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So apparently someone at the animal hospital got our piggie to eat broccoli, or it was written in his file that he liked it. Well, he won't touch it at home. Or carrots, or apple, or bell pepper, or anything other than hay or pellets. Is there a humane way to "make" him eat it so he knows he can, or if he likes it would he have eaten it by now? He'll literally eat around it if we put it in the same dish as his pellets. Oh, and he gobbles up the little sections of Vitamin C tablets we give him in a heartbeat.
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Feb 2, 2010 05:55
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 04:37 |
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Pigs can be strange in new environments. While most of my girls took to veggies well, one or two wouldn't eat them the first week in the house, and one actually wouldn't touch vegetables until she was fully integrated in the herd and saw everyone else going nuts on some parsley. If he's still a little freaked out, he might not be quick to go after any foodstuffs he's not amazingly familiar with. I'd say give him some time, but keep offering little bits. And get some leafy greens - romaine, red leaf, green leaf, parsley, or cilantro are all good, and I've never seen a pig that wouldn't eat something off that list. In the meantime, hay and fortified pellets (or regular pellets + C tabs) will provide all the nutrition he needs, so there's no huge rush.
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Feb 2, 2010 09:52
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kazmeyer posted:keep offering little bits This is critical. Don't ever stop trying. I've seen pigs come in whose owners insisted they wouldn't eat any veggies, ever, but usually the owners gave up and stopped offering them. Once the pigs were confronted with veggies every day, they finally had the opportunity to learn that veggies are awesome. And don't skimp on variety, either, just because he seems to prefer one thing over another. Other pigs, I've seen go through stages where suddenly one veggie is scary and another is great, only to have it flip-flop for no apparent reason. Kaz is also dead right about trying leafies - especially fragrant herbs. When spring comes around, go to the plant store and pick up some 99c herb pots to make yourself a window box of parsley, basil, dill, cilantro. You can also grow him some red clover - it's a legume, like alfalfa, meaning it can contribute to the formation of bladder stones, so use sparingly once he gets older - but I do still love giving occasional clover as a treat. I have never known a pig in 10+ years who didn't eventually decide that bell peppers are heaven on earth.
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Feb 2, 2010 15:10
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alucinor posted:I have never known a pig in 10+ years who didn't eventually decide that bell peppers are heaven on earth. They have to be green though. White, yellow, orange or reds are shunned like a nail cut. 
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Feb 2, 2010 20:50
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cat with hands posted:They have to be green though. White, yellow, orange or reds are shunned like a nail cut. I had a pig that would devour parsley and any other leafy green, but wouldn't touch cilantro no matter how hard I tried to get her to check it out. I even painstakingly mixed together a bunch of parsley and a bunch of cilantro to try to trick her into eating some and she wouldn't have any of it. Pigs are weird sometimes.  Growing your own is definitely a good idea, too. I mentioned it before, but when I lived in Nebraska and had a lovely lawn I put a box out on my deck and filled it with soil. I liberally sprinkled bluegrass seed, parsley, cilantro and about half a dozen other seed packets over top, and then watered it regularly until I had my own little wild herb and grass garden. First time I set the girls down in that green field they thought they'd died and gone to heaven. It was hilarious - I figured they'd trundle around and graze, but there was so much good stuff growing they just froze in place and tried to eat everything within reach of their mouths. I ended up having to consciously put them in different spots for even coverage, or I would have ended up with bald patches.
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Feb 2, 2010 22:23
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Humphrey avoided oranges like the plague when I first put them in his cage. I kept trying, putting a slice in every day for a few weeks. One day, he finally got the courage to try it, then BAM, it was his new favorite food. He would squeak and squeak all morning until you brought him his orange. So yeah, don't give up! I've also read that having a companion helps, as food competition makes one pig want to try everything the other one is eating.
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Feb 2, 2010 22:45
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Two updates on Rocco, the terrified orange guinea pig with the horrible cage. 1) The little guy is INSANE for dill. 2) As the trusted bringer of dill, I get certain privileges. Like this:  He was so relaxed! It was amazing. I can't believe he came in less than two weeks ago. This little guy is going to make somebody an EXCELLENT pet.
