Untrusting Piggy

[Leelas]

So my big girl, Mara, has always been fairly skittish. She bolts at the slightest sound, and freaks out when you try to pick her up. Once picked up, she will oftentimes be very tame. She'll always eat whatever you give her - she LOVES apples - and she's been getting more tame over time. She'll even let me pet her inside her cage these days.

Anyway, I'm afraid I may have accidentally ruined her trust in me due to a recent incident. She is extremely squirmy when being carried and will oftentimes force herself into a position that looks very uncomfortable. As such, I try to minimize the time I spend carrying her. Once she's in my lap she's normally just fine. However, her poor judgement and clumsiness have gotten her into some trouble. The incident occurred when I was sitting down with her, while talking to a couple friends. I had a newspaper in my lap, just in case she peed - my other girl, Inanna, will absolutely refuse to pee in your lap and will attempt to squirm and shout and let you know that she wants to go home when she's about to pee. Mara, not so much, usually when she pees I just take her home and discard the paper.

Anyway, she decided it'd be a good idea to attempt to pee off the side of this paper. She began to slip and slide towards the edge of my lap. I flailed for her, and found myself holding her without any back support as her hind legs kicked and thrashed over the side of my chair. She looked absolutely terrified, and I felt horrible.

Fast-forward to floor time today. She has been getting VERY bold when it comes to exploring the house, and today ventured out of the living room, all the way down the hallway and explored my bedroom. I saw her galloping from the far end of my bedroom all the way over to her cage time and time again. She could run the length of the apartment in less than ten seconds. Clearly a healthy animal.

However, when I tried to put her back in her cage, she absolutely would not let me touch her. She was fine towards the beginning of floor time, accepting treats, letting me pet her, and although she's usually skittish, I've never seen her run from me like she did this time. She absolutely freaked out. I'd approach her, and she'd run with the force of a cannonball underneath the couch in the living room, where she'd sit down. My girlfriend and I thought she was taking it easy under the couch, and was just trying to avoid being put back in her cage.

However, then we noticed she was panting. She was afraid of us. But we had to pick her up sooner or later. It took us a long time to catch her, and I'm afraid it completely traumatized her. My girlfriend suggested before she went home that I give her some lap time w/ snacks to remind her I'm her friend. She's currently sitting next to me, with a newspaper stacked with hay and apples. She's eating the hay. However, she's been sitting down the entire time. I don't know if she's relaxed... I'm afraid that, judging by the very loud squeak she made when we finally caught her, that she's afraid and worn out.

What do you guys think? What should I do? And in the future, how do I end floor time in a non-traumatic manner?

[Pumpkin_RIP]

Hmm...I'm afraid the you probably traumatized her. But, just in case, I would check her all over very carefully to see if there is possibly any injury. Gently press/feel her to see if something is not right or she squeaks in pain. If something doesn't seem right, take her to the vet right away. I don't have the much experience with pigs so timid. Both of mine weren't that skittish! But, I used to have(she past away) a pretty skittish pig, and from experience, you are pretty much back to square one with her trust. Don't hold her for a while, or at least untill she seems to trust you again. One of my tricks with my pig when she was still getting used to me was to feed her her favorite treats. Then while she was busy munching them up and distracted, I would slowly reach out and pet her/pick her up. Then she would get use to me. I hope that helps! Best of luck!

[Sammy and Peanut]

My guinea pig is very skittish also. He is getting better, but he still does it. What usually do is talk to him sweetly and call his name from a distance so that he will come to me. Then I give him some treats(he loves carrots) and he gets used to coming when I called him. Does your guinea pig come when you call her? If not you could teach her and that would solve the problem of not baing able to catch him.

[Leelas]

The thing is, she absolutely comes when called, because she wants food. The problem is, she then freaks out when she realizes I'm going to pick her up. And she's very fast and very smart when it comes to getting away. Put out an arm to stop her, she'll leap over the arm.

I believe things are generally okay with her. She'll still take apples from me while I"m holding her, and last night, after the incident, she slowly calmed down on the couch beside me and was willing to walk around. I'm just worried there will never be a time I let her out on the floor that doesn't end with a 15 minute long, highly traumatic chase.

Incidentally, does lying down indicate comfort? Or is it fear or exhaustion? Note that she was eating while she was lying down next to me, and was not pressed against any objects. Also, that her far less active and more social younger cage-mate, Inanna, rarely if ever is seen not standing up.

[ArtisticRainey]

You probably just knocked the relationship back a few pegs, but I doubt she's traumatized forever. Just do as you were doing and take it one step at a time. It might be an idea to set up your floor-time space in such a way that you don't have to chase her to get her back. When my pigs get floor time I use grids to close off an area where there's nothing to hide under except the hideys I put in for them. It's a lot easier (and safer, in my opinion) to do this. Alternatively you could get grids or something similar and gradually close her into a smaller space as time goes on, so there's no need for a chase that will likely stress her out. Just a thought.

It must be noted that very few pigs are as 'trusting' as we'd like them to be. They see a big thing looming over them and run. It's in their natures. It'll just take a bit of time for her to become less timid.

[Feylin]

I dont turn mine loose for floor time for the same reason. It was so traumatic to catch Fred- we had this huge chase of him running under the couch and me thumping along behind. Now they have floor time in a blocked off area of the kitchen. It's still 3x as big as their 2x5 C&C, but it lets me catch them quickly to prevent the terrified panting state they get into when I have to chase them all over the house.