Back with more questions

[KinkyDorito]

Okay, so far Tony is very, very nervous still. I've had him out yesterday and today for a stroke on my knee. He was not wildly impressed. I feel bad that he is spending all of his time in his cage, usually in his hiding hole. I'm not sure if we should be getting him out and putting him in the indoor 'run', even though I'm not convinced he will actually come out of the hidey place in that either. I'm feeling sad for him.

How much should I be making him do? He's all timid and wide eyed. He loves to eat though .

[FernieB]

Try him in his indoor run for a short period. He may stay in his hidey hole but will at least be able to listen to you and your family as well. Pigs are social creatures and he'll like hearing you talk to him.

[guineapiglet]

Hi again all, thanks for update. Kinky he may well be nervous for quite some time yet, think about what he has been through, he is only slowly getting used to his new home. I'd be interested to know if you have any info about his past, what kind of home he had and how old you think he is? Where are you keeping him at the moment?

Sorry for all these questions but it does help to think how we can help - guineas are often best kept where things are going on, like the kitchen, living room etc, where activities and noise are going on around them, but they are not the centre of attention if you get my drift. Keep him somewhere social for a week, talk to him when you feed him, and then as part of his routine, cuddle him in a cuddle cloth with some grass, say twice a day - and slowly build this up. He needs to associate you with comfort, kindness, food and affection, but this will take time, which is partly why I asked about his past. He may have had some kind of 'trauma' and he is now getting adjusted to his new life and surroundings. A week is not very long for these little souls to settle and become confident, this will come with time and patience. His hidey holes are important because he needs to feel somewhere safe and away from predators and the unfamiliar, once he becomes confident that the scary noises and strange territory are not going to hurt him, he will become more his own person so to speak. Guineas are usually best kept in pairs or more to kind of give each other confidence, so being a solitary chap is quite hard for him - he will need to pluck up the courage himself.... he will, just take it easy and slowly:)
Right, now back to the cup final!!! X

[BonkeyMollocks]

This was my BigPig before LittlePig came along!

Spend lots of time with him , when you get him out for a cuddle pop him on a towel and then get a old fleece blanket or something similar and pile it next to him with a inviting tunnel in front of his face. See if he burrows in.

^^This worked a treat with BigPig - he was very nervy but shove a blanket next to him where he could 'pretend he was invisible' and he loved it. He popcorned and allsorts from inside his blanket tunnels and then you would see his beady eye peeking out .

BigPig still likes to have a 'tent' on lap time. I have a old fleece blanket that I can cover him over with. Its their prey instinct coming through.
LittlePig couldn't give a stuff about a tent, he would not survive long in the wild

Lots of out of cage time. In his run make a parsley hunt to encourage him out. Give him more than one place to hide so he can move but still run under cover.

Once they get used to noises of a home then they do get braver. My two don't flinch at a 5yo banging around or the hoover anymore.

Good luck!

[KinkyDorito]

Thanks again for great advice. I've held him in a fleece blanket so that he buries his nose. He is kept in the 'dining' bit of our living room, so he is totally exposed to us all of the time, but not where it is noisiest. Cats do not seem to bother him at all, even though they find him fascinating - they are jealous of his grass and hay I think as they keep pinching bits that are near the cage. He's actually started to wander about in his cage a bit more and DH put him into the run this evening for a bit of time out, although he hid still.

He is four months old and is a PAH reject - nobody bought him because he got too big.

When he is a bit more confident, I will be taking him to the vets to get him checked and it is absolutely my intention to try and find him a friend.

Thanks again

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

He sounds like he's getting familiar with all the 'newness' about him.
New people. TV sounds. Cats.
Will they feed me?
Are they trying to kill me?

GP are prey animals and it never leaves them no matter how long they live with you and how lazy and lardy they get.
Their Guinea- Senses are always switched on.

Food is always the way forward, they are greedy little rodents
Lots of cardboard boxes or tunnels (I bought some 'hay' tunnels- they are cardboard tubes covered in dry hay from P@H (DD made me buy them when they were on special offer. They have a lurid green plastic tunnel too.
My little guinea-pig likes pretending to be a BillyGoatGruff by tripp-trapping through the tunnel.

Have you thought ahead WRT his companion choices?
If he was a bit grrrr with the younger pigs, he might prefer to be neutered and matched with a female ?
Or it might be he was overwhelmed by the other pigs and would be fine with a very young boar on a 1:1 basis.

Lots to think about, but it all takes time .

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

BTW there seem to be no photos of Tony on your profile (unless he does a very good impression of a crochet blanket)

When he does poke his little face out for long enough ...
What colour and coat type is he (we'll visualise)

My boars have DD iPod constantly taking pictures and videos. Poor little souls it's like The Trueman Show.

