Oink Oink - Keeping A Pig for A Pet

A majority of us are meat eaters that love bacon and other pork products. However, there's been a current craze about keeping pigs as pets. It's not so much as an animal-rights thing (I'm pretty sure many pet pig owners still eat pork) then a tread. A-list celebs like Megan Fox, David Beckham, Paris Hilton, George Clooney, and Miley Cyrus have pet pigs, and do they like to talk about how fun they are as pets.

But could you take on a pig as a pet? Many still find it strange keeping an oinker at home as a companion. Before you do run off and buy the closest pig you can find, here are a few things to know about keeping them as pets.

Teacups Are Not True
You might have heard or seen videos and photos of these little, tiny, precious little pigs that are called teacup pigs circling around the net. They've definitely been a major contributor to the popularity of pet pigs, but be warned, what you see is often times not what you get with these teacup pigs.  These pigs are marketed as pigs that will never grow and weigh more than a human baby. This ads to the cuteness, making them very attractive to those looking for cute pets. However, these pigs don't stay that small for long. In fact, there really is no such thing as a teacup pig (they're also called micro-mini, Juliana, and a few other names).  There are real miniature pigs, which don't grow as large as the usual 600-pound farm pig, but they don't stay in that "teacup" size for long. So-called teacups are actually potbellied pigs who are either underfed to stunt their growth or who are sold under false pretenses.

Potbellied Pigs

The most common pet pig breed, the potbellied pigs ( Sus scrofa domesticus) are actually cousins of wild boars from Vietnam. Compared to a regular farm pig (which can weigh more than 1,000 pounds) or wild hogs (which usually weights at 450 to 700 pounds), a potbellied pig grows to between 100 to 150 pounds on an average. Some do grow to only 60 pounds, but it's still nowhere close to how small teacup pigs are being marketed.  They come in a variety of colors and are intelligent animals. This makes them easy to train, so they might just give Fido a run for his money.

Early Breeders 
Pigs are social animals, so if you're planning to have one as a pet, you might want to get another one to keep them company. But you'll have to be careful when you're caring for potbellied pigs though. These guys can start breeding when they are as young as 6 to 8 weeks old. Have them spayed and neutered or you'll have to deal with caring for more piglets.  Potbellied pigs can grow until they are 5 years old and reach well over 100 pounds. Expect your little piglets to grow and grow fast.

Feed Them Well, They Actually Need to Grow 
Some breeders try to keep pet pigs in a small size by inbreeding them until the produced offspring stay small. This can actually cause a number of heath issues from reduced genetic diversity. This is similar to how some pure breed dogs tend to develop health problems since most of them are inbreeds. Aside from health issues, it can also lead to a shorter lifespan. Other times, people also purposely underfeed their pet pigs which causes them to become underweight and starve. Malnourishment can cause heath concerns such as weak immune systems, sensitive skin and hoof problems, so make sure you're giving them enough food. Diets should include fruits and vegetables. Consult your vet if you're planning to feed them pellets.

Keep Them Happy

Aside from a healthy diet, potbellied pigs need other piggy friends as well as a good amount of space to roam around to stay happy. Pigs love to dig, root, roll around in mud, and play in water (sounds a lot like a golden retriever). Being a smart animal, they're always curious about their surrounding and will not hesitate to explore. They can also get moody and territorial, so it's important to give them their own space. Make sure they have their own dry and sheltered sleeping spot where they can enjoy hay as their bedding. Piglets burrow into a deep litter of hay to stay warm. An adult pig will be satisfied with wood shavings (not sawdust).

Mind the Expense

You might think that keeping a pet pig won't cost as much, but these little pigs don't stay small for long. It's like expecting to care of a small Yorkie but end up with a Great Dane. Not everyone can afford to handle a 100 pound pig in the house. You have to consider the price of the pig, which could be hundreds and can even reach thousands of dollars. You'll also need to budget the proper food (dog and cat kibble won't work), space needs, sterilization costs, and vet bills. Keep in mind that not all vets specializes or knows how to handle pet pigs. You might end up spending a lot when looking for a vet for them.

They Might be Illegal 

In some places, keeping a pet pig is illegal. Pigs are usually listed under the law as livestock, as in it belongs in a farm and shouldn't be running around in a residential area. Many local governments that have no or little farm areas forbid the raising of livestock, so it's best to check with your local ordinances about keeping pigs as pets. Also, condos and apartments usually won't let you keep them as pets, so keeping them as a pet in the city is going to be difficult.

Long Life

There's a misconception that pet pigs will only live up to 5 years. The truth is, potbellied pigs can live to around 12 to 18 years. Potbellied pigs can be great pets for kids since they can enjoy growing up with them. Sadly, a number of pig owners who bought their pigs under the assumption that they don't live longer than five year or have become too big for them to take care often call animal shelters to take their pet pigs. Some of them are taken in by foster homes, while stay in shelters for the rest of their years.

Whether you think their cute or you just want an exotic pet, a pet pig will turn heads. Take good care of one and you'll have a happy, contented pig to greet you when you come home.
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The Deception Behind the Tiger Who Adopted Piglets in Stripes

This viral story has made millions of us go “awwww!”

