Electric wiring, licking

[Access]

My 'pig' has problems with electrical wiring during floor time. He has a large cage, more than a square meter, but often wants to wander around the house. I'm afraid to let him wander unsupervised because when I have done this in the past, I have found (2 occasions) live electrical wiring chewed bare, through the insulation. Presumably he got a nasty shock, he was very reticent and scared after I found the exposed wires. After a day he was back to chewing on the wires, as long as it's supervised and I see him I can stop him. He has pleanty of chew toys, pleanty of hay, and a good diet. Anything I can do or is my only choice to lock up his cage when not around or able to watch him should he decide to wander?

Normally he's very friendly and well-behaved, loves to lick people, never bites (light nips if he wants to go back to his cage), never messes on the floor, etc. Is licking normal, is it a sign of affection like with a dog?

[mncavylover]

Licking is normal, yes.

However, you are very lucky your pig is still alive. Please, please, PLEASE do not at any time let him go unsupervised! That is asking for disaster! You should either have the pig in his cage or in a play pen that is a safe area for your pig. On no occasion should you let your pig go unsupervised, no matter what, outside of his cage! There are just too many hazards, as you must know. If he has done this more than once, you are incredibly lucky. Never leave him out like that again. Find a suitable room you can close off for his playtime that is piggy-proofed, or else build/purchase a playpen. Those were too close of calls, please don't risk anything else happening! Good luck on the pig! =)

[Piglet]

Yep. I know its difficult to supervise all the time, so maybe you want to opt for a play pen? If you have a cubes and coroplast cage, your bound to have a few cubes left over. Make a small pen and ther you have it!

[Treen]

If you can't tuck the cables out of his reach, you could cover them - you can get reinforced plastic casing for it pretty cheaply. It only takes a few seconds of being distracted by the phone or the door for a pig to get in to trouble, so you need to pig proof any area he'll be allowed to roam free in to a basic level. You're very lucky your pig is still alive.

Here's a good page on pigproofing for floortime http://cavycages.com/floortime.htm.