Should I put him Outside?

[susie_q]

I need some advice regarding one of the pigs from the big Sokel Guinea Pig Rescue recently.

Let me introduce Billy. He's a lovely, curious pig who always takes his medcine and puts up with being prodded and poked. However, he has been fluxating in weight a fair bit since he arrived here.

He doesn't touch veggies, and while he does eat dry food it seems to be sparingly and he certainly doesn't gobble it like every other pig in the house. However, when he gets given some fresh grass - he'll munch for Britian!

So my plan is to pop him outside - however, on the flip side, when he was intially in quartine and solitary, he became very depressed and was not eating at all. I gave in sooner than I should have an popped him in the same room as everyone else (on the other side of the room) till his quartine was offically up. As soon as he heard other pigs he was like a changed animal.

So, on one hand I want him to put on weight by having all the access to grass that he wants - on the other, I have noone he can go outside with. I only have one outdoor run and I worry about them being out overnight unsupervised.

additionally - he has no idea what a water bottle is for. He has even been left for a few hours without a water dish and just the water bottle - didn't touch it and as soon as the water bowl went back in his head was right into the bowl and he practically drank it all at once. Any suggestions on how to introduce him to water bottles?

 

[Wiebke]

Have you got a hospital cage whose top you can put down with him inside next to the run with some of your others in the run (if it is safe to do so)? Or can you place it inside the run, so he can have some company?

Move the bottle ball with your fingers regularly to show him how it sounds right. And try it with him sitting on your lap. It is a patience game and can be very exasperating - my new girls CAN drink from the bottle, but prefer not to, most of the time! They have more of a go since they have the others as an example.

 

[Hels]

We have talked about Billy just today - piccies Susie please hee hee.

I think he would be ok outside.

H.
x

 

[nutmeg]

My run is reasonably large, so I let two of my boys in that, then inside the run, I place a very small c & c (2 x 1) and my lonely boar loves it in there, he has the company of others running around him and can munch away at the grass. Incredible weight gain since I started doing this. He loves the company and the grass. Alternatively, if your run is big enough, you could put the top of a Nero 2 inside it with Billy in, and other pigs in the main run. Good luck x