The holiday season is fast approaching for those who celebrate them. There are some things during the holidays that could be really harmful to our pigs, so I like to share these reminders every year. Let’s get into what they are. Many people put up a Christmas tree and on that tree there are many items that we want to keep out of the reach of our pig. We really want to keep our pig away from the Christmas tree and the gifts under it.  The tree itself can be mildly toxic to our pig if...

If you have a pet pig, most likely you have tried to give them a bath. There is a 50/50 chance that it did not go well. Giving a pig a bath can be traumatic for the pig and us. There is a very good reason why it is so difficult for a pig. Pigs are prey animals so anything new or even slightly scary sends them into high alert and makes them panic. I have some tips that will help bathtime be much more successful and way less stressful for everybody involved.   What can we do to make bath time...

Let’s talk about pig eyes. How do we take care of our pigs eyes? What are some common complaints about a pig’s eyes that we should be aware of?   Overall pigs do not see well, they have poor eyesight. This is a genetic thing that is passed down from pig to pig. Some of that is due to the placement on the head, or just due to genetics. Think about the placement of the eyes on the pig’s head. Due to the structure of the spine, a pig can not bend its neck to look up, so due to that lack of...

Should you be cleaning your pet pig's ears? In this episode I am going to answer 2 questions. What should your pig’s ears look like down inside? What is the proper way to clean my pigs ears?    Let’s start with what it should look like in a pig’s ear? It is normal for a pig to have a waxy, oily, brown, chunky buildup in their ears. That is the wax in their ears. This wax can even have a slight smell to it and that is completely normal. This wax has a purpose. The purpose is to...

Max did not grow up on a farm or around farm animals, but about 10 years ago he saw some videos online with pigs and started doing some research and decided he needed a pet pig. Before getting a pig he would watch funny and cute videos online and became obsessed with them and from there he realized he wanted to get one. He then started to do research to figure out how to care for pigs and where to get one and just tried to learn everything he could learn. There was not as much information...

Does your pig like to ride in the car? Most pigs don't. Pigs have a high fear instinct. That instinct in the wild is what keeps them alive. When we bring them into our world and introduce them to people things, like riding in a car can be very difficult for them if that skill hasn’t been practiced over time. It is very important to teach our pig to be comfortable in the car, and if they can’t get comfortable, we want them to at least tolerate it well. We don't want to wait for an emergency to...

Have you ever heard of something called salt toxicity? Pigs and salt do not go together well. The pig's body does not regulate salt/sodium well. Too much salt can cause huge problems. What happens when a pig has too much salt? Too much salt causes a pig to become very thirsty so they drink as much water as they have access to. This could be gallons and gallons of water. When they drink all of this water their body is not able to process it fast enough so they will have an electrolyte...

I have a pet pig. Can I still go on vacation?  The answer is yes! It will take a good bit of planning but for the most part, we can definitely go on vacations. I know many people who even take their pig with them on vacation. This can definitely be done if you start while the pig is a very young age.  Help them to understand that these situations and places are safe. Not all of us are able to take our pig on vacation with us. So, what two options do we have when we go away? Boarding-...

In this episode we are interviewing Jenny about her pet pig Charlotte.  Jenny got Charlotte on August 8, 2020 from a friend of her neighbor who also has a pig. A couple months before Charlotte turned 1, she had a wasp sting her on her left eyelid, which caused a permanent droop in her eyelid that resulted in a sight impairment. Jenny started to paint with Charlotte in November of 2021. She enrolled Charlotte's art in the Calavera County Fair and Frog Jumping Jubilee in May 2022. That summer...

We all know that pigs are constantly rehomed for many reasons. One reason that is often overlooked is that people rehome their pig for being a pig. They think the pig will or should stop doing things that are natural pig behaviors and instincts. What are some of the natural pig behaviors that cause people to get rid of their pig? We are going to talk about the top 5 natural behaviors or instincts that cause rehoming and what we can do to make these behaviors not so annoying or damaging to...

Piggy Paint was created by Melanie Hurley (a Mom & former Teacher!) in 2008, when her girls were 2 & 4.  For the past 15 years, Melanie’s mission has been to create non-toxic, premium, FUN products that are completely safe for kids (and animals!).  Piggy Paint is sold in 4000 stores including Target, Amazon, and other fine retailers (in 15 countries!). In this episode Melanie and I discuss how to use Piggy Paint and how nail polish can affect a pig's hooves. We also discuss how Piggy...

Pigs have been wild animals for thousands of years. We have mildly domesticated the farm pig. It’s only in the past 40-50 years that we have been truly domesticating pigs and bringing them into the house to live with them like a pet. Pigs don’t always make the best pets when we as people don’t understand how pigs are built and what they are built to be focused on. What is a wild pig's job? If we understand this, we will be able to understand what it takes to have a pet pig successfully. We...

