Category: Animal House
Okay, I might as well start running a pot-bellied pig rescue as I seem now to have a small herd here now. On thursday night at about midnight, the newest piggy arrived. She's a pure mini potbelly, not fixed female, and about 2 years old, and fully litter trained. Her name is Sophie and weighs around lb30, which is excellent for her age. Most people never do their research before getting this breed and think they can feed a pig anything. Well, that's pretty much true with market pigs, but not with pot-bellies as they get too fat and their legs are so short that they then develope arthritis. And, you think exercising and dieting is hard for some people? Try getting weight off a pig that's used to being fed everything under the sun!
Most experts say to puppy-proof your house before a new pup, but pig-proofing is a bit more extensive. Plus a pig should not be left to roam freely when you're not home. No, don't try to kennel your piggy, but try to place it in one single room while you're gone. Pigs like to root and so a pile of old towels and blankets are a must unless you want your carpet ripped up. You need to pick up anything dangerous as some pigs will mouthe and root on anything such as small shells, anything highly breakable, leather. Pigs also like house plants either for the dirt or to try to eat the plant itself. Many plants can be poisonous, so supervise your pig if it wanders into a room with plants.
Pigs are social and, yes, clean. You can fairly easily train a pot-bellied pig by using raisins. Give the piggy a raisin everytime you see it using the litterbox correctly and very soon it realizes that this is good thing. You can discourage your piggy from biting or side-swiping to use its eye-teeth by tapping it smartly on the bridge of its snout, the most sensitive place on a pig. Yes, you can leash train your pig and teach it to sit, but remember pigs are motivated by food and not so much by prais like dogs. However, don't use chips and junk for training. Use a single raisin at a time since these are sweet and small.
Feed your pig a pelleted diet of pot-bellied pig food that is specially made for this type of pig. If you feed your pig regular pig food, it will become fat since this is specially made to put weight on market pigs as fast as possible. Depending on the age of your pig, and you want to get one that is at least 6 weeks, its food diet may very. For very young pigs you can mix a half cup of pig food with some warm milk to encourage it to eat. Make sure you buy the bag of food that is formulated for baby pigs. As your piggy grows, you quit giving it the milk and just feed hard food, usually a full cup in the morning, 1 cup in the evening, and cut up fruits and vegies around lunchtime.
Yes, you can bathe your pig, but if you don't know where to get the shampoo made for pigs, use Johnson's baby shampoo. Start very young just placing your piggy in a small ammount of water in the tub. If it gets nervous, try putting a towel in the tub so its hooves don't slide around. Some pigs really love it and will play in the water and blow bubles, others will tolerate it. However, you must keep your pig, especially a young one, warm after its bath. Hold it wrapped in a towel until its dry or you can try blow drying it on the low setting.
Pigs are relatively healthy. They aren't prone to getting fleas as they really don't have fur and their hide is too thick. Yes, they can be bothered by flies around their ears and eyes if outside. They can get skin mites or dry skin, but this is easily treated. Yes, they do need their hooves trimmed and this is recommened to be done by a vet. You also will want to get your pig fixed. Most reputable breeders will fix the males right after birth, but you need to find a vet that knows this breed in order to get females fixed.
Yes, your pig can go outside with supervision in the summer months and I hope you have a fenced yard as chasing a stuborn piggy around your house to get it back in can be frustrating.
You should, if you live in the city, make sure your city allows these pets as they can be considered exotics or even livestock.
Pigs generally won't care about other animals and most aren't food protective. However, both the male and females do have very sharp eyeteeth. The eye teeth on a male pig can grow out and become tusks with wich they use to fight other males or for digging. It is highly recommended that you have your vet remove these. Though the teeth on a female are generally short and don't protrude from the mouth, if the pig oppens its mouth slightly and whipps its head sideways, you can get a sharp point in your finger.
Never keep your pot belly out in a barn unless its heated and has good insolation of hay and straw. Most people only do this if they're breeding. Pigs do not survive cold weather outside and I mean temps below F40DG. These are house pets and should be treated as such.
Remember to always go to the breeder. Never meet someone with a piggy somewhere. You want to see the parents to get a good idea of what your pig might look like full grown. Also, you can, if its a really good breeder, get papers on your pig and register it with the national pot-belly pig association, but this really isn't important unless you plan on showing your pig or breeding.
There are several breeds of pot-bellied pig, not just the famililar Veatnamese.
Please do your research before getting a snorty little oink.
We now have 4 total, but one is on a farm and the latest will be fixed as soon as possible.
Aww I would love to have one. I think they are so cute. If I had my own house, I would get a piggy.
fuck that, in two words. i would never keep pig. dog maybe, but not pig. good luck to those who do.
oh pigs are great and so smart. they are more intelligent the woof woofs too.
They are very smart and no, they don't destroy your house and they don't crap all over and they don't smell. Like anything, if you don't take care of them properly, they can smell, learn bad behavior, and may get aggressive. This to poster 3. If you have a dog, I hope you take care of it properly.
While I wouldn't go with exactly what Smoky said, I think I'd rather go with a dog.