Hazelnut's Frightening Acrobatics

[Lilly]

My Hazelnut, the black piggy in my avatar, is normally very lazy & spends much time laying about on something soft. But 3 times now he has given me a fright with his unanticipated long distance jumps.

1. I put him down on the benchtop to get his syringe ready. He immediately made a flying leap for my shoulder. Fortunately I was bending over him at the time & managed to catch him. Now I have a towel ready on the benchtop cand wrap him up in it.

2. Sometimes I let the boys have floor time in the bathroom. As Hazelnut won't walk on tile floors I lay down towels all over for him. Once I happened to let him out of his carrier right in front of the bath towel hanging on the rail. He immediately jumped up trying to run up the towel like a cat runs up curtains. Again, it was fortuante I was right there to catch hi when he fell off. Now I remove the hanging towels while thye have bathroom floor time.

3. Both boys get up on their hind legs attacking the vegie dish as I am trying to put it down. I normally put it in through the front door of the cage. Well, this morning, Hazelnut decided he was going to get in ahead of Peanut Butter and jumped right through the door attempting to jump into the dish. I dropped the dish and managed to catch him. The cage is on a table so he could have gone flying to the ground. Now i put the vegie dish in through the door at the top of the cage.

So far, we've been lucky in averting a fall, but 3 times is enough to make me paranoid that one day he will jump to his doom. From now on I will be assessing every situation for a possible Hazelnut jump in an attempt to avoid it.

Anyone else have an unpredictable, dangerous jumper?

 

[Wiebke]

Some piggies seem to have a bit of a death wish! Make sure that you cover any openings and that you move Hazelnut with his bum end forward, so if he jumps, he jumps into you and not somewhere he can injure himself. Hopefully, he will quieten down somewhat when he gets older. My jumpers thankfully did!

 

[MerryPip]

My mental boy Angus used to jump off the back of the sofa, try to jump out of your arms and jump or climb over every sort of gate we used to pen him in. They don't seem to have read the bit of the books where it says they don't climb or jump!

He should hopefully grow out of it. My lads were all pretty adventurous and mad as youngsters but now they are 2 and a half they have calmed down a bit although they do like a good race round the floor and still like to climb.

Try getting some things he is allowed to climb on so he can explore but be safe. I have a 'table' like this that my lads love to get on top of. I sometimes put their veggies on it.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Natural-Tex...8837074&sr=8-2&keywords=small+animal+platform

They also have a version that has 3 different levels. It keeps them occupied and gives them something else safer to climb than the kitchen shelves

 

[piggyfan]

Wow Peanut butter is very brave!

 

[AbiS]

He immediately jumped up trying to run up the towel like a cat runs up curtains.

That made me chuckle! Does he not realise he only has one piggy life and not 9 cat lives!

 

[Julesie]

None of my current boys are jumper unless excited to get from my hands into their cage.

I did have a baby piggie though a while ago who when he saw the older piggie my sister owned immediately squealed and jumped out of my hands in fright to get away. China, the piggie he was scared off, was very confused and luckily I managed to grab Arthur just before he hit the floor. Still not sure why he was so scared of China.

 

[Lilly]

Some piggies seem to have a bit of a death wish! Make sure that you cover any openings and that you move Hazelnut with his bum end forward, so if he jumps, he jumps into you and not somewhere he can injure himself. Hopefully, he will quieten down somewhat when he gets older. My jumpers thankfully did!

Thanks Wiebke, I will definitely be more vigilant as he has now thoroughly frightened me. He turned 3 in November though, so not sure how much older he needs to get to quieten down!

My mental boy Angus used to jump off the back of the sofa, try to jump out of your arms and jump or climb over every sort of gate we used to pen him in. They don't seem to have read the bit of the books where it says they don't climb or jump! He should hopefully grow out of it. My lads were all pretty adventurous and mad as youngsters but now they are 2 and a half they have calmed down a bit although they do like a good race round the floor and still like to climb. Try getting some things he is allowed to climb on so he can explore but be safe. I have a 'table' like this that my lads love to get on top of. I sometimes put their veggies on it.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Natural-Textures-Platform-Activity-701029311619/dp/B00A39NBKE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388837074&sr=8-2&keywords=small animal platform
They also have a version that has 3 different levels. It keeps them occupied and gives them something else safer to climb than the kitchen shelves

When Hazelnut was younger he used to climb on top of his pigloo & wooden fiddlesticks bridges. I actually do have that very table in your link & he did use to climb on top of it when he was younger. He is now 3 years old & has stopped climbing & started doing these unpredictable death defying jumps instead!

