Lap Time: Santino's reaction to Barney being around during lap time.

[Heady]

Okay, this would be my second post. In the first post, I introduced myself (in the proper area) and mentioned that I have 2 pigs-Santino (2 yrs) and Barney (8 mths). I recently was given Barney by a friend on here and in real life and I got Santino on Sept 11th. I'm a new piggy mommy!

Prior to Barney, Santino was a lone gun. He had all of my attention during lap time and play time (floor time), etc... He was out of his cage either in my arms or with me on the floor more than he was in his cage. Today I felt that it was time to do a proper lap time with Barney for the first time. He's very skittish around me and I want him to be more relaxed with me like Santino is. I took both out of their cage (finally caught them!) and brought them over to the couch. I sat at one end while they explored the other end. I made a little hidey in the opposite corner of the couch with a blanket. Barney wouldn't come near me, so I figured I would bring him to my lap. I sat him there and made a ramp from my lap down to the couch using my arm. Santino was going up and down the "ramp" but Barney didn't budge. Just sat still making sounds.

I put Barney back down on the couch and he ran over to the hidey, so I decided to do what I did with Santino before Barney was with us...I layed on the couch on my side. Santino snuggled into my chest and fell asleep, but I made sure my head was against the hidey that Barney was in.

Barney eventually came out and started to come over to my neck and my chest and he was doing REALLY well until Santino woke up and chased Barney back into the hidey. Of course, after that, Santino came back to me, snuggled as close as possible and went back to sleep. Every time after, when Barney would come out and try to make contact with me, Santino chased him away.

I'm wondering, do I allow this behavior, or do I stop it? I feel bad for Barney because he was making an effort to get to know me, but it seemed as though Santino feels that mommy is "his" property and doesn't want Barney to be cuddled like he is. I was thinking of doing lap/cuddle time with just Barney alone. Leave Santino in the cage, and just cuddle with Barney, but I don't know if that would be fair to Santino. But at the same time, I don't know if what Santino is doing is fair to Barney. Ugh!!!!

I have beautiful and brilliant pigs, but Santino is my mama's boy, 100%. I want to get Barney to where he's not squeeking when being held and terrified if my hand comes to pet him.

Sorry if this is so long! I just wanted to cover all the details!

[PiggiePaws]

I would try holding Barney without Santino. You could also try giving him some veggies while holding him so that he learns to trust you more. I hold all of my pigs (I have four) seperately, so they can each get some cuddle time without having to worry about any of the other pigs.

He should warm up to you in time!

[Heady]

Thank you! I was so worried that it would be unfair to cuddle one at a time, that's why I took them both out for lap time.

I didn't really have to work hard with Santino to get him to trust me but the things I did when he was alone are the things I'm going with Barney now. I usually do veggie time during play time, but instead of putting a big plate of veggies in front of them, I hand feed them individual pieces (I take the veggies off the plate). Like I said, it didn't take Santino long to figure out that I'm a friend, but Barney is taking awhile. However, since I hand feed him his veggies during dinner time, I've noticed that he's starting to get better and last night he even allowed me to pet him during play/dinner time!!

I let Santino have at the plate now on his own, but I still feed Barney myself.

Is it possible, though, that Santino thought that the area next to me was "his" territory and that's why he wouldn't let Barney come over?

[JD In Van]

Some pigs are just skiddish. I give my nervious guy a big towel to hide in when he's on my lap. That way he sort of comes out on his own when he wants to. I also bribe him with treats once or twice a week (his favorite is apple).

[Heady]

You're right, and I think Barney still is. He's slowly coming around, though. Today was lap time again, and while I didn't do separate times for each pig, Barney was so different than last time. He was out the whole time and was even so bold as to climb onto my lap a few times because I wasn't giving him a tiny piece of carrot fast enough. Both of them were purring while being pet and Barney really didn't want to hide today. It was nice to love on both of them, knowing that they enjoyed it!