Pigaloos.
If you want your new guinea pig to bond with you and your family, do not put a pigaloo in the cage. Or, at least, take it out of the cage during the day or when you are home. If the pig has a place to hide, he or she will always retreat to the safety of their hiding place rather than learning that you and your family are big, harmless food delivery systems. The more you handle your new pig, the more quickly he or she will bond.
I do use a variety of shelters in my cages, especially when introducing a new pig to the caviary to minimize the stress of the move. But I don't recommend them for most folks.
If you have a pig question, please let me know in the comments or drop me an email and I'll try to post an answer if I know the answer.
I truely do not get why you think Pigloos shouldn't be used. Cavies are prey animal, and when scared want a place to hide, and relieve their stress, and nap, sleep, and just plain get away from another pig. Mine are just as friendly and everyone has a shelter, some have Pigloos, cardboard boxes, etc, all the time. I've seen plently of pigs without Pigloos or shelter that are really scared. Step Stools work great too, just as long as the pigs have somewhere to go.
It's a myth that pigs wit shelters are more scared and freak outed than pigs without shelters; it could probably be the opposite, since pigs with shelters feel more secure, and they can actually feel safe napping and sleeping. I'd much rather advise people to use those shelters, because everyone wants privacy, including pigs. Either way, Tameness and Bravery depends on the indivual pig and how much attention and handling they have had. Even if they get tons of handling, some pigs are just always skittish, and not having a shelter to retreat into just makes things worse for them!
Pigloos and Shelters are a saint, and pigs should have them, and by having them does NOT mean they are more scared or skittish than other pigs; likewise, it's all about their personality, and how much attention and handling they have gotten, especially when they were younger.
Posted by: SK | October 28, 2006 at 09:53 AM
Well we are each entitled to our opinions based on our experience. As I mentioned in my article, I do use shelters, especially with new animals, or ones that are highly strung. But I have also seen that the use of pigaloos and other shelters can become an issue when housing boars together. Our pigs that come right up to the door of the cage and eat out of our hands and allow us to scoop them up for a snuggle or some grooming are the ones who have never had a pigaloo. The ones that we have to chase around the cages in order to catch, well, they are the ones that like to hide.
Soemthing else that we do here is that whenever we get an especially nice litter of babies, we put mom and babies in a smaller cage and bring the whole thing into the kitchen. Babies get tons of handling; mom gets lots of treats; we can keep a close on them for problems; and those babies are always hands down, the tamest pigs we see.
Posted by: Michele | October 28, 2006 at 01:43 PM
I agree and also give out the no-pigloo advice. It works great for my herd.
Cavies have two defensive instincts: flight or freeze. You want (juniors) them to pick the latter so you can hand-treat them or scoop them up for gentling. With a hidey-hole they choose to escape and dragging them out of their burrow is scarier than scooping them up in the open.
With a cage of sows, I find the lower-ranking sows will hide in the shelter and the top sow can trap them (due to their choosing to freeze since there's no where else to run to) and nip them while they just sit there screaming. Loose sows, on the other hand, learn to flee. Once out of Top Pig's face, she leaves underlings alone.
A pregnant sow will always choose to hide in and give birth in the shelter. So you have to turn them out often to check on them. Then when they have babies, the babies are more apt to be trampled or not cleaned off (and maybe suffocate in the sac) as there's less room in the shelter.
I DO use pigloo shelters for older already couch-potato-tame pigs, and pigs I've bought as adults for breeding who are psycho from non-socialization and always will be. The pigloo makes them feel secure because they flee from EVERYTHING. Noises that will make a home-bred pig pause to drr then continue chewing! Sure, in a one-pig home they could eventually calm, but I can't spend that much time on them. My time is better spent socializing babies that will become pets and show pigs for others. These are the ones who do best without shelters.
And Michelle, add me to your links? The Shire Cavies <http://Shirefolk.net>
Posted by: Shelley Manley | October 31, 2006 at 12:23 PM
Great points Shelley,
I also think that in terms of breeding, a more timid or easily bullied boar will give up chasing a sow sooner if she is always ducking into the pigaloo.
Finally, some pigs will use the pigaloo as a bathroom as well as a hiding place, and that gets disgusting.
Posted by: Michele | October 31, 2006 at 01:53 PM
I might add that a few psycho sows I've bought I will let have a shelter, because they will never change and could have a heart attack running in terror when, say, I walk into the room at feeding time. I rarely even pick these sows up, but I will supplementally hand-feed their babies who always turn out calm and inquisitive. I've never bred or raised a sow like that. I can only assume some people never touch or approach their pigs.
Posted by: Shelley Manley | November 16, 2006 at 02:31 PM