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New Foster Pigs Now with PHOTOS!!
#11
I really admire you and others that give foster care to pets. I would get too attached to any animals to give them up. I'm so glad to hear that animals of all kinds get spayed and neutered. I'm sure that your boys will do well.
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#12
You have to love an admire the angelsAngel I mean foster parents who give their time and love to a pet to bring it out of its shell. Just when all the care is starting to pay off they give that pet up to another family to love and cherish.
Pet Foster Parents we salute you.Heart



Cibach, I think your pellets must be very different. Mine get weird if they get wet and the piggies wouldn't eat them.
I don't have the bag because I transfer the whole thing to a secure storage container. Next time I shop, I will look at what is in the mix.

I might try a few dried peas and beans and see if the piggies like them
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Catherine

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#13
The rescue I volunteer at always has a large number of piggies waiting for their forever homes. If I could I would have them all, but that is completely unrealistic and I'd probably end up as someone they need to be rescued from!!
Cuddling them all every week and bringing a few into my home for fostering helps to assuage the need to rescue them all. Also the thought of the potential vet bills!!
When I foster, I have to think of it as looking after a friend's animals for a short time, much as you might take care of a friend's cat or dog when they go on holiday. Of course some of these holidays go on for weeks, but the principle is the same. I do get attached, but I know that they will move on to a good home.
Sometimes the fostering fails, i.e. they don't go back.
My three piggies at the moment all started out as fosterlings.
Marigold and Ruby were with us for a month while Marigold weaned her babies. Ruby was one of the babies, there were 2 other girls. When they returned to the rescue the other 2 girls were rehomed together within days but for some reason My 2 weren't. They were there for 6 weeks without anybody being interested in them and I found it both surprising and upsetting. My girls deserved a good home as much as any of the others. Life at the rescue is good, and often far, far better than where they came from, but it isn't the same as being in a family home.
So after 6 weeks I decided that my girls should come home, and they have been with us ever since. That was 5 years ago.
Our other pig, Cecil, was also a foster. He was terrified of all piggies, especially boars, and all people. He spent his life in a state of panic.
His best chance of a home was to be neutered and be introduced to some gentle ladies. He was far too fearful to tolerate the handling involved in his recovery from neutering and the fear was that his fear would get the better of him and he would give up or have a heart attack. He came to stay to help him get over his fear of people so he could have the surgery. During his stay, he and I became very attached. He responded very well to me and I was afraid that if he returned to the rescue he would see it as being abandoned. When he was calm enough he had his surgery and he began to take an interest in our girls, who lived on the other side of the room. Once he had served his waiting time, he was introduced to our girls and they all live happily together in a large pen in our sitting room.
So not ALL foster piggies go back, but the vast majority do. I see the occasional adoption as my reward for giving all the others back!! If I'd kept them all, well, there'd be no room for me and my human family!!

Catherine, the pellets we use soften when wet and if you add enough water they become porridge like. The pellety bits in the muesli don't react like this and stay hard and unyielding.
I suppose every country will have it's own manufacturers and ideas as to what makes good pet food. All our creatures seem to do well all the same.
Greeting from Wales.
Hwyl Fawr o'r Cymru.
This is the web site of the rescue I volunteer at.
http://guinearescue.blogspot.co.uk/
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#14
I see how it works. I remember Marigold being a foster while she had her babies. I can see why you took her back when she didn't find a home.
I know the fostering system really helps transitions pets to new homes. It sounds like you keep the ones that just don't make it. They are unable to move on or no one seems to want them. Cecil wouldn't have done well without fostering. You have given him a full life. He probably would have died of stress long ago.

I sometimes board small animals like bunnies and guinea pigs. I get attached, but I always knew they were going home. It is a similar thing. But when the people did not come back for their hamster, I just kept it.

I am sure you are always watching the fosters for that special one that you get to keep. That is the reward isn't it.
I give up my baby snakes to go as pets, but I get to keep anything special(I define special). I look after tons of animals at the reptile centre, but I get to take home anything damaged or handicapped.

You and I let the healthy well adjusted ones go to regular homes.

My pellets are a mix of grain and alfalfa, but I don't remember what else. My piggies love it dry. I must remember that it can be turned to mush if I have a sick piggie to feed. They really like the pellets and eat quite a bit. My hay supply is timothy and it is from a special organic farm that produces hay for small pets. They throw in organic apple twigs from their farm. The piggies love to chew on them. It is a local farm so it is near and it supports a local industry. I am really lucky that I can get such good supplies.
[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]
Catherine

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