The Story of Two Little Wheekers
Yup! The only way to tell them apart is that Faye has some black over her left eye, and is slightly smaller and skinnier than Cookie, with a little less yellow on her back.
Cookie and Faye still haven't been adopted. I've checked in on them a few times, and they seem to have settled in pretty well. Our shelter currently has 26 pigs, including some more "adoptable" pigs (Abyssinians, babies, super friendly pigs, etc.), so I have a feeling that they may be at the shelter for a little while longer. This time of year is particularly busy for them, as a lot of people decide to surrender their small animals instead of finding someone to take care of them over the holidays. The pair of PEW boars that came in late September still haven't been adopted.
Cleo and Charity, on the other hand, are doing well. However, they've seemed a little bored lately. Charity gets mental stimulation from the occasional trick training session, but since Cleo hates learning tricks, I've been struggling to figure out how to keep her mind stimulated. She's a particularly lazy pig, but the good thing is that she loves veggies. The girls have an all-natural woven ice cream cone toy that they recently (after it hung on the side of their cage for weeks) decided they wanted to rip up. Part of the toy was two woven vine balls, with openings on one side. I've been cutting their bell peppers up into smaller pieces and stuffing them into the vine balls. The girls have to push the balls with their noses to get the veggies to fall out, and I've definitely noticed that they've seemed much happier.
A few years ago, I heard from a friend about another way to have them work for their veggies. She used a shoelace and tied it tightly to some grids, high enough that the pigs wouldn't be able to reach it. Then, using small binder clips, she hung their pieces of lettuce from the shoelace, so they would have to reach up to eat the lettuce. I haven't tried it myself, but I thought I would mention it to see if anyone else has.
Cleo and Charity, on the other hand, are doing well. However, they've seemed a little bored lately. Charity gets mental stimulation from the occasional trick training session, but since Cleo hates learning tricks, I've been struggling to figure out how to keep her mind stimulated. She's a particularly lazy pig, but the good thing is that she loves veggies. The girls have an all-natural woven ice cream cone toy that they recently (after it hung on the side of their cage for weeks) decided they wanted to rip up. Part of the toy was two woven vine balls, with openings on one side. I've been cutting their bell peppers up into smaller pieces and stuffing them into the vine balls. The girls have to push the balls with their noses to get the veggies to fall out, and I've definitely noticed that they've seemed much happier.
A few years ago, I heard from a friend about another way to have them work for their veggies. She used a shoelace and tied it tightly to some grids, high enough that the pigs wouldn't be able to reach it. Then, using small binder clips, she hung their pieces of lettuce from the shoelace, so they would have to reach up to eat the lettuce. I haven't tried it myself, but I thought I would mention it to see if anyone else has.
Charity turned 5 this month. In the years since I first adopted her and Cleo, she's changed so much that it's hard to believe that she's the same pig. I can't believe she's already 5. She has so much personality, and she never fails to bring a smile to my face.
Now that I can't bring Charity in to get her nails trimmed (our shelter does them for free, and she had some issues with biting when I used to cut them myself), I've been doing it at home. I was expecting it to not go well, but she did great! I had Cleo out with her at first, to help her calm down, and then I put Cleo back and slowly cut her nails. She was too scared to eat the veggies I offered for her, but there was no biting or protesting, other than sometimes trying to pull her feet away.
- ItsaZoo
- Supporter in 2023
Mine has a wiggle fit as well but I can usually get it done without a bite. She waits until I pick her up and then bites my shirt, so all my around-the-house clothes look like they have moth holes.
I never thought about pet grooming but now I’m glad I clip the dog at home. He has thick fur that grows fast so he needs lots of trims.
I never thought about pet grooming but now I’m glad I clip the dog at home. He has thick fur that grows fast so he needs lots of trims.