A newbie with Questions

[Terran]

Hello to everyone!

I became a new piggie owner (Oops, sorry, I mean slave) recently, and have a question. This is Miss Marple's and Miss Otis's third home and their last one traumatized them. I have had them two weeks now, and they are taking food from my hand now and seem to be adjusting to their 2 by 5 C&C home.

They seem to argue (especially over their pigloo) and this morning I found a tuft of hair from Miss Otis on the fleece. They will quite often share the pigloo without any arguing, so I'm not sure what is going on. They are supposed to be an aunt and a niece, so I would think they would get along. They get plenty of good food (timmy hay, pellets, fruit, peppers, tomatoes, parsley, etc) so there is no competition for food.

I shot some video footage of them and recorded some of their behaviors and vocalizations. I have it posted on my website at http://arterran.com/videos/piggies.wmv. It is three minutes long, and I would really appreciate some advice on what they are saying and doing. (Sorry for the long post).

[Tulip]

Hello and welcome to the forum! What your girls are doing is very normal and they're just establishing who's boss. Actually it seems very mild compared to what some other piggers go through.

You should have two hidey houses of some sort instead of just one, so they each have their own space ~ they may fit in there together, but not very comfortably. They say you should have one hidey house for each pig and then one extra ~ kind of a neutral space.

I have two girls who have recently gone through the same thing. I actually took the pigloo out, and now they have tunnels instead. They are so much happier, their rumblestrutting and nosing off has stopped and they all hang out together peacefully and enjoyably.

If you get another hidey house you should thoroughly clean the pigloo out that you currently have to give it a fresh start (a vinegar and water mixture works well - no chemicals). That may help in their arguing over it, also.

Back to the fighting again ~ as long as they are not flying balls of fur and drawing blood just them work it out.

Hope this helps!

[Ly&Pigs]

Two of everything in a cage usually works best. 2 hidey houses, 2 water bottles, two food dishes, etc. That way one won't be the "boss" over it all.

[Terran]

Thanks for your posts.

I was planning on building a bigger pigloo anyway, so I will clean out the old one and keep both.
They seem to be getting along better, and seem very happy with their new home.

What are you using for your tunnels? It sounds like yours really enjoy them, so maybe my girls would like them as well.

[Percy's Mom]

For washable tunnels, you can purchase lengths or elbows of PVC pipe from your hardware store. Make sure you get at least 4" PVC though. If you don't mind replacing them, an emptied out oatmeal cannister works really well.

For anything hard and washable in the cage, I load up my dishwasher and run hidies, tunnels, and all of their dishes through there periodically. It makes sure that everything gets good and clean.

[JarBax]

If you still want feedback on what your pigs were saying, I would interpret it as "It's MY pigloo"!! They were rumblestrutting a wee bit, and popcorning too!

Glad you're getting more/turning to tunnels - the advantage of which is a different exit. In a pigloo, there's only one way in and out - and if you're not getting on well with the person who's coming in - you're stuck!

Boxes always make great hideys - my pigs like them with a hole in each side, and go in and out and round about to their hearts content!

[Terran]

Thanks All so much for the feedback and suggestions. I will go with the PVC piping because it is washable.

I had the Misses out for their first floor time today. I helped them figure out their new ramp so the could access the rest of the room. (I put a corral up so they couldn't get to any wires.)

They made a lot of little quiet trilling noises to each other and seemed interested in getting back in their cage. They would stand up on the outside and peer in, all the while talking to each other. They had about an 11' by 15' area to explore, but instead stayed in a fairly small area. I showed them how to get back in the cage, and they seem happy to stay in there for now. I will try them with a bit of floor time again tomorrow.

[JarBax]

You might find a bit more on the sounds your piggers make here:

Guinea Lynx :: Behavior

[Terran]

Thanks for the link. I played the chirping for my girls and they just froze until the clip was done. Then they just went about doing their usual things.

Can anyone tell me how long the pvc tunnels should be?

The Misses Marple and Otis had their second floor time today and were much bolder in exploring their territory. A little bit of popcorning, and constant talking to each other. It was great fun watching them!

[Percy's Mom]

I would do the PVC tunnels about a foot long. Mine are elbows actually.

That is so great that your ladies are enjoying floor time and seem so happy!

[piggly wiggly]

Off topic. Just wanted to say I like your username, my son's name is Terrin. My husband wanted the "I" instead of the "A"... Glad to hear your girls are doing a bit better.

[momof2pigs]

Wow!! Those seem like HUGE girl piggies!! My males each fit in their own pigloo with room to spare and they are full grown! I can see your girls are arguing over that one igloo. The igloos come in one more larger size. Perhaps if each pig had their own larger one, they wouldn't argue as much?

[Slave to the Wheek]

Here's a pic showing just SOME of the things I've done to provide places for our boys to "take cover"


The boxes have the bottom cut out, no need to clean.
The tunnels are simply mesh cage grids from Linens-b=-n-Things that are bent

I can't get your movie to work, but if your girls are large you may not find PVC pipe large enough to avoid getting stuck inside?

You also go the the photo gallerys at the top of the page and go the the section titled, "hideys" there are hundreds of ideas in there. Many people even just use little plastic footstools.

You likely don't even have to leave the house to find several.

[Terran]

Yes, they are big girls!

I have had a length of 4" shipping tube in their cage for a while now, and neither of them use it. I think it is too small. I couldn't find pvc piping or elbows larger than 4 inches, so I went to Industrial Paint and Plastics and found some plastic sheeting that I can roll up to make bigger tunnels. I think I will cut the bottoms out so their feet can rest on the cage floor instead of the plastic. I can build a small wooden frame at the bottom that the sheeting will fit into. I should be able to make some nice elbows with it too. I also picked up some thicker plastic for making some nice boxes with double exits.

Hmm... I'm not sure why you couldn't get the video to play. It does take a while to download, and is in Windows Media format. Is anyone else having that problem? It could be that your security settings are high and the download is being blocked. Instead of clicking on "run" have you tried downloading it to your computer? (by clicking "save" instead of "run").

Thanks again for all your support. This is an awesome forum, and I'm thrilled that there are so many caring piggy people out there!

[Terran]

Just an update, the girls now have a nice new pigloo house (it would comfortably fit 4 piggies) that has a tunnel entrance/exit on each side. They also have tunnels for their cage and floor area.
Miss Marple is getting tamer, but Miss Otis grinds her teeth when I pick her up.
They have now figured out how to get back in their cage after I take them out for floor time. Just moments after I put them on the carpet, they run back up the ramp into their cage. I would have thought they would be thrilled to be able to run around, but I guess they are not that secure yet.
I'm going to build them another house that they can hide in during their floor time.
I've been putting treats on the ramp and around the floor closest to the ramp, hoping to coax them out. Not much luck yet!
They are also treated to classical music for a few hours each day (with the radio on low) and they seem to be enjoying that.
I hope Miss Otis will get tamer, and more comfortable with me. It could be she has been traumatized too much though, and has lost her trust.