quarantine?

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biscandmatt

biscandmatt

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i am adopting a piggie soon (hopefully!) from a rescue for my single piggie. do i need to quarantine her when she arrives? or can i try bonding them straight away? if she's come from a rescue will she already be checked over and healthy?

has anyone ever not done this?

thanks.
 
If from a rescue then I don't quarantine. If from pet shops I keep pig seperate for 3 weeks...well I would now not that I did with my own pet shop lads but I didn't know any better then. :)
 
if she's from a rescue and has any medical problems you'll be told about them when you get her
i'd keep her seperate from your other pig but keep their living quarters next to each other (e.g. two hutches facing each other) so they get used to seeing/smelling each other
then start introducing them in a neutral environment so that they can have some time to play, and after a few weeks they should be happy to try living together =] (make sure you disinfect the cage/hutch first!)

good luck =]
 
Interesting on hutch disinfecting, I never do that before putting pigs together. I take the view that 2 pigs will get on together or they won't. Neither do I bother with neutral territory or Vick on their noses. The only concession I make is to introduce a new pig at feeding time, pigs are generally more interested in food than a newcomer!
 
i've never heard of vick on their noses...? is that the stuff you use when you have a cold? O_o
yeah, if you neutralise the cage it makes them less likely to become territorial and means that when they establish an order, which they tend to do if there's three or more pigs, they'll do it without so much aggression and little to no squabbling.
this tends to happen with boars more than sows, but it's always best to be on the safe side =] but whatever works best for you! if you can get them living happily together without blitzing their houses then i say good on you =D
 
I do introduce boars on neutral ground, say a new cage or C&C made up and feeding time is ideal as Al said they are more interested in food.

With girls I just put them together. I don't bother with Vic I do think if they get on they get on if not then you can't force it. :)
 
I wouldn't quarantine from a rescue either. Agree with all that has been said about giving the cage/hutch a real good disinfecting and cleaning and move around houses/toys etc. If you already have one pig in the hutch then it sort of becomes 'his' hutch, 'his' territory, and by disinfectanting (is that a word?) etc. it neutralises the area in terms of smell, so both pigs hopefully start off equal, so it's not disinfectanting with the idea of killing off any germs, but to get rid of territory. Definintely agree with Lou and Al, feeding time is ideal as they are more interested in food.
(If I visit this rescue centre for you to pick up your piggy, Biscandmatt, I hope I don't get tempted myself...it will all be your fault! lol)
xx
 
Hi Gracie, I wondered the same thing. Plenty use it though. Maybe the baby one if you're concerned, is it called Snufflerub or something like that? I thought possibly the 'fumes' from vick may be a bit strong too, but everyone says its ok? Sorry no help. xx
 
it'd just never occured to me to alter what they can smell rather than just introducing them carefully and naturally
to me that's like putting a blindfold on them, haha
 
If I introduce gentle sows to one another I don't always bother with the Vick, but I've recently done a couple of tricky introductions of anxious sows into a large bonded group of girls and a neutered boar.

Here's my Fuzzypeg sniffing a nervous newbie, not that he could probably smell that well with the Vick treatment! But if you've got a very dominant boar (like my Fuzzypeg) and nervous / anxious sows to introduce, it just helps keep everything calm and maximise their chances of bonding. They are all getting on fine now.

Charlotte x

Pigs1.jpg
 
I quarantine everything, better safe than sorry :) unless the pigs come from another rescue that has already quarantined. The one time I didn't, with a petshop pig, my own piggy got Ringworm from the new piggy and I vowed then never to risk it again!

If you're getting your pig from a rescue they should be able to advise you and it should have been there long enough to be out of quarantine.

Sophie
x
 
^^ how much vick do you put on his nose? i just imagine using a tiny amount and blocking their airways altogether =[
but, as i have just been trying to say to people on a different thread, what could be seen as cruel by one person can be fine for another person's pigs
i would say that doing that could cause problems, but if it works for you and they're fine with it then that's good =]
 
nutmeg said:
I wouldn't quarantine from a rescue either. Agree with all that has been said about giving the cage/hutch a real good disinfecting and cleaning and move around houses/toys etc. If you already have one pig in the hutch then it sort of becomes 'his' hutch, 'his' territory, and by disinfectanting (is that a word?) etc. it neutralises the area in terms of smell, so both pigs hopefully start off equal, so it's not disinfectanting with the idea of killing off any germs, but to get rid of territory. Definintely agree with Lou and Al, feeding time is ideal as they are more interested in food.
(If I visit this rescue centre for you to pick up your piggy, Biscandmatt, I hope I don't get tempted myself...it will all be your fault! lol)
xx
Click to expand...

:)) don't steal my new piggie! lol... i'm sure you would be very tempted, the lady said she has about 80 piggies in at the minute, and she did have about 120 up until a few months ago! :)
 
thanks for everyones advice. if i'm building them a new c&c cage can i try bonding them in there? or should i make a run and bond them in there and then move them to the new cage?
 
If both haven't been in the cage I would bond that way. Use the run if one of your pigs has lived in the cage. :)
 
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