[KinkyDorito]

He is black, so not hard to visualise . When he calms down long enough I will definitely get a photo.

I want to find him a friend asap, but don't want to just buy one and then them not get on. Is this a risk I just have to take, or go with plan 'a', neuter him and try and date him out?

We are going on a huge holiday in August to celebrate DD finishing chemo, so I don't want to take him and get him neutered before because I want to know he's okay whilst we are away. The downside is that it could be another 3.5 months before we make progress towards friending him. If I get a boar, I run the risk of Tony trying to attack him. That seems a bit unfair to the newbie.


Argh! It's a minefield!!!

[BonkeyMollocks]

If you get him a mate find a breeder or a rescue who can help match him up.

I expect he will go better with a baby buuuuuttttt.......my BigPig was 4 months old when we got 5 week old LittlePig (who was teeny tiny then ) . I went to a breeder - BigPig chose LittlePig. Everything was fine until LittlePig hit the dreaded 12 weeks, grew balls and got cocky!
Cue fight which led to separating, which led to trying to match up, which led to another worse fight which resulted in blood and me being very very nervy of putting them together again. They have lived side by side in their own residence since and only in the last few weeks have they tolerated playtime together for a hour before they both get arsey again

If I am honest...had I had known all the hassle getting LittlePig was going to be I would have had BigPig snipped and got him a wife.
Just don't tell either of them that .

[KinkyDorito]

Bonkey I'm definitely edging towards neutering and picking a girl at the rescue centre after reading that .

Picture should now be on the profile. It's the best I can do at the moment. Although, he did hang out on the sofa with DH for a bit and liked having behind his ears scratched.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Awwwww he's luffley and bear in mind he's been with you less than a week.

My Abbysynian boar is black exceot 3-4 white hairs on his forehead and a fatty eye. When he cuddles DH (who always wears a black tee-shirt) he vanishes like a chameleon .

If you neuter him, a Rescue will advice you about matching him up with a female. They'll have some that have been with a companion so used to compant (you might get 2 laydeez for him, space permitting)

[FernieB]

Kinky - just thought (this is slightly cheeky) but for a donation, a local rescue may take Tony and bond him with a female whilst you're away. They get some funds and a lovely home for one of their pigs and you get someone to look after Tony while you're away. Could be worth asking. BTW my Current Bun is a PAH reject (he was also terrorising all the other rabbits) and he was 7 months old when we got him. It took him a long time to settle down with us, but now he thinks he runs the house (it's actually SmoothPig who's in charge).

Bonkey do you think BigPig regrets choosing LittlePig?

[FernieB]

Just looked at your photo Kinky - he's a very handsome Pig - has intelligent eyes as well. Also, like your crochet blanket, it looks fantastic - must have taken ages.

[BonkeyMollocks]

Actually no
They do love each other but its a very much Don't ever leave me or I will wheek myself and everyone else into the ground .... but I don't want to live with you situation



I would still get them both snipped and wives if dh wouldn't kill me for it :(

We have made the best of what we have got and have some noisy happy pigs :)

Good idea about sending him to a rescue to be bonded with a laydee whilst you are away!

[BonkeyMollocks]

Should add that plenty of people have matched up successfully.....just not me !

[guineapiglet]

Oh thanks for posting the photo, he is really gorgeous - what a little sweetie.... you know it is such early days you could even try one a similar age to see if they will integrate, and not leave it so long? Fernies idea is brilliant, it might be they will do the work for you, I am not keen on the idea of any of these little souls having the snip, I hate to think of them under anaesthetic, but I do get the reasons for doing it. Bonkey _ didnt know Bigpig had done the choosing, I guess they are now a 'herd' and look after each other kind of, cant live with you cant live without you type thing. It isnt easy trying to decide the best thing to do, I mean imagine if, as humans. we were suddenly asked to live with someone we didn't know all of a sudden, share the same living space and food, we would probably act the same initially and be suspicious and arsey until we got to know the person.. It is clear guineas feel the same!!

< wishes someone would ask her to live with Charlie Hunaam from Sons of Anarchy, he is my very guilty pleasure and I know, if forced to share same hutch, I would do my very best to be welcoming:):)..... drools>

[guineapiglet]

Hunnam. Hunnam.
See I get all aquiver even thinking of him.

[guineapiglet]

off.

I give up.

I also want a black guinea.....

[BonkeyMollocks]

Guinea I had no say in the choosing of LittlePig . The breeder popped BigPig in the run with about 5 other babies. BigPig had a good snuff round, got a warning off 3 and ended up one end with LittlePig. No problems for 6ish weeks and then all hell broke loose . I couldn't bring myself to take him back sod that he is I do luffs him and swap so we made do.