome to the forum and I must say that Bowie is just gorgeous.
I hope we will see lots more pictures of him
Click to expand...
Thank you he’s a beaut isn’t he! I will send lots more ...when I see him!😂
 
What a big fuzzy boy you have. I agree with the others that it would be worth taking him to a rescue that does boar dating to see if he can find another boar to share his life with. Otherwise, perhaps consider having him neutered, wait 6 weeks and then find him a wife to help make his life perfect. He's very handsome.
 
Cavy Corner is wonderful. I’m sure if they can possibly find him a match then they will do so. Fingers crossed for Tuesday.
 
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