) - the sewing seems to withstand the liveliness of my boys! But there are lots of options eg small sellers on ebay etc.
Hi - Keep going with the hand feeding - it will pay off but it takes a while with young ones. And yes youngsters can be super fast but herding them into something is still less stressful than trying to catch them with hands. Some people use a small pet carrier to herd them into - I just prefer the cozy / sack method for mine.
I get my cozies from Cavy Couture (yes really, it is a whole new world of fleecy things
Re handling approach - I prefer the slower way eg gaining their trust before too much stroking but yes there are different schools of thought. And all piggies are different - some grow up to be adults that don't like a lot of fussing and some are completely 'lap' pigs. So be guided in part by your own boys. If you get a cozy / sack thingy you may find that it is easier to first stroke them in it as they cant shoot off your knee as easily! Let us know how it goes.
Oh yes and we need pics of your boys please! When they are not hiding
Hi, Sorry your first goes were a bit stressful but as others have said - don't be disheartened.
Just another thought as well, the breeder you have spoken to will be super confident and experienced in handling all ages of piggies. You however, are new to this and so are the piggies - so you have to adapt to find something that works for you and your piggies. You have seen that people use tubes, pet carriers, cosy sacks and of course hands and you have to find out what works. Hope it starts to improve!
Thank you! Is it really bad to pick up a hidey when they are in it? The problem I have at the minute is they they literally won't come out of them at all. They don't seem to have been out whilst I've left them alone either, all is very quiet and they are taking less and less veg off me, totally not interested. Perhaps yesterday's events have caused them to loose any trust they built up for me?
I'm hearing some people say don't chase them, others saying once you start chasing don't give up on that pig cause they learn they can get away from you, then I've heard others saying everyone chases pigs to pick up, they will always run from you so you have choice.
Ok thank you. Well last night I tried for the first time to pick one up when he came out of his hidey. I only tried for about 15 seconds and then gave up as he ran into hidey. They are just TOO fast, faster than my reflexes so I can move to block them off fast enough. I literally have barely seen him since, and he's the more confident of the two.
It's a friend of a friend, I don't know her as such but she kindly let me in to check him out. She got him off a friend who no longer wanted him. Not sure how old he is or anything but she had only had him a few days at the time I visited, and she takes him to her mums house and stuff! Now from what I've been told, transporting them is really stressful. Maybe she is blessed to have a particularly calm pig.
They are both in a hidey each. Not moving. Normally I have noticed they are quiet first thing in a morning but take veg from hand by just sticking their nose out. Obviously usually at working during the day in the week but then at tea time we come in with more veg and they are often quiet/hidden at first but one of them normally comes out for a run about and comes the the front of the cage, but still runs for cover when one of us moves. The other one rarely comes out and just sticks his nose out enough to grab a treat then straight back undercover.