Petrified piggy

[twiams]

My boyfriends mums having her bathroom all reffited which as you can imagine is a noisy job rolleyes

Bentley and Chester have had the odd rumble and are staying in their houses but my loan boar Marmite is petrified, before the builders had even done anything this morning he was literally throwing himself from one side of the cage to the other to get away from my hand when i was trying to give him a treat and comfort him. I’ve never seen such a terrified guinea and i just don’t know how to comfort him, i’ve added extra hidey houses and given him a cuddly toy to snuggle with but i don’t know how much it’s even going to help i feel so awful :red

I thought about bringing him downstairs with me but thats probably even worse noise wise as it’s right below all the noise instead i hate that he’s so scared as he’s only recently started to get more confident with people and coming to the side of his cage and i’m worried this might set him back.

Does anyone have any ideas to help him relax or at least feel a little less terrified. ?/

 

[Vicz2010]

Have you tried relaxing music or can anybody watch your piggy till works done x

 

[twiams]

The builders have a radio on but you can’t hear anything when their drills are on And theres no one near by that i could trust to watch him, or have the space for him. I may see if i can take him to work with me on Thursday. Although he’d probably be just as scared at the vets!

 

[bubble&squeak4ever]

Ah bless him....it would be best to move him as far away as possible from the noise. Do you have a shed or garage that he could temporarily be kept in? Maybe putting a towel of blanket over the cage would add more security?

 

[twiams]

He seems to have settled a bit now he’s in a slightly smaller igloo and his teddy but i may put a blanket over too as theres no where to put him as the whole downstairs is open plan so it’s just as noisy as being in the bedroom with the door closed. I just feel so bad for him he’s such a timid piggy!

 

[Wiebke]

He will calm down somewhat once he realises that nothing will happen to him.

Alternatively, you could try to fashion a padded sling to carry him next to your body; that would comfort him most. All he wants is to feel as safe as possible. Try to let him run into the sling, don't try to lift him out, by the way.

 

[MerryPip]

I hear that the dog appeasing pheromone (DAP) plug in adaptors which calm dogs down have some effect for piggies.... might be worth a try. They aren't cheap though.

 

[Hermes]

He will calm down somewhat once he realises that nothing will happen to him.

Alternatively, you could try to fashion a padded sling to carry him next to your body; that would comfort him most. All he wants is to feel as safe as possible. Try to let him run into the sling, don't try to lift him out, by the way.

About the sling... does that really calm them? I can understand it would be a good way to move a scared pig if needs be but I can't imagine a pig that's only just getting used to people finding it very comforting to be trapped in a sling and carried around.



What you already have done sounds about right to me, give him plenty of places to hide, cover the top of the cage and otherwise carry on as normal, he'll get used to the noise after a while.