Rescue pigs behaviour

[Annie_p3]

Hiya,
I’ve got three adorable girl pigs, who I got from a rescue centre a few months ago. As far as I can tell they are happy and healthy, but some of their behaviour makes me wonder if they didn’t get socialised properly when they were babies. I was wondering if anyone else has experience with this?

They don’t groom themselves very well, and often have wee around their bums. It generally goes after a few days, but comes back again.

They also don’t show each other any affection, or groom each other, and generally they don’t interact much at all. They have started grooming me when I hold them, but they often seem quite confused about why they are doing this, like it’s an instinct they really don’t understand .

I’ve also had to work quite hard to teach them to play, because until I did they would just eat and sleep, and never seem to do anything else.

They have been checked over by a vet, and they eat, drink and sleep plenty, so I’m not worried about their health. I’m mostly just wondering how normal these things are, and if there’s anything else I should be doing with them.

 

[WWDrew]

I wanted to ask how old they’re. If they’re young they might be able to learn social skills by others girls that have been socialized. Maybe you can explain your concerns to the rescue and borrow some older socialized sows to put into your herd to teach the others.

Good luck I don’t know much or experience. These are just my thoughts.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hiya,
I’ve got three adorable girl pigs, who I got from a rescue centre a few months ago. As far as I can tell they are happy and healthy, but some of their behaviour makes me wonder if they didn’t get socialised properly when they were babies. I was wondering if anyone else has experience with this?

They don’t groom themselves very well, and often have wee around their bums. It generally goes after a few days, but comes back again.

They also don’t show each other any affection, or groom each other, and generally they don’t interact much at all. They have started grooming me when I hold them, but they often seem quite confused about why they are doing this, like it’s an instinct they really don’t understand .

I’ve also had to work quite hard to teach them to play, because until I did they would just eat and sleep, and never seem to do anything else.

They have been checked over by a vet, and they eat, drink and sleep plenty, so I’m not worried about their health. I’m mostly just wondering how normal these things are, and if there’s anything else I should be doing with them.

If they are getting wet bottoms, then check you are changing the bedding often enough.
Make sure any wet areas of disposable bedding and hay are removed every day.
If you are using fleece, then try using additional fleece pee pads under hides and in high traffic areas so they can be removed more often.
A full clean could be needed anywhere from every 3 days to a week.
Are they long haired piggies? If so, then ensure any long hair is kept cut short around their back ends,
Otherwise, if they are consistently wet, then have a vet check carried out.

Behaviour wise, they sound like very normal piggies and there doesn’t sound to be any socialisation problems.
You don’t report any fear aggression or any bond problems (no bullying, fighting etc) at all.

Its very normal for piggies to not seem to show each other affection to each other, not groom each other and not sleep together. They aren’t like rabbits for example who will regularly groom and cuddle together a lot.
Grooming you - this might be affection but it may also be because they may taste something on your hands. They will explore with their mouths.

You can’t teach them to play and what you may consider play is not what piggies consider play.
First, for piggies the best form of entertainment is being with other piggies, you obviously have that covered. Piggies interact with each other through methods we cannot necessarily detect - body language and pheromones being two main ones. They will be constantly interating with each other even if you don’t think they are.
Secondly, piggies spend a lot of time eating, it is essential and it is also entertainment if you can provide the ability for them to use their natural foraging behaviour. A great way to do this is to not use food bowls or hay racks.
Have several big piles of hay in the cage (and as you have three piggies, two or three hay piles should be used anyway) so they can get inside it, play in it, sleep in, forage through it to find the tastiest bits. Try hiding their veg and pellet portions in hay piles so they have to search for it.

Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

 

[Annie_p3]

I wanted to ask how old they’re. If they’re young they might be able to learn social skills by others girls that have been socialized. Maybe you can explain your concerns to the rescue and borrow some older socialized sows to put into your herd to teach the others.

Good luck I don’t know much or experience. These are just my thoughts.

They were apparently 9months old when I got them, although obviously I have no way to know for sure. The vet said they seemed to be fairly young adults so that tallies.

 

[Swissgreys]

They were apparently 9months old when I got them, although obviously I have no way to know for sure. The vet said they seemed to be fairly young adults so that tallies.

Then given their age, the wet bottoms are more likely to be an environmental or medical issue.
If their cage is kept clean then I would consider taking them along to the vet for a check up, as at this age not keeping themselves clean is not normal for a healthy piggy.
It is totally unrelated to any socialisation (or lack thereof) early on - it is a base instinct and could be caused by an infection or other ongoing medical issue.