oh my! so many questions for you! will this be an indoor or outdoor pet? where do you live (what is your climate like, i.e., do you have cold winters?). do you have other pets (dogs and pigs can be a dicey mix). do you realize a pot bellied pig, if bought as a piglet, is a 20 year commitment?

i have 3 and they live outside. in the winter, they are under heat lamps. in the summer, they have access to kiddie pools, one with water and one with mud (i live on sand so can't have an actual mud wallow).

they are very easy to care for, are sweet and can be very affectionate. however, having said that, if they are kept inside and become bored (which they do easily because they are SO smart!), they can become extremely destructive. think...walls eaten, carpet torn up, etc.

make sure your zoning, if you live in the city, will let you have a pig. they are considered "livestock" in most places so it's important that you check this before you get your piggie.

contrary to what many people will tell you, a pbp canNOT exist on dog kibble. there are special pellets for feed plus lots of veggies for good health.

make a list of questions and post them. i would be more than happy to answer anything i can!

Thank you for replying. I live in the UK and the weather can be quite changeable and the winters can be bitterly cold so it might need to be kept indoors some of the time and outside the rest of the time.

What are the most common problems of keeping pot bellied pigs outside and inside?

How do a find a reputable breeder and what sort of questions should I ask to establish this.

Are they OK with other pets? We've got cats, but no dogs.

Do they need companionship or are they solitary animals?

Yes, I do realise they are a long term commitment. I've been reading their lifespans can be anything from 13-26 years.

I have plenty more questions if you don't mind and thank you again for responding.

tell you what, i have several links i will post for you and i'll answer your questions a little later today. i have a ton of things to do outside today before the snow flies tomorrow so i'm gonna go fire up the tractor and get to work. i'll be back in a few hours. :)

here is some reading material to get you started...

http://www.pigpalssanctuary.com/index.htm

http://users.fred.net/brv/xfers/pig_care.pdf

https://enlightenme.com/basics-pot-bellied-pig-care-feeding/

http://cutepotbellypigs.blogspot.com/2012/12/feeding-pot-bellied-pigs.html

to answer your questions...

i have never had an inside pig but i know lots of people who do. they can be trained to use a dog door to go outside or can be trained to use a litter box. i think the biggest problem is boredom. if they aren't mentally stimulated, they can get bored easily and a bored pig is a destructive pig.

as for outside, as long as they have adequate fencing and plenty of room along with a good shelter, fresh water and toys, they do fine. in the heat of summer, they LOVE to have mud to wallow in and/or a kiddie pool full of water to play in. the mud is also good for keeping insects at bay. of course, if you plan to bring your pig in the house, mud could be a problem.

finding a reputable breeder can be a challenge. you will often see "micro mini pigs" for sale which is a misnomer. there really is no such thing as a micro mini. claims of pigs staying under 20# are bogus. the only way you can keep a pig small is to starve it. this is one of the main reasons so many pot bellied pigs end up in rescue. buyers are convinced that they will stay small and a year later, they are faced with a 100# or more pig that they can no longer deal with. that is how i got 2 of my 3. the best way to judge a breeder is to be able to see the parents of the litter so you can better judge the size your pig will end up being. keep in mind, pigs grow until they are 3 years old so if you see a breeder who has tiny pigs with litters, it's because the parents are not yet even full grown. pigs can be bred very young. in fact, a male pig is fertile (and more than willing) at 10 weeks old!

i would think a pig could get along just fine with cats. dogs, on the other hand, cannot be trusted. i have known of many instances of the family dog attacking a pig and doing serious damage after living with it for months or even years. when a pig squeals, it awakens the prey drive in even the most gentle dog. it just isn't safe.

it's a common misconception that a pig must have a companion. as long as you interact with your pig and make sure it has plenty of contact, play time, etc., a single pig will be very happy, much like a single of any other pet. pigs have a pecking order and go to great lengths to establish and keep it. any time i brought a new pig into the pack, i had to keep it separated from the others for a period of time and let them get acquainted from across the fence. when they are finally introduced to each other, there can be some fighting, torn ears, bites, etc., while they are establishing the pecking order.

much like you do with a giant breed dog (i have 3 great danes), anything you don't want your pig to do as an adult should not be allowed when they are piglets. pigs root which is natural and fine but you do NOT want them rooting your ankles. their snouts are extremely hard and if you allow this behavior as a young piglet, it is a hard habit to break when they get older and you end up with permanent bruises on your ankles! LOL

hope that helps. if you have more questions, please post!

