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Small pets

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Original poster

Help Guinea Pig has escaped

14 replies

Tommetipsy · 17/08/2013 12:40

I am at my mum's four hours from home and DH has just rung to say one of the guinea pigs has gone. They were both in the outdoor run and now there is only one pig in there. DH can't see any holes or obvious places where a cat could have got in or that piggy could have got out.

I've said to him to put one of their sleep houses in the garden filled with hay and some carrots to see if that tempts Harry back. Rose is already back safe in the indoor cage.

He's checked with the neighbours and they are on the look out.

Is there anything else he should do? I want to get in the car now but my mum is poorly after an op so cant leave her.

Any advice would be massivley appreciated, thank you.

OP posts:

Meglet · 17/08/2013 12:47

Tear up some fresh parsley, it has a strong scent and mine used to go mad for it.

Arisbottle · 17/08/2013 12:49

Rustle a bag, out out parsley.

Ours are free range and always come home when they want to sleep or get fed.

Original poster

Tommetipsy · 17/08/2013 12:53

Thank you, will get DH to put some parsley out.

Am terrified a cat somehow got him. There are so many of the buggers round here.

Feeling really helpless hundreds of miles away here.

OP posts:

guineapiglet · 17/08/2013 13:57

Hi there, keeping everything crossed that he will reappear. One of ours disappeared and was under the shed for several hours, no idea how she got under there, but worth checking all the unexpected places just in case. Tell him to keep outside and keep shouting his name over and over again, and try and leave lots of shelters around for him to safely run to.

It sounds odd, but it is worth checking bushes and large shrubs as well - one of our girls got herself well and truly stuck inside a massive lemon balm of all things, and really couldnt get out at all. IF he is used to your voices, all you can do is let your husband keep checking, calling and shaking the hay bag, - anything familiar which means he will hear and want to return. It is very odd if there is no obvious escape route or hole, but they are very good escapologists, so do hope he returns safely :)

Original poster

Tommetipsy · 17/08/2013 14:06

Harry is back!!! DH said he looked out kitchen window and there he was sat on the grass. Was a bugger to catch but safe and sound back with his brother.

Thank you everyone for your advice and help.

One very relieved guinea pig mum here...

OP posts:

guineapiglet · 17/08/2013 14:10

Wonderful news!!
Really glad to hear he has returned.

Where has he been??
Who did he speak to?
How did he get out??

The exciting secret life of guineas revealed with a bribe of parsley!!

for your dh

Arisbottle · 17/08/2013 14:11

Hooray, I thought he would come back , as I said ours always do

Original poster

Tommetipsy · 17/08/2013 14:18

DH said his brother wheeked like crazy when he saw him. Harry was silent and stoical revealing nothing so far...

OP posts:

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 17/08/2013 15:56

Just saw this thread (been shopping with my human baby -11 yo DD) so missed all the drama.

Little blighter Harry. How the dickens did he get out?
If there's no gaps/holes then he might have sloped off while they were being put out to play? Or is the ground uneven and there was a small gap?

Good to know he's safe

Original poster

Tommetipsy · 17/08/2013 16:50

70 i am not sure since DH was in charge but I reckon you are right about the small gap. Our lawn is uneven in places and I suspect DH has not noticed this when he put the run out.

The grass is pretty long at the moment so would have been hard to see when the run was put down I think.

All the neighbours were out looking in their gardens for Harry!

Harry aka Mr Nibbles is DD1's pig and she was so calm about the whole thing bless her. She said she knew he would come back. I was bricking it that the sleekit cat from up the road had somehow got him...

OP posts:

FernieB · 17/08/2013 19:07

Only just seen this thread - so pleased Harry's back safely. Hope your mum's recovering well.

fortifiedwithtea · 17/08/2013 20:41

Oh my what a drama, I would have been bricking it too

Stern words for Harry. They can limbo under surprisingly small gaps. If their heads will go their little round bums will follow. Its very deceiving. As I found out when Fatimus sow did a limbo to get to my old boar.

If you have or can get hold of a few spare house bricks, they are ideal for blocking up gaps.

Brilliant outcome, Harry safe and sound . Hope your mum has a speedy recovery.

Original poster

Tommetipsy · 17/08/2013 20:54

DH said after looking at the run again that there was a bit where the wood was ever so slightly warped. I bet that is where Harry Haribo squeezed under.

Thanks for the good wishes for my mum. I think the Harry drama actually took her mind off things for a bit though!

DH said he couldn't believe Harry was gone and he kept turning their hidey houses over thinking he would magically reappear. Funny now but he was absolutely bricking it at the time.

OP posts:

MadeOfStarDust · 18/08/2013 08:50

you could "bucket train" them - we do that with ours (the breeder told us he had started) - when you put them out or put them back, you take them there in a brightly coloured bucket. You leave the bucket on it's side in a place near cover - with a wall/fence or something covering most of the entrance...

a) if they escape they gravitate to the bucket
b) when it is time to go back in the hutch, they trot into the bucket - no chasing or fishing them out.

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