annapanda
New Born Pup
Hello Everyone!
I live in NYC and found a lil piglet in the park and because of the pandemic still keeping things closed here and the park staff/ 311 not having a lot of information to get her to a safe place - I decided to take her in as a foster and potential child.
I bought her a cage (that I now realize is way way too small, thanks PetCo) and started to get pretty excited about keeping her. I've put off having a pet for a long time because my room is very small and I have roommates with allergies- plus a deep fear of commitment/ being an actual adult that I believe follows all of us that grew up in the 90s! I have put feelers out to find her family (although I suspect that she was abandoned)... so I will say I'm hesitant to invest too too much too soon.
Upon bringing her home, solidifying she was a her (maybe... probably), brainstorming names and settling on Penelope I was starting to feel pretty joyous about my new roomie. But after a few hours of internet searching my joy of finding this kismet piggie soul mate transformed into full-on panicking that I am in way way over my head and chained to a pet more difficult to care for in an apartment than a dog- I should add that owning a dog is my greatest dream- see fear of commitment and roommates highlighted earlier as reasons for not yet achieving! I might as well get a great dane, right? (I've heard they make great apartment dogs because they just wanna sleep and chill.) Anyway I saw my nights spent sleeping in at my boyfriend's place slipping away! Any hope of vacationing vanishing and my bank account evaporating rapidly- not to mention my living space!
I'm obviously exaggerating... but only a little and I must say much of this fear comes from the fast and dirty rescue style circumstances surrounding Penelope and I's meeting.
It seems clear she needs a friend... that is non-negotiable correct- is there a timeline in which I need to get her a pal? A bigger cage is another must I realize I have to negotiate but my space is limited here in my room and as I mentioned I'm not sure if anyone's looking for her... so would it be alright to hold off on building her home?
Here are some other longer-term questions I've outlined below;
Can I successfully construct her cage in an L shape to give room to run but not dedicate my entire wall to the cage? Also wondering if I can build the cage under my bed... or will this disturb/ cause too much of an issue for her well being?
Could I set the cage up to have a few feet of "run" and a ramp leading to another shelf of cage space? Or does this change the square footage/ cheat it too much?
Will it do damage to keep her in the small cage ALONE as I collect the things she needs/ create a new habitat for her/ find her a suitable friend- should I just get her to a rescue if I'm offering her that kind of life?
Will allowing her to roam my room freely while I'm home/ her cage is still small help balancer out her space predicament or are the two not mutually exclusive- I've seen somewhat mixed reviews on this?
She's obviously pretty traumatized and I've already made many mistakes- like trying to hold her too soon! I have seen mixed messages about handling her. One caretaker said to hold pigs daily to build trust and another said to let them chill for the first few days...
A friend also jokingly put the idea in my head that she may be pregnant but as I research that doesn't seem too unlikely- I'm having trouble finding info on how to be sure she is or isn't and it's tough because I found her outside so I know very little about her past sexual history.
Long post, long, I'm monitoring her very closely. I've been sitting by her cage talking with her so she starts building trust with me and offering her lil treats.
Any advice on the best steps for me to take for this princess moving forward/ help talking me down from the terror that is realizing my assumed "good deed" is actually nothing but a selfish act of imprisonment would be much appreciated.
Thank you thank you thank you!
(Penelope is also a panda colored pig and Panda's are my absolute FAVORITE animal and I have them plastered about my room so finding her in the park felt extra serendipitous... and played somewhat of a role in deciding to bring her home.)
I live in NYC and found a lil piglet in the park and because of the pandemic still keeping things closed here and the park staff/ 311 not having a lot of information to get her to a safe place - I decided to take her in as a foster and potential child.
I bought her a cage (that I now realize is way way too small, thanks PetCo) and started to get pretty excited about keeping her. I've put off having a pet for a long time because my room is very small and I have roommates with allergies- plus a deep fear of commitment/ being an actual adult that I believe follows all of us that grew up in the 90s! I have put feelers out to find her family (although I suspect that she was abandoned)... so I will say I'm hesitant to invest too too much too soon.
Upon bringing her home, solidifying she was a her (maybe... probably), brainstorming names and settling on Penelope I was starting to feel pretty joyous about my new roomie. But after a few hours of internet searching my joy of finding this kismet piggie soul mate transformed into full-on panicking that I am in way way over my head and chained to a pet more difficult to care for in an apartment than a dog- I should add that owning a dog is my greatest dream- see fear of commitment and roommates highlighted earlier as reasons for not yet achieving! I might as well get a great dane, right? (I've heard they make great apartment dogs because they just wanna sleep and chill.) Anyway I saw my nights spent sleeping in at my boyfriend's place slipping away! Any hope of vacationing vanishing and my bank account evaporating rapidly- not to mention my living space!
I'm obviously exaggerating... but only a little and I must say much of this fear comes from the fast and dirty rescue style circumstances surrounding Penelope and I's meeting.
It seems clear she needs a friend... that is non-negotiable correct- is there a timeline in which I need to get her a pal? A bigger cage is another must I realize I have to negotiate but my space is limited here in my room and as I mentioned I'm not sure if anyone's looking for her... so would it be alright to hold off on building her home?
Here are some other longer-term questions I've outlined below;
Can I successfully construct her cage in an L shape to give room to run but not dedicate my entire wall to the cage? Also wondering if I can build the cage under my bed... or will this disturb/ cause too much of an issue for her well being?
Could I set the cage up to have a few feet of "run" and a ramp leading to another shelf of cage space? Or does this change the square footage/ cheat it too much?
Will it do damage to keep her in the small cage ALONE as I collect the things she needs/ create a new habitat for her/ find her a suitable friend- should I just get her to a rescue if I'm offering her that kind of life?
Will allowing her to roam my room freely while I'm home/ her cage is still small help balancer out her space predicament or are the two not mutually exclusive- I've seen somewhat mixed reviews on this?
She's obviously pretty traumatized and I've already made many mistakes- like trying to hold her too soon! I have seen mixed messages about handling her. One caretaker said to hold pigs daily to build trust and another said to let them chill for the first few days...
A friend also jokingly put the idea in my head that she may be pregnant but as I research that doesn't seem too unlikely- I'm having trouble finding info on how to be sure she is or isn't and it's tough because I found her outside so I know very little about her past sexual history.
Long post, long, I'm monitoring her very closely. I've been sitting by her cage talking with her so she starts building trust with me and offering her lil treats.
Any advice on the best steps for me to take for this princess moving forward/ help talking me down from the terror that is realizing my assumed "good deed" is actually nothing but a selfish act of imprisonment would be much appreciated.
Thank you thank you thank you!
(Penelope is also a panda colored pig and Panda's are my absolute FAVORITE animal and I have them plastered about my room so finding her in the park felt extra serendipitous... and played somewhat of a role in deciding to bring her home.)