Meet Gino & Little pig (Piggies)

by BellaPickleFlopsyLily Tue Mar 04, 2014 9:58 pm

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I last posted. I am not a regular poster and have only posted a few times but thought I would introduce my latest additions to my piggy family.

For those who don't know I have 2 female piggies and 4 males. My girls are called Ruby & Daisy and they are 2 years old, my other male pair are called Edmondo & Jasper and they are also 2 years old and obviously I have Gino and Little pig (Giuseppe). My 2 girls and 2 of my boys live in a 4x4ft playhouse each per pair and Gino and Little pig currently live in a large indoor cage in my rabbit shed however this is just temporary.

Anyway, at the end of August last year I was asked to take on Gino who was formerly 'Bob', he had been unfortunately forgotten about and hadn't had the best life due to the owners lack of piggy knowledge and unwillingness to change and care. The poor boy was living in very filthy conditions his whole life with them, the hay was so old and manky that it was starting to rot and decompose. He had no fresh hay to eat at all, the run type accommodation that he was living in was on grass but as it was never moved he had no fresh stuff left to graze on and there was a huge buildup of poo which had been left so long it was going white. They never bothered to interact or give him and his former friend any attention.

Gino did have a friend at his old home who sadly was the unfortunate one who did not make it out and to experience the life he should of have. I feel so guilty for not intervening and doing something about it but I was in a awkward situation. I was asked to look after their pets at the end of July into August for the week and without any hesitation I agreed to look after them. In June of last year they asked me down to show me and give me an insight of the things I would need to do. I saw the piggies and the little white one was awfully thin - borderline anorexic. I was mortified as I have known the piggies for many years, I suggested to my 'friend' to take the poor thing to the vets as weight loss can indicate something quite serious. They chose not to take the poor pig to the vets and he sadly collapsed a few weeks later and passed away, although not peacefully at all. Instead of taking him to the vets after they found him in the collapsed state, they put him into a carrier and left him to die slowly over 3 hours. The least they could of done was took him to be put to sleep after all the suffering they made the poor thing endure.

A few months later I was looking after 'bob' now Gino while they were on holiday. He was so filthy that I cleaned him after just half an hour after they had set off. I can't explain to you how filthy and awful the conditions were, the smell was just foul. There were so many flies swarming round my poor boy, his grease gland was very mucky. He was very lucky to of escaped fly-strike given the filth he was living in and his grease gland. Anyhow I cleaned him out and tried to make the horrible set up a better environment for him as much as I could do, I brought down my own hay and veggies for him. I made sure that for the week he was under my care that I kept the setup as clean as I could and supplied him with all he needed. I made it obvious to the owners how clean he should be and what he should have when they got back.

4 weeks after looking after him , their youngest son comes to my door and asks "do you want bob?" and without any hesitation I of course said "yes". I was shaking so much and felt so anxious as I hadn't asked my parents although they were very understanding as they knew that he was not getting the care he deserved and needed where he was. Within 40 minutes I went down to collect him (they only live a 2 minute walk down the road), they had obviously asked me if I had wanted him before bothering to clean him out. If I had said no I doubt that they would of cleaned him for another few weeks. They were kissing him and saying "we love you bob" blah blah, I had to bite my lip. They never bothered to handle him.

I let him settle in for the night and the next morning I bathed him and cleaned his grease gland with swarfega and treated him with ivomec just in case of any possible parasites. He was so trusting of me , I think he must of knew that I was helping him and that he was going to live out his retirement they way he should of done his whole life. He quickly transformed from a shy, underweight, forgotten about piggy to a very confident healthy piggy who craves and adores attention. He is a real sweetheart with such a wonderful personality which wasn't discovered. I do not see him as the guinea pig they once owned at all, he is completely transformed.

Sorry for the very long post. I was then left in the predicament as to what to do regarding company for him as he had been alone for 2 months since losing his friend. Unfortunately as he is possibly 5-6 years old I felt that he was far too old to put through neutering however I did try and see what my male pair thought of him through a mesh divider. Although the first initial signs looked promising, it caused an upset with my pair resulting in them teeth chattering to each other for the next week and one biting the other and causing an abscess. Fortunately after treatment and them not having to see Gino again they did settle back to the close pair they once were. I have learnt my lesson there to leave boar pairs alone.

After 5 months alone and a long search to find a suitable friend I finally found a rescue with young neutered boars - that was Animal lifeline in Surrey. Unfortunately none of my local rescues had any boars in for match up at the time but we travelled 1 hour and 45 minutes to Animal Lifeline to chose Gino a friend from a group of 12 week old neutered males. Gino loved the car journey there and was very chilled, he loves his sleep. We picked a little black and cream crested piggy, the first introduction went well and as expected , Gino was chasing him about and mounting him. I think because he is neutered he must of assumed that he was female Laughing

. The journey home really helped the bonding process and the chasing and mounting finally died down after 48 hours. The mounting really tired Gino out what with being much older than Little pig (Giuseppe).

Enough of me rambling, I will now show you the happy pair. They have been together 7 weeks since the 12th January, They are the best of friends.

This is our Giuseppe aka Little pig who we adopted from Animal Lifeline. He must be around 4 and half months old now :
Meet Gino & Little pig (Piggies) DSC07907_zpsf2e57902