Hayley_Bayley_Haybale
New Born Pup
Hi everyone, thanks in advance for reading this! I am a new owner of two female piggies (Hayley and Bayley, age roughly 6 months but I've had them for 3 months). They live indoors in a C&C cage (60 × 180cm) and get lots of human contact time as the cage is in my study and I work from home. So far things are going well, both piggies are well settled, take food from my hand, popcorn and zoom around. Bayley will even enjoy being stroked between the ears while in the cage without a food bribe!
My problem comes with handling and I'm looking for some tips.
Hayley is fairly easy to catch and sits calmly during lap time, getting fidgety when she wants to go back to the cage but Bayley is a different story. She is FAST (sooo fast that I can't catch her with my hands), so I take her out of the cage in a cuddle sack. As soon as she's on my lap and has had a token nibble of veg, she is desperate to escape. She will push my hand out of her way and try to race off in any direction. If I hold her in my hands she will wriggle like crazy, squeaking and struggling to get away. This results in me getting her back to her cage asap as I'm terrified that I might drop her. I understand that some piggies will never enjoy cuddles, but as Bayley is a Silkie I need to be able to handle her for grooming (she seriously needs a hair cut!) and for nail trimming of course. She had a nail trim 2 months ago during a vet check-up but she is in need of another one and I'm not able to do it.
I'd be so grateful for any suggestions/tips/strategies for what to do to help Bayley get more comfortable with being handled.
My problem comes with handling and I'm looking for some tips.
Hayley is fairly easy to catch and sits calmly during lap time, getting fidgety when she wants to go back to the cage but Bayley is a different story. She is FAST (sooo fast that I can't catch her with my hands), so I take her out of the cage in a cuddle sack. As soon as she's on my lap and has had a token nibble of veg, she is desperate to escape. She will push my hand out of her way and try to race off in any direction. If I hold her in my hands she will wriggle like crazy, squeaking and struggling to get away. This results in me getting her back to her cage asap as I'm terrified that I might drop her. I understand that some piggies will never enjoy cuddles, but as Bayley is a Silkie I need to be able to handle her for grooming (she seriously needs a hair cut!) and for nail trimming of course. She had a nail trim 2 months ago during a vet check-up but she is in need of another one and I'm not able to do it.
I'd be so grateful for any suggestions/tips/strategies for what to do to help Bayley get more comfortable with being handled.