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Feb 3, 2010 02:02
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Sirotan posted:Find a farm feed store, buy yourself an entire bale of hay for $5. Is this really okay to do? We have a few feed stores around here and the hay is dirt cheap, but according to the woman who runs one of them, it's not especially good for small animals. I'll do that when my batch runs out if it's alright, but the general consensus was that KM and Oxbow are a significantly better quality.
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Feb 3, 2010 04:14
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Megalodon posted:Is this really okay to do? We have a few feed stores around here and the hay is dirt cheap, but according to the woman who runs one of them, it's not especially good for small animals. I'll do that when my batch runs out if it's alright, but the general consensus was that KM and Oxbow are a significantly better quality. KM and Oxbow are getting their hay from the same places I do: farmer's fields. My last bale of hay was grass hay that I bought directly from the farmer, this nice old guy that let me drive right up to his barn and load one bale into my car. I've gotten them from feed stores before too for $5 or less. As long as the hay you are getting is timothy, has been stored in a nice dry location and isn't moldy or contaminated, theres no reason why you can't feed it to your pigs. While I have never purchased Oxbow hay personally, I don't know how you could get anything fresher than a bale right from the farm. Edit: Here is the Guinea Lynx page about hay: http://www.guinealynx.info/hay.html As you can see they encourage buying hay by the bale if you can because it is so cost effective. They also talk about which cut of the hay is best, so if you decide on buying it by the bale this page might help. Sirotan fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Feb 3, 2010 |
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Feb 3, 2010 05:12
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Just make sure you're getting the right kind of hay - you don't want alfalfa for adult pigs - and check it over as you're doling it out. KM and Oxbow are pretty good about watching their products for foreign objects, nettles, dead critters and other nastiness, whereas the local farmer might not be quite so meticulous. Other than that, go for it. The only reason I don't shop by the bale locally is a) not enough storage space b) I have to be insanely picky about my hay because of my allergies and c) the only stuff I've been able to find around here is generally on the brown and grotty side rather than the vivid green stuff I get from KM.
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Feb 3, 2010 07:09
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Buying hay locally is heavily dependent on where you live. Orchard and timothy are both cool season grasses, so they don't grow well down south and virtually no one grows them as hay. Around here they primarily do bermuda and fescue, both of which are extremely coarse and typically considered "cow hay" (fescue is also prone to fungus so it's a bad choice for pigs anyway). There are a few horse barns around here that truck in orchard/timothy from up north, but the quality is pretty highly variable. I'd get 2-3 good bales and then bales that looked like they'd been drug behind a truck. Even my worst Oxbow bales were much better than my unlucky local bales. So if there's a good place nearby, go nuts, but don't be surprised if the hay is disappointing.
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Feb 3, 2010 15:59
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So we ended up adopting this incredibly cute guy, Milo:  He was just at the vet, and everything checked out okay (no mites or anything like that) so we went ahead and introduced him to Jasper. It did not go too smoothly - Milo quickly established himself as the dominant one through nibbling and, uh, "playing leap frog." Jasper was thoroughly freaked out, and wouldn't even eat any carrots for the rest of the night  . Oh well, we have them in separate cages right now, and might try to introduce them again in a day or so.
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Feb 4, 2010 22:28
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That kind of thing is absolutely normal. When introducing two pigs, do it on neutral ground, and be prepared to watch them tussle. Here's (approximately) the list, from most benign to most severe: Sniffing. Chasing. Rumblestrutting (they purr and shake their butt in the face of their opponent). Humping. Facing off (they rear back, and the "loser" is the first one to drop their head). Chattering of teeth. Nipping. Barbering (biting off bits of fur). All that is perfectly normal, and you've just got to sit there and let it happen. And yeah, the pig on the receiving end is going to get stressed out. But basically what's happening is, they're establishing a hierarchy, and once they've worked out who's alpha pig, it will settle down and they'll get along. Every time you break it up, they have to start over from square one. The only time you should intervene is if you see blood drawn, or they get into a furball. And like I've said before, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD if you have to break up a furball do it with a heavy towel or a glove, because a berserk guinea pig will bite you hard enough to require medical attention. You can try the cologne/perfume trick to smooth things as well.
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Feb 4, 2010 22:46
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^ Is it best to do it in a number of "sessions" or just kind of, let them keep going for hours and then plop them back in the same cage together and hope it works out?
