[Gpdd] (BEHAVIOR) Re: Smart pigs & a reply to Pablo

[Stacy Harvey]

Debra,
I agree--guinea pigs are smarter than they are given
credit for. I have an anecdotal story myself:
I had a young pig, Felix (unexpectedly gone over the
Bridge this April) who would stand up on his hind legs
and beg for treats. I didn't teach him this, he
automatically started doing it when he was just a
baby. Anyhoo- my other pigs noticed Felix doing this
and, one by one, they all started standing on their
hind legs whenever I brought treats in--all 7 of them,
even my most stubborn pig and the fat Diva pig! I had
read somewhere that you could teach them to do this by
coaxing them up higher and higher until they were
standing on their own, basically, the old "dangling
carrot trick", but my little geniuses learned this all
on their own by observing the bahavior of another pig
in a seperate cage! I love these critters!
To Pablo,
I have a pig who sort of has this same thing; it looks
like the inside part of his eyelid is sticking out
(sort of like the stuffing coming out of a toy or a
pillow). He has had no problems with infection or
anything and it doesn't seem to be irritating him.
Peter Gurney refers to it as "fatty eye" and says that
it's more commonly seen in older pigs-though young
ones can have it too. My little Williepig is only a
year old, and I noticed it during his little
"adolescent growth spurt". Mr Gurney says this is
nothing to worry about and he's the guru. Hope this
helps.
-Stacy and the Squee Squad (Gizmo, Max, Serendipity,
Maxine, Teddy, Oscar and Williepig)

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing.
http://photos.yahoo.com/