Baldric the Begrimed and Befouled...

Baldric arrives - you can see that his mange hadn't resolved fully.

 It was March the 8th and along came Baldric - a 470gm bundle of scared, shy wee hoggie. He had been raised from toddlerhood by his rescuer who brought him to me to finish growing up as she was going away on holiday for 3 weeks. Baldric had; unfortunately, traveled to Hamilton in a large cardboard box on the back of a ute and he was traumatised and very subdued for his first week with us. However his true personality soon made itself very apparent - Baldric was actually a very cheeky, squirmy little man with a huge personality.

Baldric was cheekiness personified!

 Setting him up inside in a nice warm bedroom box over at Aunty Donna's Hoggie Hostel, Donna and I proceeded to worry about him for the first week or so as his weight fluctuated and he struggled to stabilise. He had been treated for mange, but to my eye he was far from clear of it. So we reintroduced regular oil baths and gave him more Advocat to ensure the mange was cleared from his system.

As his mange started to clear Baldric developed another skin issue. Within a 24 hour period he developed yeasty smelling 'cornflakes' all over his back. This was NOT good and I sent photos to Narelle for her perusal. We agreed that it looked fungal so I bagged up some pulled quills, along with samples of the 'cornflakes' and dropped them off at the vet's to have a fungal screen run. Whilst we waited for the results, I started treating Baldric with an antifungicide spray.

Look! My face is clear of mange now ...

 Prior to coming to us, Baldric had been raised in a cat carry cage. I don't approve of this practice as I believe; along with other issues, the space is too small. This was proven with Baldric. He had never had the space available to him to learn to  toilet away from his bed. Every other hog I've had - which have all had adequate space during their rehabilitation,  had toileted in a specific area of their crate/hutch/pen and always away from their bed. So, Baldric was a mucky little bloke - pooing and peeing where the fancy took him. Morning cleaning sessions were EPIC  in Baldricland! Messy little bugger!

All grown up and ready to leave home.

Once the fungal condition came under control, Baldric began piling on the weight and we moved him into an outside hutch at my place to start getting used to being in the great outdoors. Over that first week I weaned him off his heatpad and also the towels that he loved for his bedding. At first he wasn't impressed with that hay stuff but he soon got used to it - However, he did still go to the toilet in his bedroom and bed.

Who ME? Photobomb? NAH! Baldric's parting shot.

After a few weeks in the hutch - and once he had finished his fungal treatment, I moved Baldric into a pre release pen which had just been vacated by Bobbi. As the end of April approached his weight rose to the mid 800s and he was making it pretty clear he was ready to go.

April the 20th dawned sunny and warm and I decided that as Baldric's skin was still beautifully clear and he now weighed 880gms it was time for him to go. Quietly moving his bedroom box into the fernery, I said goodbye.

But, it wasn't to be goodbye at all!

Oh NO! Severe mange in my garden?

 Baldric stayed in the garden for over a week, then stayed away from home for one night before coming back for a night or two. This pattern continued with the absences getting longer and the sleepovers getting shorter each time.
 April the 23rd brought a bit of drama. When I did my usual 'Baldric' check I got a nasty surprise. There in the box was a filthy hog with what looked like a severe case of mange. I wasn't sure if it was Baldric but thought if it was, surely he couldn't have gotten mange so quickly and if it wasn't Baldric then I was in for a major mange detox in the garden and hog boxes. In a bit of a panic I took photos and emailed them to Narelle who initially thought it was mange as well, but once she had called me and we had discussed the situation she said she suspected it might be Baldric and that he was covered in poo!

Baldric's bath water.

We decided that giving this hoggie a bath would solve the mystery - if it washed off it was poo and was simply Baldric being his usual grimey self, and if it didn't wash off it was mange and I had a contaminated property.

So, bathtime insued!

As you can see from the bath water it was indeed Baldric and he was indeed covered in poo. It was disgusting .... what a grubby little shite! I was never so pleased to see poo in my life. After drying the little brat off I weighed him - he was now 960gms and was obviously thriving. I then put him back to bed after painting some of his quills with blue nail polish to make it easier to identify him in future, in the event we had another 'poofest!'

Baldric the Beautiful! 

The morning of May the 10th was a sad one for me as I had to have Chance - a hoggie that had been in care for 5 days, put to sleep. I came home from the vet's in a fragile state and decided to check the wild hog boxes, which hadn't been occupied for well over a week. Low and behold, one was occupied so I opened it up and there was a huge hoggie in it, fast asleep. I got it out and yes, it was Baldric. He now weighs 1031gms and is wonderfully healthy. I gave him a dose of Advocate, topped up his nail polish and put him back to bed feeling so much happier in myself and commended Baldric on his impeccable timing.