Wow Peanut butter is very brave!

Actually it was Hazelnut . Although i reckon daft is a more appropriate word than brave!

That made me chuckle! Does he not realise he only has one piggy life and not 9 cat lives!

I did laugh afterwards because I realise he is so used to walking on towels, he saw a towel, therefore he reckons he must be able to walk on it. It is the fact that he seemed oblivious to its vertical, not horizontal, position that makes me wonder about piggy spatial abilities!

None of my current boys are jumper unless excited to get from my hands into their cage. I did have a baby piggie though a while ago who when he saw the older piggie my sister owned immediately squealed and jumped out of my hands in fright to get away. China, the piggie he was scared off, was very confused and luckily I managed to grab Arthur just before he hit the floor. Still not sure why he was so scared of China.

Good catch on Arthur! That's just it, not knowing what it is that will make them jump is the scary bit because then you don't know how to prevent it. I now have to look at every situation to ensure that there is no way Hazelnut can take a flying leap.

 

[Julesie]

Good catch on Arthur! That's just it, not knowing what it is that will make them jump is the scary bit because then you don't know how to prevent it. I now have to look at every situation to ensure that there is no way Hazelnut can take a flying leap.

After I posted this I took Gilbert to the vet today and the vet walked in. Gilbert did a running dive off of the table and luckily I was able to catch him, upside down mind you but I turned him right side up and set him back on the table. Poor boy. He's never been so athletic before.

 

[Lilly]

After I posted this I took Gilbert to the vet today and the vet walked in. Gilbert did a running dive off of the table and luckily I was able to catch him, upside down mind you but I turned him right side up and set him back on the table. Poor boy. He's never been so athletic before.

Your reflexes are good! I'm laughing at the picture of Gilbert being caught upside down. Obviously we have to be ever vigilant with these jumpers of ours. I'm off to practice catching a ball so my Hazelnut catching reflexes stay sharp.

 

[Squeaky_Ewok]

I've had this happen once! Was amazed along with being shocked :| I was cleaning out Gi Gi's cage he ran round and must have jumped at least a good 20 - 30cm luckily he jumped straight at me and I caught him as if he'd planned it :| Sneaky xD

 

[Julesie]

Your reflexes are good! I'm laughing at the picture of Gilbert being caught upside down. Obviously we have to be ever vigilant with these jumpers of ours. I'm off to practice catching a ball so my Hazelnut catching reflexes stay sharp.

Yeah the vet and my dad were shocked at how quick I was at catching him. I didn't even think, just did it.

 

[Guinea Slave]

My little girl (Thelma) used to think nothing of jumping off the sofa. She planned it very carefully and was very elegant. At Christmas time she'd love jumping in and out of the quality street tin ( it was tin in those days!), much to the consternation of the rest of my family....

I had another girl (Lacey) try to copy her and jump off the sofa, I heard a loud crash and thump and there Lacey was with all four legs in the air thoroughly embarrassed. She never did it again lol!

 

[Lilly]

I've had this happen once! Was amazed along with being shocked :| I was cleaning out Gi Gi's cage he ran round and must have jumped at least a good 20 - 30cm luckily he jumped straight at me and I caught him as if he'd planned it :| Sneaky xD

That was lucky! I can't believe the amount of piggies jumping off into neverland & how many of us slaves have been able to catch them.

My little girl (Thelma) used to think nothing of jumping off the sofa. She planned it very carefully and was very elegant. At Christmas time she'd love jumping in and out of the quality street tin ( it was tin in those days!), much to the consternation of the rest of my family....I had another girl (Lacey) try to copy her and jump off the sofa, I heard a loud crash and thump and there Lacey was with all four legs in the air thoroughly embarrassed. She never did it again lol!

Ahhh sounds like your Thelma could judge distance while Lacey is more like my Hazelnut - spatially challenged!