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Bonding How Do I Bond With Her?

PiggieMama07

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Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Posts
18
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
18
I've had Raina for a couple months and nothing seems to work. She lost her sister and is a bit depressed but her new piggie friend will help with that. (New one is in quarantine.) She doesn't like being picked up, she doesn't like being held, she doesn't like hand feeding, or floor time. I call her a nervous energy pig. Her sister would help coax her to do stuff but now... I have no idea what to do. I'm still pretty new at this.
 

BeckieL

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Mar 24, 2017
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Mar 24, 2017
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I read that you really need to give them many months to get comfortable, and depending on the pig it could take 6 months or more. What I read suggested getting the pig used to your voice and your presence, then working up to hand feeding (using her most favorite treats maybe?). GPs naturally assume anythign up over them is a predator so it takes a while to get them past that. I put my non-feeding hand in the cage next to the pig and just leave it there. After a week I finaly started tryign to gently rub his cheek or under his chin using one finger of my hand that was palm-up on the floor of the cage. He seems very comfortable with my hands as long as they are down on the floor of his cage. Recently he's allowed my son and me to both pet him while he's being fed.

I also found a less stressful way to pick up my pig (i used to chase him around the cage to "grab him". Now I have a pvc pipe valve and when he goes in it, I cover the ends and lift him out the pvc pipe and then tip him into my hands. I think he's adapting to us better now that he doesn't associate us with the panic of being chased around the cage to be picked up.
 

RodneyLuv30

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Apr 1, 2017
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Wow I didnt know it could take up to 6 months. I've only had my boy for 2 weeks and although I've seen progress I was hoping the process would be quicker. But that does seem more realistic since he is still pretty scared of us and will only let me hold him for a few minutes. I'm working on the one hand feeding, one hand petting scenario now so I'll try your way [MENTION=39415]BeckieL[/MENTION]. Thanks for the tip.
 
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