Quarantine

piggl

piggl

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I did have a look at previous threads but they are all quite old so I am wary some ideas/opinions would be out of date.

The rescue I am speaking to have a 5-6 month old pig who would be able to picked up Saturday considering he stays well through the week (he just came in today).
I have already sent a message asking if they vet check their animals or quarantine them and I am just waiting for a reply back, so I am just wondering if there is anything else I need to think about when taking a pig from a rescue home.

My bereaved boy is showing signs of loneliness and would like to get him a new friend as soon as possible but obviously do not want to risk his health.
I am also wondering if 5-6 month old boars are more similar to teenagers or babies, from what I know he would be classed as a teenager, I think. Does anyone have any experience of bonding a newly teenager boar, so potentially coming in/in a large hormonal spike.

My boy is quite laid back and very skittish/nervous, so I fear a hormonal young boar will be a lot for him, or is there a chance a 5-6 month old boar may look up to a older boar... although I doubt it as I remember how boisterous my boys were at that age. I am aware it will come down to personality but aside from that is there a sort of basic understanding of the likelihood of them getting on, if we removed personalities altogether.
 
Ideally any piggy over four months of age is quarantined for two weeks. I would have thought a rescue would want to quarantine rather than allow him to go to a new home so soon after having come in - you'll obviously need to wait for their response.

If the situation were that straightforward and he does come home without being quarantined at the rescue, then ordinarily I would be encouraging you to continue quarantine at home in a separate room. However, if your boy is showing signs of loneliness, then his needs come first and you forego quarantine and just have to take the risk that the new piggy is healthy. If he isnt, then both piggies may need to have any necessary treatment.

At 5-6 months of age, he is a teenager (teens starts at 4 months). The issue with bonding with a piggy of his age, is that he is about dominance not necessarily about companionship (babies need companionship and see an older boar as a teacher and are consequently more readily accepted). Bonding a teenage boar of that age is not always straightforward. He may well try for dominance and it depends how well your boy will take to that - if your boy is happy to let the new teenager be the boss, then that is all well and good. If he doesnt and the teen is still dominant, then that is when a bonding will fail. If you are bonding at home without dating at the rescue first, then you would want to have a plan B in place - either returning the new teenager, or having them live side by side.

It all comes down to personality and compatibility - there is no way to know if they will get on - all you can ever do is try and see what happens.
 
Unfortunately they have two litters of babies at the moment and are not able to offer a bonding service.
I hope my boy stays the less dominant boy as he is very nervous and never pushed for dominance before, but obviously that cant be guaranteed. Ill have to wait and see what the rescue have to say.
I think if they have him vet checked I may pass on the quarantine and if not take him to the vet anyway before thinking of introducing him.
 
piggl said:
Unfortunately they have two litters of babies at the moment and are not able to offer a bonding service.
I hope my boy stays the less dominant boy as he is very nervous and never pushed for dominance before, but obviously that cant be guaranteed. Ill have to wait and see what the rescue have to say.
I think if they have him vet checked I may pass on the quarantine and if not take him to the vet anyway before thinking of introducing him.
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All you can ever do is try and see what happens.
Do you have a plan B in mind if bonding does fail? Fingers crossed it'll all be ok, but with teen boars you never know!

If you feel comfortable introducing without quarantine, then you can of course go ahead and do that. Its just that not everything is immediately obvious so the two weeks does mean most things would come out in that time. Its all a moot point though if your boy is struggling being alone.
 
If they do not bond I will unfortunately have to give the young friend back as I don’t have space for multiple cages, but I have my fingers crossed all will go well.
I do have a place for him to stay if it goes wrong, just not for permanent accommodation.

I do understand the risks with the removal of quarantine but my boy is struggling as it is and I am already a bit worried that he has to wait till the weekend at the latest.
We are just having extra cuddles and I am keeping something playing for him often so that it doesn’t feel so alone, but not so much that he has no break from it.

My friend, who has very little knowledge of these animals suggests I play guinea pig noises for him.
From what I understand and just generally speaking I feel that would just upset/excite him just for it to fall flat and there to be no friend, but thought I might as-well ask and see.
 
I probably wouldn’t play noises. I have accidentally opened a video with piggy sounds around my bonded boys and it has sent this a bit mad searching for the mysterious piggy
 
The rescue replied with a very passive aggressive reply as if I had offended them when asked if they have taken him to a vet, as I wanted to see if I would have to take him.
They responded saying they were capable of doing an assessment at their rescue so there is no need to see a vet, and there is no need to see a vet if they think he is healthy.

I understand they probably run off of donations and I can understand not taking a seemingly health pig to the vet but if they just got him surrendered he could have an underlying issue, and I do not think there was any need for the snark.

I did nothing to offend them and if anything I am a bit upset with their response as I believe it was uncalled for, I even apologized in my message as I had asked quite a few questions. I will be taking him to a vet when/if we decide to take him.
 
piggl said:
The rescue replied with a very passive aggressive reply as if I had offended them when asked if they have taken him to a vet, as I wanted to see if I would have to take him.
They responded saying they were capable of doing an assessment at their rescue so there is no need to see a vet, and there is no need to see a vet if they think he is healthy.

I understand they probably run off of donations and I can understand not taking a seemingly health pig to the vet but if they just got him surrendered he could have an underlying issue, and I do not think there was any need for the snark.