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Feb 4, 2010 23:17
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One big one, do not separate unless you see bite wounds or a there's a fur tornado.
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Feb 4, 2010 23:40
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We've got a whole bunch of stuff purchased, tank, water bottle, little shack, food dishes, bedding, whatnot and all that's missing is the hamsters! Yesterday after heading to a PetSmart and finding a Russian dwarf which was quite nice, but didn't have the coat of fur that my girlfriend wanted, we checked out a Pet Habitat inside a mall. They had five Russian dwarfs but it was pretty much the worst thing ever. The five of them were stuck together inside the 10 gallon tank, and when asked about the hamsters the guy there just answered like a retard. Age? 3 months, MAYBE. Gender? Don't know. Are they siblings? Don't know. The tank was messy and badly kept, and he handled the hamsters pretty terribly too. Needless to say we didn't buy from there, but I'm just so surprised that pet stores with such inexperienced and unprofessional people and care for animals exist.
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Feb 5, 2010 00:03
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Lumi posted:Needless to say we didn't buy from there, but I'm just so surprised that pet stores with such inexperienced and unprofessional people and care for animals exist. Sadly, it's not that much of a surprise. Some businesses are just all about the bottom line.
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Feb 5, 2010 00:16
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RumbleFish posted:Sadly, it's not that much of a surprise. Some businesses are just all about the bottom line. I guess so. I'm still kind of new to the scene but most pet store experiences so far have been pleasant except for this one and its sister stores. The appalling thing about it all is that they put all the hamsters in the same cage while not knowing their genders.
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Feb 5, 2010 00:21
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Lumi posted:I guess so. I'm still kind of new to the scene but most pet store experiences so far have been pleasant except for this one and its sister stores. The appalling thing about it all is that they put all the hamsters in the same cage while not knowing their genders. There's a pet store like this here as well. :\ I went there looking for gerbils not realizing how bad it was and they actually asked me if one of their 5 week old gerbils was old enough to be put back in with his mother to make more babies.
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Feb 5, 2010 00:34
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I can't decide if I want to get a group of robo hamsters or a syrian. I'm not too worried about not really handling robos (I already have a hedgehog to provide my fat butted wobbling about needs) but it would be cool to have a big lardarsed syrian. I'm slightly concerned that if I get a group of robos at some point the group might fall apart as I can't really have 2 or 3 separate cages for them. Equally I've wanted robos for ages. However there is an awesome syrian available to me who looks just like a slightly dark coloured wombat. She's a cutie  I've got no idea what to do 
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Feb 5, 2010 01:32
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I must not adopt Rocco. I must not adopt Rocco. I must not adopt Rocco. I must not adopt Rocco. I must not adopt Rocco. I must not adopt Rocco. I must not adopt Rocco. He totally knows and trusts me now, and he comes to the front corner of his cage when I'm passing out vegetables and STARES at me. It's really huge for him that he feels confident enough to come out of his hide when someone's around to do something other than just pick up a vegetable and run away with it. He eats his favorites from my hand. And he doesn't even mind when I pick him up as long as I support him well. .... I need to find this guinea pig an adoptive family like NOW. 
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Feb 5, 2010 01:51
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Oh Maplecheese, look at that look of devotion in his eyes!! ha ha little Rocco loves you. (i think you should take him home and live happily ever after)
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Feb 5, 2010 02:55
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Imaduck posted:^ Is it best to do it in a number of "sessions" or just kind of, let them keep going for hours and then plop them back in the same cage together and hope it works out? First and foremost, don't just plop one in the other's cage or you will have a fight, guaranteed. All introductions should be on neutral ground, and the longer you leave them together, the better. Before you put them in to cohabitate for real, clean the cage and then clean it again, rearrange all the furniture, make it as different as possible so the home-team pig won't really see it as his inviolable turf anymore. And if all else fails, whip out the cologne. I've never, ever seen that trick not work. And when it comes to dominance, don't panic if it looks like the beta pig is getting bullied. That's kind of how it works. Alpha pig gets first crack at water, veggies, pellets, while the others have to wait their turn. If you're really concerned - and this isn't a bad idea in any case - put in extra water bottles, food dishes, hides, et cetera so that the non-dominant pig can't ever get completely frozen out. Eventually, it will become much less of a big deal to them. (Although sometimes even that's not enough; Freyja is my alpha pig, and despite the fact there are two water bottles, Nanna will patiently wait for her sister to be done drinking before taking her turn. It's bewildering.) And maplecheese - some guinea pigs never get that comfortable with a human. Sounds like Rocco's a really special pig if he can bond with you like that in a shelter situation. kazmeyer fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Feb 5, 2010 |
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Feb 5, 2010 03:36
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Blacknose posted:I can't decide if I want to get a group of robo hamsters or a syrian. I'm not too worried about not really handling robos (I already have a hedgehog to provide my fat butted wobbling about needs) but it would be cool to have a big lardarsed syrian. I'm slightly concerned that if I get a group of robos at some point the group might fall apart as I can't really have 2 or 3 separate cages for them. Equally I've wanted robos for ages. However there is an awesome syrian available to me who looks just like a slightly dark coloured wombat. She's a cutie Get the syrian. At some point you're gunna want to cuddle. Robos are sort of dicks.
