New to Piggies - is this normal

[WombatnPiglet]

Hi All

We've just 'rescued' two boars who had been paired at the rescue centre. They are 2 and 18 months old.

We moved them into a correx open top cage, which was different from their closed top cage that they'd been in before. They seem to be settling in in some ways but spend most of their time in the 'pigloo' - and do all their peeing in there it appears.

We were told that one of them was litter trained, and it does appear that he does most of them in the litter tray, but the wee is an issue. We are using fleece, with mattress protector sewn into it, on top of puppy pads and towels, and because he's peeing in the pigloo and it's in the same place, after 3 days it's soaked through the fleece, puppy pad and towels! mallethead

Any suggestions will be really gladly accepted as I am very very new (they arrived on Saturday!) to all this. I've only had a hamster before and he was very tidy!

Thanks so much

Josie

 

[Wiebke]

You can't really litter train piggies. Some are scattier than others, and they will generally pee where they sleep.

I change my fleece and underlay every three days to keep the smell down (but then I have quite a few piggies living in two groups). I would strongly recommend to change your puppy pads on a regular basis in the places your boys have chosen as their preferred toilet corners.

 

[piggyfan]

I change my fleece every three days. You cannot leave it any longer. It is almost impossible to toilet train guinea pigs so I would not worry there. It is natural they are nervous in their new home and will take time to adjust to it. This is normal and they will start to come out when they feel used to it.

Did you wash and dry your fleece for three days before you started using it? You must never use fabric conditioner.

 

[WombatnPiglet]

I don't think they like me.... :o(

I followed all the instructions and washed three times without softner, I think that because they're so nervous at the moment they spend most of their time in the pigloo and the teepee that they're peeing in there too.

I just went in to change the puppy pad and Wombat, the younger of the two and the Rex, chattered his teeth at me and then opened his mouth really wide showing his teeth at me, twice! I don't think he liked me getting that close (I didn't touch him and he was in his tee pee the whole time). Should I be worried?

Josie

 

[piggyfan]

He is just warning you to stay away because he is unsure of you. This is nothing to worry about. Once he knows you are not a threat he will love you.

With fleece you have to change it more often. I also pick poohs three times a day or they build up.

 

[WombatnPiglet]

x>>x>>Thanks PiggieFan - I was really worried there... I'll keep up the veggies and hopefully he'll love me soon - he's so cute.
Piglet seems to love me, he's really cheeky and runs and jumps around and makes a lovely gurgly noise - he's very affectionate. Can't wait until they're more settled and we can have cuddles.

 

[piggyfan]

Aww that is lovely. Some piggies just take a while to win round but it will be so worth it!

 

[Pepperdog]

when my guys all moved inside for the winter it was all different and scarey for them and they spent a couple of weeks in the same place pretty much (bar eating and drinking) so that area got very wet very quickly, but they soon settled down into the new pen (and this was from being in a hutch so a lot different) and went back to sleeping where they liked.

Mine are sort of litter trained, the girls will sit in the trays and do most of their business but they also do it in beds and where they like, but I put the litter trays under places they would spend time, like under the hay rack which helps reduce the smells as I can change this more often for them.

I spot clean once a day, clean out every 4 days but then its a huge pen and I move the veggie plate around so they dont mess up the same area each day.