Nervous/Hate getting picked up?

[susie_q]

Well, it's a basic story.

I got two piggies, Patches and Jet, about two years ago from a friend who could no longer look after them. They had been pets for her two sons, and as often happens with children the boys lost interest and the piggies became more and more ignored. So, I said I would take them. Patches has always been a shy piggy, hiding in his igloos and looking at you cautiously from across the room. (But not so shy that he won't shove up the corner of his igloo when he's demanding treats!) Jet was always the pig that ran around and explored and loved to come up to the edge of the cage to speak to you. He definatly gave Patches confidence. Unfortunatly, Jet died about a year ago.

So I got Patches a new friend, but sadly Squeaky is even more nervous than patches. From speaking to the owner (Squeaky came from a "free to good home add") the pig was basically left to run around the garden, eating apples and pears. The wee guy was very nervous, underweight and not a happy piglet. A year on now, he's gained weight and is a happier, slightly more adventerous piglet.

But this is my dilemma - they both hate getting picked up! They'll run away and when you go to set Squeaky down he squirms and tries his hardest to escape! I've tried everything I can think of to gain their confidence, sitting my their hutch talking to them and hand feeding them treats, tempting them out with fresh veg. Scooping them up anyway and holding them for over 20 minutes (a trick I've picked up from rat keeping, forced socialisation?) sitting in the bathroom letting them wander as they want, but they'll just go straight to a corner and hide! Outside in their run they're very brave, they'll wander right out and nibble and munch on grass, popcorn, play... but indoors they aren't happy freeranging!

Has anyone got any advice? I'm just worried that everytime I try and handle them I only stress them out more than I need to. OH! And Patches is about 5 years old, and Squeaky is about a year and half, maybe nearer two now.

 

[MemberX]

I have this problem with my Sunshine, Twinkle, Pudsey and Fleur they are less trusting of being picked up. It is my own fault because I was a little nervous of them so used a bowl to pick them up and I still use it now. I am not worried about picking any animal up now I am totally used to it but I still use the bowl for these and I just cannot catch them. But then using the bowl they are used to it and know it is cuddle time so it works for them and doesn't stress them out.

My other boars Eccles, Radley and Milo and my sows Flora (who is Fleurs sister), Amber and Pearl don't mind being picked up at all. I find it odd how Fleur is less trusting than her sister but they are all different I guess.

If it really is stressing them I would use a bowl or a towel. Perhaps then they will gain your trust and won't mind being picked up so much! Good luck!

Louise
x

 

[Miss Magpie]

Maybe when you have them inside running around, try putting familiar things in there like their pigloo and toys and bowl? The smell of the familiar might calm them down and they've got the pigloo to hide in when their unsure. Mine have a blanket too...that could help? cwtching up warm and a familiar smell.

Good luck x

 

[jane28]

I have the same problem with my 3... They were ignored before i got them and not handled. The previous owner was able to pick them up but she had to chase them around and i could if i wanted to but i have decided that they are only going to be picked up if they need to be such as vet visits or giong for a bath...

piggies like places to hide so maybe get a small animal carrier and when they go into it you can shut the door, then open the top part and get them out that way? Saves you chasing after them as they are in a smaller space, i find picking them up from above is better for scared piggies quick and swift... i try and pick mine up from the side but when you cannot get near them to stroke them then they sure as hell are not going to let you get close enough to pick them up!

You can train them to go into the carrier if you want to take them anywhere as well... Mine are i found out from the previous owner...
Mine are going to be outdoor piggies and away from us nasty hoomans so they can be piggies in peace... They really dont like being around people and i really dont want to force them to be handled unless they need to...
I have not picked mine up since they have come to me, they like it that way and i am fine with it... If i want to cuddle something i will go and pick up my rabbits for a cuddle

 

[susie_q]

Wow, this is really all great advice. I have tried laying out their pigloo (I love that! So going to start using that everytime...) but they'll just hide in it. It's actually pretty comical though - they've figured out how to shunt it around and scuttle about in their pigloo like a hermit crab. But they will just run into it and not come out for an hour or so!

I'm mostly worried about their unwillingness to explore - I might be moving to where there is no access to a garden, so free ranging would be vital to their exercise! (They have quite a small hutch, although I am saving for a bigger one).

I like the idea of a towel though, I'll pop one into their house today and start using it to scoop 'them up. I'll try the training with a carrier too - any advice on how to encourage them into a carrier though? Just lay it out in their hutch and let them make it an extra hidey hole?

Thanks for the advice guys, keep the ideas coming! I also love hearing about everyone's experiences with nervous piglets. It's nice to be reassured that it's not just me being a horrible piglet mummy!

 

[Sue G]

What happens once you have managed to pick them up? Do they enjoy cuddles then? My Basil lives on his own, he doesn't like cage-mates, although the 2 girls are in a cage alongside him - he likes to be near, just not with. He loves being cuddled, either on my shoulder, under my chin, or snuggled on a cushion on my lap. BUT .... he too hates being caught, and runs around the cage before I manage to get him, which makes me feel awful in some ways, yet knowing how much he likes the end results, I then wonder why he doesn't want me to catch him in the first place. My girls don't much like cuddles - they are mother and daughter (Basil is their husband/father - I rehomed them all from the same place, and Basil came to us first) and really just like their own company, but they make me chase them too, and as I clean out the cages fully every second day, then the chase is frequent. Oh yes, they live in our living room.

