Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian and can not give medical advice or replace the advice of your veterinarian. You know your pig best, please contact your vet if your pig suddenly starts not acting as him or herself.
MY MINI PIG SEEMS TO BE LOOSING HAIR? Your mini pig will most likely shed or "blow its coat" at least once a year. Some will do this twice a year. They may loose their hair all at once or in stages. Once this shedding starts you can easily pull the hair out by the handfuls to help your pig along. This usually happens sometime in the Spring when the weather starts turning warm.
When your pig is loosing it's hair it will itch terribly. You may notice him running around trying to itch on trees, walls, furniture, your leg, other pets, whatever is around!! Just help your pig along by pulling any loose hair. It will come out very easily. Also, a good scratching and/or brushing a few times a day will be appreciated. I would do this outside if I were you, unless you have your vacuum cleaner handy.
WHY DOES A PIGLET HAVE TO BE AT LEAST 6 WEEKS OLD So once the piglets are weaned from mommy, sometimes mommy will wean them herself; it is important that a breeder has been giving the babies the opportunity to eat solid food. This way of feeding baby piglets is known as creep feed. This is when they start to realize that those little pellets are a source of food.
It takes a piglet’s digestive system approximately 3 weeks to convert from digesting milk to digesting grain. That is where the pellets we feed comes into play. The transition of weaning the piglets from mommy is extremely stressful. One must make the transition as smooth as possible especially making sure they are eating solid food and drinking water, also keeping the siblings together will help comfort each other.
So please be patient and understand you must wait for the piggy to be 6 weeks and sometimes older in order for it to have the best chance of a long, healthy life. Each piglet develops and transitions to pellets at different rates. *I have the piglet in my best interest, so if your piglet isn't ready to leave the nursery the exact day I told you, please understand!!
WHY SPAY OR NEUTER? Intact pigs suffer from the hormones surging through their body. In a home environment, it is very obvious and damaging to the relationships with their beloved people, as well as damage to the house and furniture. Their hormones are so overwhelming they become frustrated and aggressive. Pigs become sexually mature at a very young age. Females: When girls are not spayed they can become sexually frustrated and aggressive due to heat cycles every 21 days. While in heat, they will mark their territory by urinating wherever they stand and anywhere in the house. They may generally be in a foul mood or be destructive in the house. This is a shock to pig parents with a well behaved, potty trained pig that suddenly goes into heat and turns into an abusive, moody pig who forgets her potty training. Many girls also become aggressive to family pets while in heat, causing potentially dangerous fights between animals (pigs or dogs). You cannot train this behavior out of the pigs because the hormones are overriding their common sense and appreciation of repercussions. Males: Intact male pigs are called boars. Boars DO NOT make good pets. Boars are constantly raging with hormones. They will hump, ejaculate (on you, furniture, clothing, carpet, other pets, guests, toys, stuffed animals), they become aggressive and are more prone to escaping or roaming as their hormones drive them to find a mate and reproduce. They won’t enjoy you because they are testosterone driven. Their tusks will grow fast and will need frequent trimming as they can use them as weapons against you. Their urine will also stink very strongly because of the prepuce gland. They most likely will not potty train because they want to leave their mark or scent, just in case a female passes by.
DOES A MALE OR FEMALE MINI PIG MAKE A BETTER PET? There is no “better” sex. It depends on what you want, your preferences. A pet should always be fixed, but even then there are a few differences. Neutered males are more laid back, mellow, and easy going in most situations. Spayed females have opinions, a little more demanding (aren’t all females) and are more active. If you are looking for a pet, an animal that will bond with you and love attention, then your piggy must be fixed. Pigs also stay smaller if fixed due to lack of hormones. ****WE DO NOT SELL FOR BREEDING PURPOSES!!!!! OUR MINI PIGS ARE SOLD ON A NEUTER/SPAY CONTRACT.
WHY IS MY MINI PIGS MOUTH FOAMY? They tend to do this in anticipation of food basically their mouth is watering. Males also do this when smelling a female that is in anticipation of other activities. :)
MY PIG KEEPS ACTING LIKE HE IS GAGGING? Pigs have 15,000 taste buds compared to the 9,000 us humans have we cant taste anything. Taste Buds also aid in smell and vice versa so when your pig comes across a new food or a new smell you may see them hold their head up and open their mouth that is a posturing that helping them to smell and taste.
MY MINI PIG IS DRINKING A TON OF WATER, IS THAT OK? Water is the single nutrient required in the greatest quantity by animals. Pigs require water for a variety of reasons, including most metabolic functions, adjustment of body temperature, movement of nutrients into the body tissues, removal of metabolic waste, production of milk, and for growth and reproduction. In fact, 80% of the empty body weight of the newborn pig and about 53% of a market hog is water. An animal can lose practically all its fat and over half of its protein and yet live, while a loss of one-tenth of its water results in death. There are several things that make a pig drink more water; 1. Pigs affected with diseases require more water than healthy pigs. 2.Water demand will increase in proportion to the crude protein of the diet so pigs being fed man made pellet feeds will drink more water then pigs on a raw diet. 3. Higher salt or potassium intake increases the demand for water. Again pigs being fed a pellet feed will need more water. 4. High ambient temperatures will increase water requirements, so the hotter it is the more water they need. If your pig is drinking water more then usual check for these 4 things compared to his average intake and you may need to see a vet.
MY PIG KEEPS PUSHING ON ME WITH HER NOSE They are "rooting" on you! They do this to each other they do this to their mother so if they are doing it to you then they must like you. However, they can become obsessive with it and can even get to where it hurts on occasions. So even though this may seem sweet and cute make them keep it to a minimum by tapping them on their nose firmly and saying "no" and then picking them up and put them away from you so they understand you don't want them doing this, if it is hurting you. It may also help to give them a rooting box just get a shallow tote and fill it with river rocks they may not realize how fun rooting in the box can be at first but if you drop a few cheerios between the rocks so they will have to dig around for them they will quickly find the joy in it.
IS MY PIG GRINDING HER TEETH? IS THAT NORMAL? Pigs grind their teeth for many reasons. They may be bored, or tired, or hungry, or smell food, or angry. Pigs have three sets of teeth in their lives, piggy will be growing and loosing teeth until he is almost 2 -1/2 years old. We have also found our adult pigs do this in anticipation for something, or out of boredom.
I FOUND BLACKHEAD TYPE THINGS ON MY PIGS LEG Those are scent glands. They often get plugged up on pigs, much like a blackhead on human skin. There really isn't anything to do about them, they just are. They are more noticeable on white pigs, but black pigs have them too, and there are also a couple on the rear legs. You can squeeze the clogged portion out, or leave it.