How to quarantine.

[Abnoba]

Hopefully in a couple of weeks Tilly will move in with me. Now from what her owner was saying she is a bit poorly, "tired". Well I thought it was quite possibly just due to her beeing bred so excessively :'( (still cant believe it, 8 times in 2 years..)

But my boyfriend pointed out that it might be something else aswell,
and that we probably shouldnt put her straight in with ours. Fair enough.

Obviously I am going to ask clowny to have a look around to get a rough idea of how she has been cared for, do the hutches/cages look tattered and filthy, or the obvious looks-like-the-cage was-cleaned-spotless-three-hours-ago-because-they-knew-I-was-coming thing..

But still. Quarantine for a while it is. How long do you think I should keep her seperate?

I have heard everything from one week to three weeks.. Some people say its enough if they are in seperate cages, some say you shouldnt even have them in the same room.

Now I have to say I would find it unfair to keep her where she cant even hear other piggies, as she comes from a big group and is going to feel lonely anyway, so I thought at least hearing other piggies might help.. :-\

I was thinking about just doing one week or one and a half to get used to what is normal behaviour for her, see if she is eating and pooing properly, looking out for obvious things like mites fungal or a cold, and if everything seems to be just fine, then I suppose her tiredness really must just be due to being a breeding machine. And in that case, I could put them together straight away, what do you think?

 

[Beaney]

I had a similar dilemma when I took in a piggy from the freeads. I am not saying that this is the right way - someone will probably come along and say nope do it like this - but this what I did...

New piggy went in a seperate cage in a seperate room but this was due to space, not me wanting to keep them apart. My own piggys were always handled first so I could be sure that nothing would pass on my clothing.
After about 4 days, when she was showing no signs of any illness, was eating well etc, I took her to the vet for a check over who gave her the all clear.
She then had a bath and a mite treatment 'just in case' and just over a week from the day I got her, was introduced to her new cage mate.
All has been fine....

I know that a lot of people would say that a week was too soon however, I was happy to take the advice of my vet who said she thought it would be OK.

Had I not had her vet checked, I wouldn't have done it as soon, I probably would have waited at least one more week. I would have thought, though I don't know for sure, that seperate cages in the same room would have been OK? I am just thinking in places like vets, whilst all the cages are seperate, all the animals are still in the same room when they could potentially have something they could spread around?

 

[Abnoba]

I would have thought, though I don't know for sure, that seperate cages in the same room would have been OK? I am just thinking in places like vets, whilst all the cages are seperate, all the animals are still in the same room when they could potentially have something they could spread around?

Good point, hadnt thought of that!

 

[daftscotslass]

If she has come from a source where you are unsure of the health or history of her and the the other pigs, then I would recommend quarantining for 2-3 weeks. I would only ever introduce immediately if the piggy came from a source like a reputable rescue. Even then, a short quarantine period couldn't hurt.

The reason it's so long is that certain infections can take 2 weeks to appear. I would still recommend a seperate room because certain infections are airbourne.

 

[starshine]

I am with Lorna on this one - unless the piggie is from a reputable rescue and has been there for at least a month (by which time any problems have shown themselves) I would always quarantine in a seperate room for a 3 week period. Also change clothes and wash hands inbetween handling new and exisiting piggie - I keep a big mans shirt for when I have someone in quarantine and I just pop it on over my clothes when I'm with the new piggie then remove it before going back to my own. It is just not worth the risk to other pigs in my eyes. I would say this is especially important in this case as a potential problem has already been highlighted. It may seem harsh to keep her alone but in the long run it is best for her health and the health of your existing piggies.