My name is Matt Lawson, aka (The Guitar Pig) on social media, and I’m a 26 year old living in Phoenix. I grew up in Minnesota and came to Arizona to attend ASU and never went back.   Ever since I was a kid I’ve had a love for pigs and always dreamed of having one as a pet one day. I got Lido when he was just 9 weeks old in 2015, he’s now 7 years old. We’ve traveled across the country together from Arizona, to California, then to Florida, then once again back to Arizona where we now reside. ...

I get many calls from people that think that they have been in contact with me and they paid a deposit but their piglet was never delivered. I have been informed that there are a couple people out there that are using photos of me and my family and our piglets trying to be me and dragging my name into piglet scams.  There are pet scams all over facebook and you have to be very careful because it’s very difficult to know. These people know what they are doing. How can we avoid falling for a...

A little fun fact about Penny, she’s the most followed pig on tiktok in the world, and now by extension her new sister Penelope is getting her name out there. We’ve had Penny for about 2 years now, almost her whole life. We just adopted Penelope this past summer from a family who loved her dearly but could no longer take care of her due to landlord issues. I’ve always wanted a pig but I don’t like to buy my animals so almost every animal I have has been rescued. Penny was a spur of the moment...

When I got my first pig, Oscar, in 2004 I bought him from a pet store. At the time there was very little information about where to find an ethical breeder. These days there are an astounding number of mini pig breeders. The issue with these people is that they are not working towards the betterment of the breed, they are not working with their piglets, they are not vetting the families or supporting or educating them. So that leads to a huge issue of pigs that are being abandoned and rehomed...

My name is Janeth Painchaud. Mother of 3 humans and 2 piggies. Having a pig was always a dream that I never thought would come true but here we are living the dream! Olive, our first pig is 4 and Luna is around 11 months old. When they had their daughter she had health issues and needed a multi-organ transplant so she was in the hospital until she passed at 7 months old. Janeth struggled with her death for a couple years and one day told her husband that she was done with all of it. Her...

Clint grew up in Montana in a rural area. His job as a child was to watch their cows and make sure that they were healthy and separate the ones that may be sick, but to also make sure the grass wasn't too short and the weeds too high. Throughout his whole life he has always looked at things in a way to figure out what caused it to happen. He left that job when he was young and went into the communications industry and helped develop the cable television industry in the hills of Montana. In...

January and February every year I am bombarded with messages from people who need help with their new piglet or they need help rehoming their brand new piglet they just brought home a couple weeks ago.  I do not suggest giving someone a piglet as a gift because the owner needs to be able to do research to know what they are getting into, to make an educated decision when it comes to getting a pig.  The reason this is so frustrating for me is because there are so many pigs in rescues and...

Aloha, my name is Lindsay Dennis. I’m married to my best friend Micah and we have two boys, Kona who is 11 and Kai who is 9. We live on the east side of the Big Island of Hawaii! We have a family ranch called Kaohe Corral where we raise cattle and Kunekune pigs. We also have horses, dogs, chickens and a donkey. We try to grow and raise a lot of our own food and be as self-sufficient as we can. We also live completely off grid, so we make all our power from the sun, heat our water from the...

I am very passionate about this subject because I feel that if more people understood the problems with bringing home an underaged piglet, they wouldn't do it. So today we are going to talk about why breeders sell underaged piglets, why they are wrong, and how it sets families and pigs up for failure for the rest of that pig's life. So first, why do breeders sell underaged piglets?  An underaged piglet is a piglet that should still be with its mother. In my opinion between 7- 8 weeks old is...

Hi I am Dr. Bridget Breslin. I grew up in Westchester County, NY with my parents and three brothers. I made my way to the Midwest during undergrad where I attended Purdue University and obtained a degree in Animal Sciences. Following graduation, I made my way to Ohio for veterinary school at The Ohio State University. I recently graduated from there this past May with my Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. I am now currently working at Fulton Animal Hospital in Canal Fulton, Ohio where I have...

Do pet pigs need time outside? The short answer is yes. There is a myth that pigs can live in a basement or apartment their entire life and still be healthy. In this episode we will talk about why that is an absolute crime on a pig to lock them up inside. They absolutely need time outside. Why is it imperative for a pig's health to have time outside every day?  The first thing a pig needs is sunlight to absorb certain minerals. Pigs need Vitamin D in order to be healthy. Sunlight through a...

Brandie has a family that is full of animal lovers. She has always wanted land, and the farm setting with a variety of animals. Several years ago she came across a mini-pig breeder she had bought her pet Muscovy Ducks from. From that day on she began researching and learning about mini-pigs and the care and lifestyle involved in being a pig owner. Brandie has had Sadie for 2.5 years and she is by far the best pet she has ever owned. She says she could not imagine her family life the same...

We all know that pigs are intelligent but what you might not know is that pigs can learn a bad habit in one event. If you are in the kitchen preparing dinner and your piglet comes over and lightly roots on your leg, you bend down and give them a scratch on the head and then you make that one single mistake where you take a piece of the food you are preparing and give your pig a bite. What did you just teach your pig? You taught them that when you are standing at the counter preparing food...