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Travelling a pig - advice

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Jojoba

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I am going home from Edinburgh to Sheffield this weekend and there is no-one who can look after my pig.
I had planned to take him with me in a carry case with food, water and hay (my mum has a hutch he can stay in down there). However my friend panicked me yesterday by saying her rabbit died :( doing the same trip.
It would be 4 hours journey on the train on Friday and 4 hours back on Monday.

Is this too much? Should I leave him behind and try to find someone who will look after him? Or will he travel fine and I'm just being overprotective?

He is an indoor pig and well handled - in fact he's chirruping away on my knee and chewing my arm as I write this.

Any advice appreciated as only 1 day to find him somewhere else to live!

x

x
 
Hi,

I did a similar trip recently with 2 boys. They both had bad post op abscesses and I felt I couldn't leave them with my friend who was feeding the others as they needed regular meds and cleaning, but I really had to go away for the weekend to see my Dad was in hospital, so had no other option. The boys were totally fine and took it all in their stride.

I stopped every hour or so and offered them water as the bottle would have leaked every time we went over a bump if it was fixed to the cage. They were in carry cases with hay, food and veggies, which they ate, so can't have been too traumatised! It was a 4 hour trip.

Don't know if I was lucky, or if Guineas are in fact more robust at travelling than buns?

Other pple might know...

Good luck with him whatever you decide!
 
I would say provided your piggie has room to move about and ventalation i would think it should be ok,obvioulsy needs water and something to scoff.

I say the above from experience with my own pigs,Jigsaw used to love travelling on the dashboard(passenger side,)he wouldn't settle anywhere else,he must have done a few thousand miles in his time what with holidays and the like's,even overnighted in several travel lodges.

al
rspca west suffolk branch
 
My plan was to go to P@H and get a cat carry case, put lots of hay in and some carefresh, some food and a water bottle and lots of parsley and pepper (his favourite). He will hopefully sit on a table and I can turn the door up to the wall and give him some peace and quiet. A train should be much smoother than a car... I drove him from Glasgow to Edinburgh when I got him and he was fine, and he's been back and forth to my flat, BF's flat, my new flat in the last month, so he is used to travelling......

But Id never forgive myself if I stressed him to death 8...

x
 
considering he would only be there for the weekend i think it would be to much travelling in such a short amount of time and may possibly make him unsettled,if you do go ahead,providing its not to hot or to cold with plenty of bedding/hay/veges/water/ and darkness I'm sure he will be fine x
 
Ive brought a pig from Northen Ireland, via the ferry to Staffordshire, which is at least 9 hours and he was fine. if you can get something like a cat carry box that has like the mesh(but it isnt mesh, you know what I mean the ones that have like a "grid" for a door) that would be ideal, as you can easily attatch a water bottle onto the front and can see your pig quite well and there will be enough ventalation.


One thing that you can do to help keep him calm is put some "used" hay in the travel box so its got his smell on.

Your plan sounds great, i would also put some cucumber in the travel case as well as if he doesnt feel like drinking then at least hes got cucumber which has a high water content, and just take some extra food in a sandwhich box incase he eats it all! :)

its odd that a pet should die on a journey like that, unless it was very hot and there wernt enough cheaks on the pet or it was ill to start with, but youve got it all planned and it sounds like your little chappy will be ok, especailly as you will be there the whole time to reasure him.

If its a hot day when you go it might be worth taking a frozen water bottle wrapped in a towel that can go in the travel case incase he starts getting to hot

Also I would take some of his bedding with you to your mums so again hes got his smell with him
 
my piggie boggle has been on a plane! so i know your piggies will be ok. x dont sedate them at all just put them into their carry case a little while before you leave so they can get comfy, make sure thay have water and a little food, not too much food and that was on the advice of my vet i also found that my other piggie rosie liked something to hide in so i put a towel in on the base of the cage and covered that with hay she would get under the towel and the dark made her feel better, this is true of most animals in travel, being in the dark calms them down. as it is summer now i would recommend not putting the cages in foot wells where it gets very hot, if you cant hold them on your lap so the ar is circulating then secure them on a bcak seat and keep windows open , you can buy or make some sort of window shade for rear side windows so they get air but are in shade?

also talked to my piggies along the way just so they know you're there. they will be fine have a lovely trip x
 
I have also done the Northern Ireland to England route! Glad I am not the only one. :))

First time was Aldershot (SE England) to Northern Ireland; that trip was over two days, we stopped overnight at my grandmothers in N Yorkshire. In total it was 9 hours driving and 1 hour on the ferry. We had four pigs with us.

On the return trip, which was Northern Ireland to Huntingdon, it was a little longer (despite a shorter distance to travel once back in England) due to the fifteen month old twins also travelling with us! Around 10 hours in the car, and 2 hours on the ferry; again spread over two days, stopping overnight in N Yorkshire. We had five pigs this time, including one terminally ill pig.

The cat travel carriers are the best for long journeys. You will have to play it by ear with the water bottle though since most leak when on the move; I prefer to give a few wet veggies (lettuce, cucumber) during a journey and offer the bottle when we have a quick break from travelling. Not that any of mine ever drank any when they did have the bottle available!
 
CCC4 said:
I have also done the Northern Ireland to England route! Glad I am not the only one. :))
Click to expand...

me too! Was an odd thing taking this carry case on the ferry when all arund are signs sayying no dogs and I was I think 12 or 13 at the time and really worried that Guinness would be taken off me, and he survived afairly rough journey on the ferry :)
 
I wasn't allowed my pigs up on deck - they had to stay in the car! Would much rather have had them with me, I didn't stop worrying. I was 16 going over there, 18 coming back.
 
I think i was luck as we didnt actually let on and my mum carried the box, making sure that me and my dad were walking round her to try and cover it a little, then he just sat at our feet the whole time lol
 
My exisiting guinea pig and her old hutch mate have travelled from Manchester to Nottingham a number of times now and have been fine. Fair enough, it was only a 2 hour journey but still. I provided them with lots of hay, a pigloo they could hide in, food, water and a toy from the hutch. When I got another piggy to live with my exisiting piggy, the new piggy travelled via a piggy train all the way from Gretna Green to Manchester which is a long way and she was fine too. Thank you Helen (hels) and Jane (nutmeg) :)
 
Silvio made it today in one piece - unsettled but otherwise fine. Now having a couple of hours rest in new hutch before having a cuddle and some dinner.

Hopefully coming back on Monday will be just as stress free!

x
 
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