Jane28, how do you remove them for cage cleaning, if you don't pick them up? I'm always interested in how other people do these things.

 

[piggiesforever]

My oldest boar who is nearly 4 hates to be caught and always squeals once he knows you've got him but then he will sit quite contentedly on your lap and cuddle for as long as you please, he too walks around carrying his igloo we call him tortoise when he does this.He has been handled by us daily since we got him at 9 weeks and is not at all nervous it's just a quirk of his.

 

[jane28]

Cage cleaning is quite simple!

They have a corner hidey hole which is big enough for 3 of them... i always overlay the paper so i can pick up and clean one half and put new bedding down and then move the house over to the clean part and they follow the house and go back inside it and get rid of the other side of old paper and clean that side ;D...

They now go into the house when i start cleaning and know the routine...

Susie q i wouldnt worry about them going into the hidey house and staying there... Piggies much prefer to lie about under cover than out in the open and can be quite lazy i have discovered!
If they need to stay inside piggies then i would popo them somewhere away from the main thoroughfare of your house if you can... pop a towel over the top of the cage so they feel a bit more secure (i put a towel over the top and not the sides and mine much prefered that) and also if you have a sheet you can pull over them at night so they can mooch about without being seen that should get them out and about more...

It has taken nearly 2months but mine are now staying outside and sleeping outside when everyone is around (they prefer their igloos though) and waiting for food and sniffing my fingers and telling me when they need to be fed but i think this is as far as they will go now as no improvement after this so i have to resign myself to the fact that they are not cuddly piggies...

WIth regards to the carrier if you get one of the small ones open the door and pop some hay in there then you will have no problem getting them in there, dont immediately close th carrier but leave it open for the next couple of days and feed them in it... after that close the carrier for 5 min but dont do anything else... feed them something yummy in it, then next time close carrier, open top and pick them out hold them for 5min while you check them over and put them back in carrier for another 5 min and give them something yummy to eat, then release them take the carrier out and just pop carrier in a couple times a week, close it, pick them out feed them something yummy and you should have trained piggies (apparently ;D)

 

[susie_q]

Sueq when I pick them up they're generally quite settled. Squeaky less so, he'll eye you distrustfully and try to bury his head in elbows and such like to hide. He also squirms like a devil to get away, and sometimes takes flying leaps. I have noticed they're more settled if the two of them are together, but they both make this wee noise where their whole body vibrates. Sounds a bit like a very soft phone vibration!

Is this a happy noise, or a nervous noise? I don't know! I think they both might be like Jane28's. Happier being left alone with the big scary thing occasionally putting them through a trauma of getting nails clipped, bums washed and evicted from their house to get everything changed. Oh, and bring them yummy food every day.

 

[Sue G]

I s'pose at the end of the day piggies are like people, in that they are all different. Some people like company, others are real hermits, and we don't try to change how they behave. I would guess that if our piggies are content, healthy, well fed and well looked after, they are entitled to develop their own personalities, even if it's not what we wish them to be, if that makes sense. I would have loved my girls to be cuddle-pigs, but they only want each other. I still talk to them and when I pick them up for cage cleaning they have a bit of a cuddle whether they want it or not. They aren't frightened of me as such, just disinterested. Sigh .... Yours, susieq sound fine when they're outdoors, so let them enjoy that and when they're inside maybe just let them do their own thing?

 

[Sue G]

Cage cleaning is quite simple!
They have a corner hidey hole which is big enough for 3 of them... i always overlay the paper so i can pick up and clean one half and put new bedding down and then move the house over to the clean part and they follow the house and go back inside it and get rid of the other side of old paper and clean that side ;D...
They now go into the house when i start cleaning and know the routine...

Sounds like a good routine. Weather permitting, I put the top part of the cages out on the grass with the piggies inside, while I clean out the bases, so they enjoy some fresh air and grass and then love to come back inside to the fresh cage. I can't do that in winter, which is a shame, so they go in a big crate with some hay while I clean as fast as I can.

 

[cuddles]

my original rescue 5 had never been held and now lttle meg is the first out to eat out of your hand.she is a beautifull little golden agouti 'nanna'.she has such a big heart of gold

 

[monkeyandmischa]

Mine are always hard to catch. Fifi in particular puts all her weight into her big back end, so I have to kind of scoop her up from behind, and when I finally get hold of her, she cries like she's being murdered :o But then she seems to love being held - she licks my hand all the time, and often curls up on her side and falls asleep :smitten:

And Ursula has really strong front legs and always tries to burst out of my hands like pop eye or something ;D

I've found a cardboard tube helps a lot - they're usually curious enough to run into it, and you can give them a few nudges in the right direction too!