[Gpdd] [BEHAVIOUR] Taming timid baby

[DebJonSara at aol.com]

Here I am, a gpdd veteran who has dealt with almost 50 guinea  pigs since my 
first introduction to them in 2002, and I find myself at a loss! 
 
You may remember Zebra's brother, Cannelletto, died from pneumonia last  
autumn, leaving him alone in his cage. He lived end on with Fidget and Scrabble  
all winter, with occasional visits which unfortunately occasionally resulted in 
 wounds, but now Scrabble and Fidget have moved to their summer quarters 
outside,  and Zebra doesn't have a hutch, so although his run is next door to 
Fidget and  Scrabble's during fine days, he is spending time alone in his cage.
 
So, I advertised locally for a baby boy companion, and on Saturday became  
slave to a beautiful 3 week old ginger boy. I did have a name all lined up, but  
now I have met him, it will have to be a different name which reflects the 
speed  at which he avoids all contact with me! So far it's between Scoot, Zip 
and PGV  (Pig Grande Vitesse!) - let me know if you know a better one!
 
I realise now that all the babies I have known were born here and handled  
daily from birth, and so were very tame. I don't think this one has been handled 
 much, and he is terrified! Other terrified pigs I have known have frozen 
when  held, but this little fellow wants to shoot out of my hands as fast as his  
little legs will carry him! So far the only way I have got him to stay in  
contact with me is to let him run up my sleeve! He will not eat whilst held, or  
come out to eat in my presence - in fact, I have not seen him eat anything 
but  grass, on the lawn. 
 
Zebra has rumblestrutted at him a lot and sniffed his rear end very  
thoroughly several times, but I have seen no aggression or teeth chattering and  they 
share a box most of the time, although there are 2 boxes at their  disposal. I 
know Peter Gurney advises against boxes if one wants tame piggies,  but as a 
person who values my own privacy I am unwilling to deny it to others,  and I 
have never found it makes piggies less tame.
 
He will not be 4 weeks old until Thursday, but was weaned, ie eating  dry 
mix, grass and hay, when he left his mum - his brother and male cousin  (sexed by 
me) have also been removed from their mums, because the owners do not  want 
more babies - they bought 2 baby females at a jumble sale, only to find  they 
were both pregnant! He weighs 222g. Is he too young/small to be  thrust in with 
an adult boar? Zebra is our most sociable pig where humans  are concerned - a 
face licker - so I have had both out on my lap at salad time  in the hope 
little one will learn from Zebra's example. But it is hard to learn  when you are 
up someone's sleeve, and although I stuffed loads of food up  the sleeve 
(like you do!), none was eaten - he was just terrified, I could feel  the little 
heart pounding. It may be relevant that his mum and auntie were the  smallest 
adults I have ever seen - they looked like babies themselves! So little  chap 
will never have seen such a big piggie.
 
Am I expecting too much too soon? I was hoping this baby would become as  
tame as Zebra. What should I be doing that I'm not? Am I doing  something wrong?  
I seem to recall that older piggies I took on when  my 5 were killed by dogs 
became more tame by me feeding salad through the bars  of the cage - but they 
were not as young as this one, and they are not as tame  as Zebra or Soulage, 
my most handled piggies. Also, they had safety in  numbers.
 
All advice gratefully received! I will post a photo of him once a name has  
been decided on, and of course, keep you posted!
 
 
Debbie (and the currently 14 Dolly Mixtures, though I fear Claude will not  
be with us much longer)
 
"The animal  shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete 
than ours they  move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the 
senses we have lost or  never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. 
They are not brethren,  they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught 
with ourselves in the  net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour 
and travail of the  earth". 

Henry Beston