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Feb 5, 2010 03:52
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AAAAAAAAH NO NO NO NO I have a cat! And two ferrets! And one of my ferrets is partially paralyzed and needs a lot of extra care while she's recovering! (And we already take the ferrets to a really great local exotic vet and we have a bedroom that the cat and ferrets aren't allowed in at all and we use wood stove pellets and fleece for the ferrets' litter and bedding and I know where to get coroplast and we only live a couple of blocks from this really cheap fruit and vegetable place and and and and and...)
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Feb 5, 2010 03:58
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kazmeyer posted:First and foremost, don't just plop one in the other's cage or you will have a fight, guaranteed. All introductions should be on neutral ground, and the longer you leave them together, the better. Before you put them in to cohabitate for real, clean the cage and then clean it again, rearrange all the furniture, make it as different as possible so the home-team pig won't really see it as his inviolable turf anymore. . I just wanted to know how long I should let the one push around the other one in the neutral space until I say "okay, that's enough" and separate them again. We let them go for about 10 minutes, and basically Milo was still at it harassing Jasper, and Jasper was just really really upset and freaked out .Anyway, we're going to try the cologne trick tonight and see what happens...
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Feb 5, 2010 04:02
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Imaduck posted:No, I wasn't just going to throw them in the same cage and let them duke it out Yeah you are gonna need to do it for longer than 10 minutes. Last time I introduced a pig I threw a big blanket on the floor and used some corrals to make a very large open space without hidey houses in it and let all the pigs run around in it for an afternoon to get acclimated. Its gonna take a while, perhaps a few hours. The more time the better.
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Feb 5, 2010 04:09
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Nereid posted:Get the syrian. At some point you're gunna want to cuddle. Robos are sort of dicks. I think that's sort of what appeals to me about robos. They're just little hectic tosspots - I was going to put them on a shelf next to my computer so I can watch them while I work and stuff. That said syrians are pretty cuddly. It's a difficult decision
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Feb 5, 2010 04:10
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I would go into the store/adoption center and just hold both syrians and robos and see which ones really bond with you. This is how I got my syrian and he's the best little guy ever.
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Feb 5, 2010 04:16
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I've held both and it just made me want both. I guess I'll go down tomorrow and see if I can spend half an hour with each and see how it goes.
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Feb 5, 2010 04:35
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Imaduck posted:No, I wasn't just going to throw them in the same cage and let them duke it out It can take a while, but the cologne trick can definitely speed things up. Spray some on your hands, very light mist, and then wipe as much as you can off on a towel. You just want to alter their scents very, very subtly, just enough so they think they have something in common. The worst intro I ever had was the one where I learned about using heavy gloves. Sita had been abandoned at a pet store for being a "bitey pig", and when I introduced her to my girls it went from bad (I've never heard the term "projectile urination" but that's about the long and short of it) to worse (full on screeching furball and my bleeding in two places). One dose of my then-girlfriend's perfume later, and she was as docile as I've ever seen, and an hour later they were all coexisting in the same cage. Good luck.
kazmeyer fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Feb 5, 2010 |
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Feb 5, 2010 06:25
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Well, it did not go too well. We washed both of them, and put a bit of cologne on each of them. Then, we placed them both on opposite ends of the bed. They chattered their teeth at each other for about 10 minutes, chased around each other's butts, then launched into full-fledged attack mode. We tossed a towel on them and separated them, but not before Milo got a little cut on his lip and Jasper got a cut near his mouth . We really both pigs, and would love for them to get along, but I'm not too sure what else to try. The Cavyspirit guide suggests maybe giving them a bath at the same time and see what happens, so we may try that. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Feb 5, 2010 07:12
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drat. That's actually the first time I've heard of that not helping. Do you have anything where you can put them within sight of each other, but not get at each other? Like move their cages adjacent to one another, or a playpen with a fence down the middle? Maybe letting them see each other but not interact might help with the process.
