H
hils78
I made a desicion that I would do fostering for Guinea Pigs. I have 4 of my own who are spoilt rotten. I thought I would either foster from a rescue or get free ad pigs - give them the treatment they need & rehome them myself.
In a round about way I obtained 2 pigs from the local free ads. Well they turned up at my door actually from someone who had got to them first & then got cold feet. I had actually seen them advertised myself.
They turned up in 2 decent sized indoor cages with 1 female pig in each. In each cage there was a food bowl with Shredded Wheat >
(maxthepig member actually has seen one of these bowls as I saved it) > Their nails were curled. And they were petrified.
Apparantly there were 2 pigs in each cage owned by twin girls who had lost interest & one of each pair had died.
My daughter & I got them out of the cages and sat with them on the settee & I clipped their nails. Then they took one look at each other and bolted together and literally cuddled (I had checked they were female!)
These poor little buggers had been lonely and seperated for over a year. So the pairing up thing had taken care of its self.
Next step was to clean & disinfect the cages. OMG I have NEVER seen anything like it. There was the thickest crust lining the bottom of the cages. It took me 2 hours to get almost all of the stuff off of just one cage bottom. I made the cage up with 'proper' hay etc & new toys to avoid squabbles. Then it was the task of bathing them! The first one was ok ish skin wise-a little flakey & a few lumps. The PEW was/is terrible obvious fungal infection open cuts/sores and a possible Upper resp tract infection because of laboured breathing. I thought she was going to die through this bath! But it had to be done going into a disinfected clean cage.
Anyway they survived the night and took a couple of days to learn that the chopping board sound means a little bit of proper food!
I got up one morning & the white & sandy girl was shouting at me standing up against the bars! so I picked her up & she just started licking me - trying to get at my face and chuckling when I stroked her. I got the other one out who is very timid & sat with them on the settee. The door bell went so I let them in their fleece & answered the door (in the same room I was in - they weren't left!). I turned round to see the tame girl stood at the edge of the settee squeeking for me hopping from one foot to another! I bent over to her and she started licking my face...then launched herself pretty much into my tea. 8)
They're both with Vedra at the CTT being treated for fungal infections, cysts and a type of stone on the tame ones girly bits.
I know that this has been a long winded post but I have never met such a pig. None of mine have ever been that tame. Also after everything they must have been through I'm literally shocked. Has anyone else seen such a turn around in behaviour in such badly treated pigs or is this one of a kind?
In a round about way I obtained 2 pigs from the local free ads. Well they turned up at my door actually from someone who had got to them first & then got cold feet. I had actually seen them advertised myself.
They turned up in 2 decent sized indoor cages with 1 female pig in each. In each cage there was a food bowl with Shredded Wheat >
(maxthepig member actually has seen one of these bowls as I saved it) > Their nails were curled. And they were petrified.Apparantly there were 2 pigs in each cage owned by twin girls who had lost interest & one of each pair had died.
My daughter & I got them out of the cages and sat with them on the settee & I clipped their nails. Then they took one look at each other and bolted together and literally cuddled (I had checked they were female!)
These poor little buggers had been lonely and seperated for over a year. So the pairing up thing had taken care of its self.Next step was to clean & disinfect the cages. OMG I have NEVER seen anything like it. There was the thickest crust lining the bottom of the cages. It took me 2 hours to get almost all of the stuff off of just one cage bottom. I made the cage up with 'proper' hay etc & new toys to avoid squabbles. Then it was the task of bathing them! The first one was ok ish skin wise-a little flakey & a few lumps. The PEW was/is terrible obvious fungal infection open cuts/sores and a possible Upper resp tract infection because of laboured breathing. I thought she was going to die through this bath! But it had to be done going into a disinfected clean cage.
Anyway they survived the night and took a couple of days to learn that the chopping board sound means a little bit of proper food!
I got up one morning & the white & sandy girl was shouting at me standing up against the bars! so I picked her up & she just started licking me - trying to get at my face and chuckling when I stroked her. I got the other one out who is very timid & sat with them on the settee. The door bell went so I let them in their fleece & answered the door (in the same room I was in - they weren't left!). I turned round to see the tame girl stood at the edge of the settee squeeking for me hopping from one foot to another! I bent over to her and she started licking my face...then launched herself pretty much into my tea. 8)
They're both with Vedra at the CTT being treated for fungal infections, cysts and a type of stone on the tame ones girly bits.
I know that this has been a long winded post but I have never met such a pig. None of mine have ever been that tame. Also after everything they must have been through I'm literally shocked. Has anyone else seen such a turn around in behaviour in such badly treated pigs or is this one of a kind?