Thank you so much for all of your answers. You say if they are kept indoors they can get bored. What sort of activities are suitable to keep them occupied? And if keeping them outside, what are some of the common problems with the changing seasons? Are they OK in the colder weather or would I need to take extra precautions?

to be honest, having never had an indoor pig, i honestly don't know what activities are suitable. if you are on facebook, check into a group called "piggies at play". it's a very active bunch and many of them have indoor pigs and could give you all kinds of ideas, i'm sure.

as for outside and changing seasons, a pig needs water and/or mud to cool off in during the heat of summer and in the winter it will need shelter with bedding such as blankets, straw or wood chips. if it gets very cold, you will need heat lamps for warmth. you will also need some sort of heater for its water. if a pig doesn't drink enough water during the winter, it can easily become constipated which is no fun for the pig OR for you! think...enema. it isn't easy, and definitely not pleasant! i had to do it once with one of my boys. after that, i made sure they had plenty of fluids by taking a pitcher of warm, watered down kool-aid 2 or 3 times a day. they loved it and drank with gusto.

Thank you for the links - they're really useful and for the additional information. I've heard that ticks and lice can be a problem - is there a rare of preventing them naturally?

my pigs have never had lice so i can't answer that. ticks are a fact of life around here and to my knowledge, there is nothing you can put on a pig or give internally that would repel them. some years are worse than others here but during tick season, i check my pigs several times a day and pull ticks off of them.

Well as one showed up at my house the other day I'm now a pig owner, first find out what vet will care for farm animals and how close they are( will you need a trailer/ will the vet come to you). She really likes her hay to lay and sleep in, we've read about getting her a wading pool for the hot weather to cool off in too. She definitely came to me overweight so she's on a diet of two cups of pig pellets a day. I'm learning more as it goes lol but she's really nice and hasn't been aggressive whatsoever not even to my 3 year old nephew good luck!

krysta, bless your heart for taking in this wandering oinker!!! she just showed up at your place?? wow!

i don't know where you live but yes, a wading pool will be great for her in the heat of summer. actually, i have 3 pools. two are for water and one i make a mud wallow in. pigs LOVE LOVE LOVE mud and in the summer it protects them from insects. of course, this is assuming your girl is living outside.

i would love to see updates (maybe start a new thread) and pics!!! i would also be happy to answer any questions you might have. they are GREAT animals, you will love her. they are so smart and learn tricks so easily, it makes them such fun to play with! :)

Yes she just walked in between me and my neighbors fence line and she doesn't belong to anyone we know of, we've tried finding the owner but we're okay with keeping her if we can't find them. It's day 5 of having her, I uploaded a couple photos of when she first showed up, and I'll keep doing the same. I've found she loves her hay.

i'd love to see some pics of her!! are you keeping her outside or inside?

awwwww!!!!! she is adorable, love her color!! will she let you pet her? it may take her a while to warm up to you, pigs are very particular and don't like "strangers". won't be long before she is friendly. they LOVE belly rubs!!!

here are mine...

this is arnold and lilly

oh and, if she lets you pet her, try scratching right in front of her back leg, down towards her tummy. when you hit the right spot, she will flop right over for a belly rub. :)

that's awesome!! and very unusual! she must have been a well-loved pet to be so friendly. makes you wonder why she was out running loose!

lilly is one of my rescues, she was 3 when i got her. it took several weeks before she trusted me. i carried a trash can lid for protection because if i got too close, she would charge me. once i earned her trust, she was fine. :)

I honestly have no clue, we've tried looking for the owner and left our name/number with animal control but it's about to be a week and no ones come looking, I'm thinking maybe she just got dumped off? Either way we love her and are taking good care of her :)

sadly, it happens more and more. people buy these adorable little piglets that end up being 150# porkers and when they no longer want to take care of them, they are dumped. far too many people fall for the "it won't get over 25#" line of bull!

you are to be commended for stepping up to the plate for this girl!! you won't regret it! they are very affectionate animals and SO SO smart. they learn tricks easily and are very food-motivated.

what have you named her? they do learn their names and come when they are called. :)

Petunia :) and I'm looking into getting Pygmy goats and minature donkeys since the fence is up and ready for animals I've been wanting they'll all have plenty of space and a sepearte shelter for each :)

I know zero about pigs. I have a question, though. If slightly injured or scratched do they bleed profusely? As in bleed like a stuck pig?

Reason I ask is TMZ showed a video clip of noted dog behaviorist Caesar Milan desensitizing an French Bulldog that was aggressive toward pigs. The camera shifts to a pig with an ear that is bleeding profusely and it appears as if the dog really bit it badly.

Of course TMZ made the most mileage that they could about animal cruelty, etc, etc. This aired maybe two days ago on TMZ.

cute name! i had goats at one time. they're neat little animals. make sure the ones you choose don't have horns. they can do some damage even during play.

salti, i don't know if pigs bleed any more than another animal when it's injured but extremities in ALL animals will bleed a LOT. the pig in that clip was bitten on the ear so yes, it bled profusely.

don't even get me started on caesar. if you watch the clip, you will see the pig being restrained by one leg, making it squeal which incites the dog's prey drive. even after the first attack and caesar not having control of the dog AT ALL, the pig was still being restrained which led to it being bit.

Petunia is such a pretty piggy! I'm so glad she has a place with you and is being well cared for.

OMG, i'm sorry i asked for pics. now i want a dozen!!!! how CUTE!!!