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Feb 5, 2010 08:33
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maplecheese posted:AAAAAAAAH NO NO NO NO Doooooo it. The way I always explain it to myself in adding another adoption is that I KNOW I'm going to give them a good life. Another adopter's definition of a good life for a guinea pig may not involve a C&C cage or fresh veggies. Or that, you know, special bond thing you have going on there. Hehe.
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Feb 5, 2010 15:34
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Imaduck posted:Well, it did not go too well. We washed both of them, and put a bit of cologne on each of them. Then, we placed them both on opposite ends of the bed. They chattered their teeth at each other for about 10 minutes, chased around each other's butts, then launched into full-fledged attack mode. We tossed a towel on them and separated them, but not before Milo got a little cut on his lip and Jasper got a cut near his mouth I typically put them on the floor with a fleece underneath and a grid pen all around. Make sure it's huge. Then put out several piles of hay and vegetables. No hiding houses, they'll only cause fights. Plan on this taking several hours. I usually block off at least 3 hours when I do it for adopters. Get a small squirty bottle and several hand towels. If the pigs have already had a fight, let them interact carefully, but keep an eye on them. If they start to engage in aggressive behavior, redirect them either with the squirt bottle or simply by chasing them off. The longer you can get them to coexist together in the same place without fighting the better your odds are. Add vegetables in shifts, offer them special treats like strawberries, etc. The bath idea does work, and make sure to suds them good and make it as traumatic as possible.
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Feb 5, 2010 16:08
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Imaduck, you can try the bath trick. Its essentially the same concept as rubbing perfume on them, you bathe them together so that they smell the same and think "oh hey this pig smells like me I guess they are cool". I've had varying degrees of success with this in the past. maplecheese, here, I will play Devil's advocate for you. You already have a bunch of other pets, including one with health issues that require a lot of care and money. If you get this pig you are going to have to get a second one to keep it company. Pigs can be very expensive pets if they happen to get sick. You might think he is bonding with you now, but to be quite honest guinea pigs are pretty dumb as far as animals go. He likes you because you are The Bringer Of Food and if he is adopted out he's going to forget you pretty quickly. I'm sure if he is adopted out he will have a great life.
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Feb 5, 2010 16:11
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Oh, I don't need anyone to play devil's advocate for me, I know exactly what taking this guy on would entail. We're currently trying to get off of the Treadmill of Perpetual Ferret Acquisition, since there's a drat good chance we may be moving to CA or NYC in a year and a half, where they're illegal. And we feel bad enough about THAT. That being said, I visited him again today and oh my goodness he is cute. He ate cilantro on my lap! Also I took some video of him.  If he's not adopted this weekend, I'm going to make a little sign for his cage saying what his favorite veggies are to make sure that whoever adopts him gets that info.
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Feb 5, 2010 20:47
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Well the awesome syrian I saw unfortunately went to someone else so I got the three robos instead. They're awesome, I'll post some pictures when they stop snoozing. e; they don't seem to be able to use the water bottle I got (it's one of the weird Ferplast Sippy ones). Will they be ok with a shallow bowl of water until I can get another bottle tomorrow and make a hanger so it will work in an aquarium or will they work it out eventually? Blacknose fucked around with this message at 23:08 on Feb 5, 2010 |
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Feb 5, 2010 21:31
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What makes you think that they can't use it? A shallow dish of water would be fine, but will end up dirty in a short time. Make sure it's heavy enough that they can't tip it over or anything.
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Feb 6, 2010 01:16
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I've watched them spend ages failing to get any water out of it. It has a really weird design which doesn't use a ball but rather a small rod that pushes in and I guess they've just never seen one before.
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Feb 6, 2010 03:48
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