Behavior Picking up new girl, and she snaps at me?!?

[Hollyberries008]

So we picked up our new lady piggy today. She's 1 years old, and we have her in the cage she came in until we have the quarantine over with. When i picked her up at the girls house she took her out and i held her, and we held her when we got home and made up the cage. We put her in there gave her some hay and veggies, and I just went to try and take her out, and she snapped at me!! :weepy:

Now I'm still fairly new to this as i've only been a owner now for a few months, but I've had in total 5 pigs and none have done this. I know my boys, and Meena my other girl still get excited when i try to pick them up, but they have never snapped at me. I'm scared to try it again. Is this something that will pass once she gets used to us, or has she been mistreated? I'm sure she's scared, and it's a new place, and needs to get used to us, but i figured she was ok since she was ok with us while we held her before, and being with people for the last year. I'm ok with waiting to hold her, but i'm just scared she will be like this forever. I will give her some time. Anyone have this with their pigs before? When i put my finger up to her nose she sniffs, and gently bites a little. Maybe a hard one, or two, but nothing that opens skin.

Also with Meena being only 5 months old is that going to be an issue when it's time to introduce them together?

Thanks for your time all!

 

[sarahspins]

Not all pigs really like to be picked up - it doesn't necessarily mean that she's been mistreated. I have two 2 1/2 month old babies that were born here and one of them actually BITES when you try to pick her up (she's mostly okay when you are holding her though), but they've never had anything bad happen to them and they've been handled regularly since birth. The worst the babies have had done is getting combed since they are longhaired (which is not traumatic, but they do not like it) - but I actually just trimmed my biter really short yesterday so she can avoid being brushed for a while and I won't have to handle her as much - see if some "time off" helps.

I would just give her some space - moving homes is stressful, and I am sure she's quite afraid.

 

[Hollyberries008]

Thank you. I'm just trying to not take it personally lol. I've just been sitting there talking to her right now. Feeding her a carrot, or a cucumber. Just never seen it with the others. They've all been so friendly, and cuddly from the start. Must of got lucky with those pig's

 

[sarahspins]

BTW, I've found the easiest way to pick up my scaredy-pig is to coax her into something, and pick that up... oddly enough once she's out of the "safety" of her cage she settles down.

 

[C. Cole-Chakotay]

I also have a 'snapper'. To get her from the cage, I herd her into a critter carrier and carry her to wherever we want to go. I don't think I could pick her up in her cage if I tried. She's good about letting me get her from the critter carrier.

 

[pinky]

I have a female that also snaps. She's nervous by nature and doesn't like being pet. Sometimes I can use my pointer finger and slowly pet her on her head. If I have her on my lap, I can pet her but you can tell she's nervous. If I try and pick her up without her seeing what I'm doing, she'll turn and quickly bite. All I know about her background is that she was found in an aquarium in an empty apartment. I assume she wasn't treated well. She occasionally nips at one of her cagemates but is calmer than she used to be.

 

[Nicolene]

My first pigger was one I found abandoned in a park, needless to say, that in and of itself is mistreatment and it showed. He was a angry, snappy pig who drew my blood often in the first months. Tonight he napped on my shoulder... purred when I scratched behind his ear and if the most splendid pig you can imagine. Of course he runs away when I try to pick him up, but then again, he's a prey animal, so I can't blame him. But I can say, it takes months, but you can help her calm down. I would say the most important thing is to hold her often, for short whiles, near her cage (don't try to walk around with her, it freaks them out).

And you know what, I still have those gardening gloves (to lessen the severity of the bites) we bought at the dollar store and used in the early days, I keep them as a reminder of our progress.

Good luck!

 

[Hollyberries008]

Thank you all! I was actually wondering about gloves, but i didn't want the gloves to freak her out more. But i'll will look into getting some because right now i can't even get her picked up. The cage she's in doesn't help much, but i think the gloves will work.

And thank you to the mod that edited the post