According to the tale: “A mother tiger lost her cubs and became depressed. She wouldn’t eat and drink and zoo staff didn’t know what to do to help, until they tricked her into adopting a group of piglets dressed up in stripes.”

If this sounds far-fetched to you, and it should. And yet so many people have reblogged, shared and otherwise believed the pictures, with no thought at all for the absurdity of the tale. For this photo is nothing but a sick ploy to lure tourists and garner attention – from a zoo with a horrible reputation – the Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Thailand.

This zoo frequently separates babies from mothers and swaps them with a different species, resulting in stress and psychological problems. The zoo’s website promises: “Hold the tiger cub in your arms, feeding milk and take a memorable picture. See how the sow can play a role of the tiger cubs’ nanny.” If that wasn’t enough, the zoo also has a daily tiger show, with cats forced to jump through rings of fire, and elephants are made to carry people around the park and do tricks for them. The cubs are also passed around for photos with the guests, which leads onto the next topic…

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5 of the Smartest Animals on Earth

1 - Dolphins are well-documented as intelligent animals. As Discovery News reports, the dolphin’s large brain is structured for awareness and emotion. In fact, dolphin brains are more structurally complex than humans.

2 - The New York Times reports on researchers who have found that domestic pigs can use mirrors to find their food, and will try to deceive other pigs so they can "hog" more food. They also learn quickly and can do tricks ranging from jumping through hoops to playing video games with joysticks.

3 -Anyone who has ever seen a squirrel dart across a crowded street has wondered if they are aware of the danger. It turns out they may be — but if there is food on the opposite end of the street they may not care. Squirrels are fast learners, according to a recent study from Science Daily, and they learn from their peers. Stealing food is a trick that squirrels pass along.

4 -Cows seem like placid animals merely concerned with chewing their cud. As it turns out, they possess a rich and complex emotional life. The Times reports that scientists have found that cows have friends and enemies. Further, “Cows are also capable of feeling strong emotions such as pain, fear and even anxiety they worry about the future.”

5 -Bees exhibit what experts call classic swarm intelligence. A single bee may not be smart in the classical sense, but a hive of bees is. As National Geographic reports, swarm intelligence works when no single creature sees “the big picture.” Rather, each works on simple rules in one location. But what happens when bees disagree? It turns out that they can hold a democratic “dance-off” to make a hive decision.

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7 Islands where Animals Rule

In some places in the world, a certain species of animal seem to rule over humans. From horses to cats and even rabbits, below are 7 places where it seems like there are more animals than humans.

Monkeys - Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico

Imagine the movie Planet of the apes instead the settling is in an island used as a research facility. There is an estimate of around 800 to 1,200 rhesus macaque that frolic around the area. 409 of these monkeys were actually sent in from India in the late 1930’s to make the research facility, and a couple decades and some generations later, the monkeys have ruled the island.

Cats - Tashirojima, Japan

Cat lovers with think this little island is paradise. The island of Tashirojima is a fishing village where cats are said to outnumber humans by 4 to 1. The felines that live here are pretty happy and well feed, thanks to locals and tourists who give them food for good luck. The island also has a number of cat shrines as well as unique cat-shaped and themed buildings.

Pigs- Big Major Cay Island, Bahamas

When you think of the Bahamas, you usually imagine white sand beaches, tropical drinks and just relaxing. However, you might see a couple dozen pigs that would swim along with you. Pigs are actually good swimmers. Local legends say that these pigs were left by sailors as food reserves, but they never came back for them. The pigs are now tourist attractions and are very warm to strangers.

Rabbits - Okunoshima Island, Japan

Japan has a thing about cute, furry little animals. Okunoshima Island once housed a facility that made poison gas back in WWII but now the place has completely changed with a tourism industry brought in by thousands of rabbits that freely hop around the place. The island also has a hotel, camping grounds, a small gold course and even a museum that remembers its dark past, but most of the tourists go there for the bunnies.

Horses - Assateague Island, Maryland and Virginia

Assateague Island has one of the best beaches in America, but first time tourist there are often shocked to find over 300 feral horses that roam around the place freely. Locals say that these horses survived a big shipwreck that happened near the island some years ago. They’re mostly harmless, although they’ve been known to take food away from campers.

Snakes - Ilha da Queimada Grande, Brazil

If you’re scared of snakes, this island near Brazil is deffinetly not for you. Ilha da Queimada Grande, which is around 90 miles off 90 miles, is often called the world’s deadliest island. Deadly snakes are found all over the place, estimating 1 snake per 10sq-ft. Golden lanceheads, which are vipers with poison that are said to have the ability to melt human flesh breed here.

Deer - Itsukushima, Japan

The Shinto religion regards the dear as a sacred animal, which is why many of these animals just prance around so many towns near the rural areas. However, Itsukushima is known to have the most populated herd. The place is also known for its Torii gate and shrines.

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Livestock: Pig

Of the most common livestock animals, bred into domesticity for milk or meat or fur, the pig is easily the fastest learner. The pig doesn't pass the famous mirror self-awareness test, but it can use the mirror to find the location of food that's out of sight--which might just mean the pig cares more about food than its own reflection.

