Piggy has become skittish.

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joey&Gizmo

Joey&Gizmo

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Sep 21, 2009
Messages
3,738
Reaction score
3
Points
0
Location
South Wales UK.
Ive had Joey since October 2008 and when i first had him he was very shy and very skittish, but with alot of patients he became less shy and skittish and once i got him a friend he was quite confident and was sometimes first to come running for the treats. But the past few days he has become very skittish again, i dont know why. Nothing has changed.mallethead

I did move them into their new c&c cage which is much bigger than their old cage and they have more hidy places, where as before they didnt have so many. But that was about a month ago now and all was fine, he is the dominant one and Gizmo is fine with no change in behaviour. I was worried he was unwell, but ive checked him all over and nothing, he also eats non stop like always.

He does things like run 100 mile an hour to go get down the ramp and hide under the ramp or sit in his chair. He also seemed to be scared of the hayloft and he wouldnt jump up, just sit on the ramp, but if i put him up their he would sit and munch hay and then zoom back down. Or he would just sit their frozen and look at the hoodie bit of the hayloft.
He had become shy about coming out from the hideys and this morning it took him ages to come for his veg, he was creeping slowly out.

Gizmo isnt bothered by his behaviour and just looks at him as to say 'why are you running so fast!' Gizmo is very sweet and he definalty isnt the reason for the change in Joey's behaviour as sometimes Joey runs close to him,like for protection.

I am baffled!:{

Anyone have any ideas on why he is skittish again?
 
Perhaps he has got a bad fright while you were away?
 
There is always someone home and nothing has changed, maybe something has scared him and now he is back to his old behaviour as i know that his old home he was treated badly and their was loads of dogs running about in the same room.

He is quite a timid pig. :)
 
Sometimes a change of scenery can make them nervous. I've had skittish rescue pigs who also get daunted by having much more space. I'm sure in time he'll start to relax again.
 
Do you have any other animals, cats or dogs? I was just thinking maybe Joey had fright from another animal if you have them?

I know my 2 new girls were wary of our dog, when we first got them they were very skittish especially if Maddie (the dog) came near.
Nugget my male is best buddies with Maddie and I think the girlies are now becoming braver because Nugget is ok with her(the dog), but it still happens occasionally.

Thought I'd better add, the piggies and the dog don't spend time together, Maddie just watches them through the grids.
But the relationship between Nugget and my dog is something else, I've never witnessed it before and I doubt I will again, it's a special bond they have! x)

I do hope Joey settles and you are able to get to the bottom of it :)
 
Thanks for the replies.

I only have a dog and they are used to her as they have been around her since ive had them and Gizmo the one who is more confident loves Meg the dog and always wants to see what she is doing when he is out for floortime. Joey isnt scared of her either. They arent in the same room as Meg isnt allowed in the living room rolleyes but they can see her and she does come in the room on occasions.

It very odd as he was fine all this time in the cage and now he seems to be afraid of the hayloft more than anything?
But i do have a theory on why that is as when i checked the loft the little hood had slipped down abit and maybe thats why he is scared, but Gizmo isnt fazed by it as there is plenty of room to get in and out, i have now attached it to the bars so it cant slip down, i do hope he gets used to it again as i loved watching them eating the hay.

By the hood slipping down i didnt mean it was trapping them, just a slightly smaller gap to get out of the hoodie bit. :) (you can see what i mean by the hoodie bit in my picture on the left)

But my mum did say Joey was sleeping under the hood bit on Tuesday, but he hasn't since! :(
 
Last edited:
Maybe Joey was sleeping under the hoodie bit when it slipped and it gave him a scare, bless him.
Hopefully he'll get used to going in there again soon ;)
 
I have fixed it so it cant slip down anymore and there is a tiny gap now at the back and Gizmo the cheeky pig he is keeps poking his nose through it and pushing it up! :))

Joey has been up the hayloft but not under the hood bit, hopefully he will soon see that it isnt going to slip down. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top