Woke up this morning to petrified pig!

[Gemm24]

Please help!
I woke up this morning to give my pigs some breakfast veggies and went into their room. Tiger (female/3.5 years) usually is the first to rush to breakfast. She just sat in the hay frozen. There is hay kicked out of the cage too. Everytime I go near her she panics and runs. She is usually very tame and seeks me out but it’s like something has possessed her. She wouldn’t eat with her husboar so I gave her food separately. Her husboar rumble strutted near her and she just stayed still. What could have happened? What do I do? How do I make her less scared? Please help! I’m so worried!

 

[Piggies&buns]

They have better hearing than us so maybe she heard something which has scared her.
I would cover the cage with a blanket and leave her to settle. Pop in to check on her but don’t try to touch her and see how she is over the next few hours

 

[LMPigs]

How long have the two of them lived together?

 

[Wiebke]

Please help!
I woke up this morning to give my pigs some breakfast veggies and went into their room. Tiger (female/3.5 years) usually is the first to rush to breakfast. She just sat in the hay frozen. There is hay kicked out of the cage too. Everytime I go near her she panics and runs. She is usually very tame and seeks me out but it’s like something has possessed her. She wouldn’t eat with her husboar so I gave her food separately. Her husboar rumble strutted near her and she just stayed still. What could have happened? What do I do? How do I make her less scared? Please help! I’m so worried!

I am very sorry!

Guinea pigs have much finer senses of hearing and smell; she could also have been stung by an insect or she may have had a mis-understanding with her husboar, which may account for the hay having been spread everywhere. In any case, something will have spooked her badly.

Just give her time and space to come out of her freeze. Place a towel over the cage to give her a feeling of safety.
Be aware that her prey animal instincts are going be very trigger happy for a quite a while yet after a reall bad spook. Only time can help. Unfortunately it is tough when our human instinct to comfort clashes with prey animal instincts when this is exactly the wrong thing.

Please be aware that it can take days or even some weeks to come out of it fully and be back to her normal self.

Here is more information about prey animal instincts and how you can avoid triggering them as much as possible:Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips

 

[Merab]

Holding you in my thoughts