Post by eppingstrider on Mar 2, 2008 21:50:53 GMT
I just thought I'd say a bit about the early days of my getting to know Fred & George.
First off - it was nearly Bear & Beaver. If you check out the Guinea Pig Rehome site (and search for pigs in Norfolk) from Nov 2007 to time of posting (early Mar 2008) then you'll find a lovely picture of this eighteen months old lilac boar and a six month old agouti cross. They were nearly mine last July but Bear developed a skin rash the day I came to take them home, so the Rescue wouldnt release him till it had cleared up.... but these little ginger boars had come in as well, six weeks old and ready to be rehomed - did I want them? I tell you, it was a difficult decision, and I still feel guilty that Bear & Beaver are still looking for a good home.
Anyway I took Fred & George home, and apart from one very loud WHEEK! when we were nearly there, they were much quieter than a mouse. I put them in their cage and then I didnt see them again! The books say let them settle in, and dont rush them, but they went into the cabin in the corner and didnt come out - and I couldnt even see in to see if they were ok! I didnt quite know what to do.
There is one book that suggests not giving them a cabin or hidey-hole so that they get used to people, but I didnt do that. I think the shelter that the rescue centre had, which was a child's toy table so it had a roof but no sides, might be a good halfway house.
Anyway, I managed to meet them again when I cleaned their cage, but eventually I took the cabin out and they had to make do with the grassy hutch and tunnels to hide in.
I didnt pick them up for the first few days, again, guided by the books, but I think that was a mistake - the difference between picking them up for a stroke and a routine check, and picking them up to be played with .... I was also quite nervous about picking them up as I hadnt had animals for a lot of years!
Eventually we got our act together - I still have to take all of the furniture out before I pick them up in the morning, but they are perfectly amenable to being picked up if they're on the floor or somewhere else (like the sink being bathed!).
And just lately they've started to come over and see me when I come up to the cage ...maybe the association with food has been made at last!
First off - it was nearly Bear & Beaver. If you check out the Guinea Pig Rehome site (and search for pigs in Norfolk) from Nov 2007 to time of posting (early Mar 2008) then you'll find a lovely picture of this eighteen months old lilac boar and a six month old agouti cross. They were nearly mine last July but Bear developed a skin rash the day I came to take them home, so the Rescue wouldnt release him till it had cleared up.... but these little ginger boars had come in as well, six weeks old and ready to be rehomed - did I want them? I tell you, it was a difficult decision, and I still feel guilty that Bear & Beaver are still looking for a good home.
Anyway I took Fred & George home, and apart from one very loud WHEEK! when we were nearly there, they were much quieter than a mouse. I put them in their cage and then I didnt see them again! The books say let them settle in, and dont rush them, but they went into the cabin in the corner and didnt come out - and I couldnt even see in to see if they were ok! I didnt quite know what to do.
There is one book that suggests not giving them a cabin or hidey-hole so that they get used to people, but I didnt do that. I think the shelter that the rescue centre had, which was a child's toy table so it had a roof but no sides, might be a good halfway house.
Anyway, I managed to meet them again when I cleaned their cage, but eventually I took the cabin out and they had to make do with the grassy hutch and tunnels to hide in.
I didnt pick them up for the first few days, again, guided by the books, but I think that was a mistake - the difference between picking them up for a stroke and a routine check, and picking them up to be played with .... I was also quite nervous about picking them up as I hadnt had animals for a lot of years!
Eventually we got our act together - I still have to take all of the furniture out before I pick them up in the morning, but they are perfectly amenable to being picked up if they're on the floor or somewhere else (like the sink being bathed!).
And just lately they've started to come over and see me when I come up to the cage ...maybe the association with food has been made at last!