Yet pigs are also incredibly quick learners, perhaps the fastest in the entire animal kingdom. From the NYTimes:

"They’ve found that pigs are among the quickest of animals to learn a new routine, and pigs can do a circus’s worth of tricks: jump hoops, bow and stand, spin and make wordlike sounds on command, roll out rugs, herd sheep, close and open cages, play videogames with joysticks, and more."

Source: Here

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Pot Bellied Pigs

Pot bellied pigs are truly misunderstood creatures, with almost everyone convinced that they’re simply eating machines that are only good at just that – eating.

But as different pet owners of pot bellied pigs would attest, these pigs are actually more than just constantly consuming eating machines, with their intelligence and capacity to adjust to moods being an established pot bellied pig trait.

The 2003 released Charlotte’s Web: Wilbur’s Great Adventure managed to focus on this pot bellied pig trait, through Wilbur’ the movie’s main character. Learning about the value of friendship from Charlotte the spider, the movie delves into the value of friendship, just as the original Charlotte’s Web storyline managed to successfully do so.

Though not as commonly kept as domestic pets like cats and dogs are, pot bellied pigs bear attributes which make them ideal as household pets. They are highly trainable and quite intelligent, as well as generally playful and quite interactive with people.

A pig sty may be classically described as smelly and unkempt, but the truth about pot bellied pigs is that they are actually clean creatures which are odor-free. The association of pigs with being dirty hails from the ascribed production-inclined conditions of pig stys, where pigs aren’t kept as pets, but rather as food commodities.

With an average lifespan somewhere between 12 to 18 years, pot bellied pigs, with all their attributes and characteristics, make for great domestic pets, even with their voracious appetites, a trait which remains to be true about pigs.

Their appetites may come as a downside for some pet owners, but as their intelligence and companionship traits would define them as great pets, true pet lovers can simply consider their diets as part of the pleasures of keeping a pet pot bellied pig.

Pot Bellied Pigs Video

 

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Pig Wallpapers

 

 

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Pigs

Pigs were seen in a different light in the 1995 hit Babe, directed by Chris Noonan starring James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski and Christine Cavnaugh.

Touching up on the challenges encountered by sheep dogs and sheep herders, the movie tells the story of a smart pig who found a way – an avenue – where he didn’t have to become dinner.

A touching tale which speaks of the value of being polite and nice, Babe, though more than 10 years old, remains to be a popular wholesome family film which parents and their kids can enjoy on the same grounds.

The same goes with households who keep pigs as pets.

Pigs in the House!
Though not exactly considered as a mainstream or exotic pet, there are households which keep pigs as pets, oftentimes allured by the pig’s natural charm and intelligence.

Far from being the dirty “mud caked” animals they are often described to be in movies and in stories, pigs are actually quite clean, generally quiet and are typically non-allergy-inducing. They are also odor free, and, as the movie Babe somewhat showed to extreme degrees, are highly trainable.

However, though they exhibit traits similar to dogs (minus perhaps their general non-allergenic status), pigs as pets require different treatment, particularly when food is being talked about: they tend to eat a lot.

Most pet pig owners who fail to recognize this pig trait encounter damages in the house, particularly when pigs are not fed enough, and they are headstrong in the search for food. Also, pigs get easily bored, so attention from pet owners must be duly given to them.

But apart from the feeding and attention rudiments involved in keeping pigs as pets, pigs in households are quite unique additions, responsive and interactive to the activities of members of the family.

Though their care and upkeep is very different compared to cats and dogs, having a pig as a household pet can be good as having a cat or dog around, with the plus of having a not-often-encountered type of pet at home.

Pigs Pictures

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 Pigs Wallpaper

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Pigs Video

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When Protests Are Too Much

Here is something you don’t hear about everyday: 500,000 pigs faced the risk of dying in Santiago, Chile because the delivery of food and water for them was made difficult by protesters.

An AFP report tells of the plight of half a million pigs in a pig-farm in Freirina, which is located some 500 miles from Santiago. The situation came to be after a number of protestors/demonstrators were objecting to the foul odors known to hail from the facility, which then led to rioting, with the reported burning of two police automobiles being the riot’s bigger “casualties”.

More than 20 arrests had already been done, but this didn’t stop protestors from cutting off road access to the pig-farm. The result was – half a million pigs, without their proper feeding and care regimens, were dying.

The facility, owned by Agrosuper, had to be temporarily closed and was declared as a sanitary alert area, given the health and sanitation risks linked to the half a million pigs’ condition.

It is reported that there were problems with the facility’s ventilation system, which had caused the “reflux” of odors which riled up locals into vehemently protesting against the continued operations of the facility.

Reports tell that locals and officials of the facility have undergone negotiations, in resolving the concerns and issues related to the whole incident.

A casual observer would be quick to think that the whole situation could have been better handled, without any sanitation risks or property damage ensuing from the situation. But far be it for anyone to judge others, the story tells a lot about how hot heads and not thinking straight could cause for unnecessary incidents and problems.

Bottom line, it pays to keep cool, especially when half a million pigs is involved.

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