I did nothing to offend them and if anything I am a bit upset with their response as I believe it was uncalled for, I even apologized in my message as I had asked quite a few questions. I will be taking him to a vet when/if we decide to take him.
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It’s so hard running a rescue, and the written word can often come across harshly in a message or text. In our rescue we tend to bring in piggies from the waiting list and do our own assessment of their state of health. If they have come from dubious circumstances or we notice anything at all they get booked in for a health check. If they seem to be ok they then go to foster carers and if anything is noted at all (weight, coat, noises, excessive drinking, squeaking, you name it - anything different) then we foster carers take them straight to a vet. And to be honest we are usually on high alert so more go to a vet than really need to. But we just can’t afford to get our vets to check them all on arrival, the adoption fee doesn’t cover the cost of a single appointment at the vets, sadly. So in an ideal world we would vet check them all. But the reality is that we have to triage those vet checks. Hope that makes sense.
Often the person replying to messages is running their home, business or work as well as the rescue. So sometimes the responses can seem a bit terse. And they are human like all of us. Please don’t take offence. They probably just aren’t used to getting the questions.
 
VickiA said:
It’s so hard running a rescue, and the written word can often come across harshly in a message or text. In our rescue we tend to bring in piggies from the waiting list and do our own assessment of their state of health. If they have come from dubious circumstances or we notice anything at all they get booked in for a health check. If they seem to be ok they then go to foster carers and if anything is noted at all (weight, coat, noises, excessive drinking, squeaking, you name it - anything different) then we foster carers take them straight to a vet. And to be honest we are usually on high alert so more go to a vet than really need to. But we just can’t afford to get our vets to check them all on arrival, the adoption fee doesn’t cover the cost of a single appointment at the vets, sadly. So in an ideal world we would vet check them all. But the reality is that we have to triage those vet checks. Hope that makes sense.
Often the person replying to messages is running their home, business or work as well as the rescue. So sometimes the responses can seem a bit terse. And they are human like all of us. Please don’t take offence. They probably just aren’t used to getting the questions.
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I can imagine how tough it is, and they have spoken about how they are all volunteers and will have their own jobs and lives.

Thanks for your response as it has made me think about the other side, I wasn’t really upset with them I just get nervous that I have upset people and would never bring it up with them.
I know they deal with so much, and I should have taken that into consideration.

Thank you for all you do for the rescue, my grandmother used to work with one being a foster and I remember how tough it was for them, but I was just tunnel visioned on the message and not everything else going on.
 
I have just learned a bit more about the pig.

He was bought as a group of three "girls", resulting in the two litters of babies and just not enough room to house him and the girls.
Not only is he 5-6 months meaning he will likely be in a hormonal spike due to his age, he may also think he is being downgraded from being put with girls to being "demoted" to a boar. Assuming they were sold at around 2-3 months he would have only been with the girls for a bit, but he was still with them and obviously had two litters.

Is it worth still trying? My boy is still showing signs of loneliness and I am really interested and sort of attached to the wee boy now, not that that changes anything. If they did not get along we do have the ability to put him back to find another friend, but it is a bit of a trip, 3 hour trip there and back.
 
piggl said:
I have just learned a bit more about the pig.

He was bought as a group of three "girls", resulting in the two litters of babies and just not enough room to house him and the girls.
Not only is he 5-6 months meaning he will likely be in a hormonal spike due to his age, he may also think he is being downgraded from being put with girls to being "demoted" to a boar. Assuming they were sold at around 2-3 months he would have only been with the girls for a bit, but he was still with them and obviously had two litters.

Is it worth still trying? My boy is still showing signs of loneliness and I am really interested and sort of attached to the wee boy now, not that that changes anything. If they did not get along we do have the ability to put him back to find another friend, but it is a bit of a trip, 3 hour trip there and back.
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I’m short on time so I’m going to be brief. (Between clients so I can’t go into great detail). It’s not something that I would ever advocate. His age, and having lived with sows make him unsuitable (IMHO) for boar dating. In our rescue we would neuter him to live with sows. I would continue looking elsewhere or consider sourcing a baby boar.
 
VickiA said:
I’m short on time so I’m going to be brief. (Between clients so I can’t go into great detail). It’s not something that I would ever advocate. His age, and having lived with sows make him unsuitable (IMHO) for boar dating. In our rescue we would neuter him to live with sows. I would continue looking elsewhere or consider sourcing a baby boar.
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So you think it is not worth trying?
 
I do not want to risk it then, for his sake and my boys.
I will let the rescue know I am no longer looking in to taking him home, it is a shame as he is a really lovely boy but I can not risk it.

I am really considering getting a baby boar but I am wondering if it is best to get one off of gumtree or pets at home. I do not want to support pets at home (selling live animals) but I also do not want to support backyard breeders. Feels like I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I did say subtly that I do not think he will get on well with a boar because they are aware I have an older boar yet they are still willing to give him to me. I know every rescue is different but I would hate to think he would go to someone who asks much less questions and gets kept by himself as he could be labeled as aggressive. The rescue do seem to know a lot but I just wanted to add that just incase.
 
I’d not risk it either - his age is one consideration but the fact he has been with a sow would make the bonding even less likely to work.

If the choice is between online sites or a pet shop, then I’d personally choose a pet shop. At least with them you have consumer rights should anything happen . An online site you would be exposed to all sorts of potential issues with no comeback - existing medical problems etc .
 
I fear I may have burned my bridges with the rescue, I have inquired multiple times and they have shown me two guinea pigs which just weren't suitable, so I would ask a few questions and then have to say no at the end.
 
At some time or other many of us have walked the walk of shame to a pet shop to source a baby in the interests of the health wellbeing and happiness of a survivor. But as @Piggies&buns says, a pet shop at least offers you some consumer rights. That would be my choice over a breeder.
 
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