Meet Barley, our cute but socially inept guinea pig

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Cinnabuns Legacy

Post   » Thu Aug 16, 2012 3:30 pm


Thank you for taking him in. He is such a gorgeous little guy, too.

All I can suggest is to just give him time, if possible or necessary move him to a quiet room, provide plenty of hiding places. Our boy Alistair was very skittish when we first adopted him from a shelter. We put his cage in the bedroom and it was next to my fiance's chair, so during the day we would sit there and calmly talk to him and offer fresh vegetables. Now he is one of our tamest cavies, and will even eat pellets right out of my hand (none of the others, even the extremely social Cinnabun, will do this; if I open the cage and stick my hand in they move away and their "prey animal instinct" kicks in). He rarely feels the need to hide, and usually only hides behind the fleece hides if he's wanting to sleep. It took a couple of years, and a lot of patience and veggie bribes, or him to get this tame though.

3LittleMen

Post   » Thu Aug 16, 2012 5:27 pm


I seriously want to pignap Barley. ;-)

He sounds a lot like Marshmallow. I found him in a box outside of work one day and he's also a big man (well over 1000g). It's been nearly 2 years, and he's still a spazmo. He does fine with floor time and lap time with the other pigs and snuggles with them. But, I've tried to introduce him to the cage with the three neutered boars and it was the same situation you have, and the constant loud noises and scurrying were making me crazy.

He lived with Cal, my heart pig, who was a dominant pig and was very sweet with him. Marshmallow really loved his older brother. When he passed away, he sank into such a funk.:-( My mom and I decided to adopt a pig from Critter Corral, and it turns out she's also a spazmo, and the two of them play "whack a mole" with their houses and run around like maniacs to their hearts content. They really complete each other. ;-)

How is Barley with people? Marshmallow is a people pig and likes to rest his big lips on our lips and cheeks and nibble/kiss us lol.

TwoWhitePiggies

Post   » Thu Aug 23, 2012 1:39 am


Because Barley did really well with Milo, we tried giving them some floor time together tonight just so that Barley could run around and have some supervised playtime. He went bonkers and attacked Milo, who now has a booboo.

Also, you know the velociraptors in Jurassic Park? And the scary part where you realize they are smart and can problem-solve? Well, Barley is a velociraptor. He's been testing the cage divider and figured that that the zip-ties are instrumental at holding the divider in place. He's been working on them.

It's painful to watch. He wants to be with the other pigs but he has no sense of appropriate interaction. He does really well with people. I'm actually thinking of building a cage at work and taking him with me a few days a week. He really needs a lot of stimulation or he gets bored. And as we're discovering, a bored Barley is a naughty Barley.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:49 am


He sounds like a real character! I wish he was better socially!

TwoWhitePiggies

Post   » Sun Sep 29, 2013 12:47 pm


I just wanted to share a big Barley update!

We lost Frost on New Year's Day to cancer. Barley and Milo have been side-by-side neighbors ever since. We moved into a new house where they have their own room, and in the evenings, they have been getting supervised floor time and doing pretty well.

During the past few weeks, we noticed Milo and Barley both acting a little down after putting them back in their separate cages, so, on a day when TWP_2 and I were both home to check in on them, we took out the divider to see what would happen.

What we have now are two happy piggies. Barley and Milo have been together for about a week and are doing just fine. Yaaay!

Image

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Sun Sep 29, 2013 1:28 pm


I'm so sorry about Frost. But happy story for Milo & Barley!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Sep 29, 2013 7:58 pm


Oh, I am so glad things are working out for Milo and Barley, TwoWhitePiggies!

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Bethie
Still supporting in 2014

Post   » Sun Sep 29, 2013 8:17 pm


I'm so glad to hear the Barley has figured out how to be a friend!

slavetofuzzy
4 the Good of all Pigs

Post   » Sun Sep 29, 2013 8:41 pm


Yay for friends! I love it when boars decide it's better to have a buddy.

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GP_mum
Supporter in '13

Post   » Sun Sep 29, 2013 10:46 pm


Great to hear that they're getting along.

TwoWhitePiggies

Post   » Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:56 am


Barley's still an enthusiastic pig, but he's much less obnoxious about it. At least he's finally learned that not all pigs like having their butts sniffed and poked at constantly.

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AldenM1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:06 am


Boarly couples make me so happy. Good job, Barley!

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