Taming piggies

[JanJam]

We now have 3 new girls - the adoptees Lola (age approx 2 years), Dora (age 9 months) and Poppy (age 4 months) bonded with Marsha (age 6 years 6 months) and Sophie (age unknown, a rescue pig through a friend, she is estimated at least 4 years old). All going well, they are all getting along fine.

We have had them for 1 week now. They seem to be settling in and are ignoring more and more general house noises which at first would make them jump.

They are still nervous, as I expected. For example, at veggie time Sophie and Marsha will happily eat out in the open. Lola, Dora and Poppy tend to grab something then run away into a hidey to eat it. We have not tried to force them to do anything else.

They are in a large C&C cage and on towels and fleece (which is working wonderfully by the way, wish I'd done it years ago!) so are getting used to us coming in to clean up the poops.

We have not yet tried to pick them up as we didn't want to add to their stress of getting used to a new home, smells, noises etc. But eventually we will have to get them used to being handled, for nail clipping, vets visits (in an ideal world they wouldn't need any, but I do tend to take them to a vet if in any doubt, I err on the side of caution when it comes to going to the vet).

So - my question is does anyone have tips for getting them used to being handeled. So far I plan on the following:
1. lie on the floor with them with food near me
2. hold food in my hand for them to nibble on
the progress to
3. holding them in pairs, one new girl with either Marsha or Sophie, who are both very comfortable at being held and petted, the idea being they learn from them there is nothing to be scared of.

If anyone has any tips I would appreciate them. My aim, as always, is the health and happiness of the piggies.

[SerpentineSylph]

A great way I found, and recommended by many, is to just set your hand in the cage. It's very easy for me, as the cage is right next to the computer desk, where I am most of the time doing homework, poking around online, buying things I can't afford, or enjoy the Sims 2. Cleaning the poos out of the cage (should you use fleece) and taking care of the other cage necessities, or even just pretending like you're doing something and trying to talk to them in a calm voice to get them use to you helps a lot. That way they know that not every time you come to the cage they're getting picked up or petted.

My older boar, Doc, knew my voice after only a day and when I call him he looks for me, no yummy persuasion required. But food is definitely the way to get to a piggy's heart, and that's how we could help Doc to calm down when he was stressed outside his cage was to give him fresh veggies - that certainly helps to make being with you and being outside of the piggy's cage something they look forward to.

Good luck with your girls!
Do you have them all together already?

[JanJam]

hi yes they are all together now, on fleece in a 3x5 cage with the extra floor space to run about in - we've given them all of our dining room.

We do go in and out of the room a lot as the fridge is in there as it's too big for our tiny kitchen (although I'm supposed to be on a diet so maybe I should stay away from the fridge a little more ... hee hee)

I've found when I go in and talk to them calmly they start to calm down now ... I definatly think they respond to tone of voice.

We do go in and clean up, add more hay, move food trays and bowls about too, so they can get used to "The HAND" being something they have nothing to fear.