We recently had the opportunity to be interviewed for an article in Rodale’s Organic Life titled 8 Things You Need to Know Before You Adopt a Mini Pig. The interview gave us an opportunity to talk about life with Oscar, both the positives and the challenges. I’ve discussed on the blog how important it is to research before bringing home a mini pig, and the article written by Marygrace Taylor does a great job of highlighting eight important things to know about mini pigs and is an awesome place to start your research.

One thing I love about the article is that it also discusses mini pig ownership from a pig rescue’s perspective. Richard Hoyle from The Pig Preserve was also interviewed, and I think it’s important for pig lovers to know what’s happening in rescues. The more I become involved in the pig community, the harder it is to ignore the real issues our community is facing. Mini pigs are wonderful but challenging pets, and there are more and more ending up in shelters due to owners who either didn’t do their research, had life circumstances change, or who just could no longer care for their mini pig. Unfortunately, this is putting a huge burden on sanctuaries and rescue groups that are already over capacity and trying to keep up with the resources necessary to care for these pigs.

There will of course be times when situations outside of a person’s control require rehoming a pig, and rescues and sanctuaries are great for helping in those times. But, with mini pigs as pets becoming more popular, I think the real problem is lack of research before pig ownership. Fortunately, there is a lot of information online about both the pros and cons of living with a mini pig, and articles like the one in Rodale’s Organic Life make it easier for people to access and share this information. Oscar certainly doesn’t represent every mini pig because they all have different personalities and preferences, but the article provides a general idea of what to expect when bringing a mini pig home. An extra bonus is that there are several adorable pictures of Oscar in the article!

For prospective pig parents wanting to know more about life with a mini pig, below is a list of some of our blog posts that will help as you continue your research. These posts touch on the lesser-known aspects of mini pigs as pets and will help you get a better idea of what to expect when you bring your new mini pig home.

Bonding With Your Mini Pig
Mini Pig Pros: The Best Parts of Owning a Mini Pig
Mini Pig Cons: The Tough Parts of Owning a Mini Pig
Mini Pig Oscar’s Spoiled Pig Syndrome
Move the Pig for Mini Pig Aggression
Times When I Wish I Didn’t Own a Mini Pig
The Darker Side of Owning a Mini Pig
A Day in the Life of Mini Pig Oscar

A huge thank you to Marygrace Taylor and Rodale’s Organic Life for giving us the opportunity to talk about life with Oscar!

Oscar hates baths. This is how it all started…

Last summer, my Facebook and Instagram feeds were full of pigs cooling off in small plastic pools. Their pig parents put a little water in a kiddie pool, and the pig climbed in and happily sat or splashed around, cooling off from the summer sun. I was so excited to let Oscar play in his own little pool! I waited until he was about 5 months old and then found him a pool to fill up for his first pool party.  It was going to be his first time in water, and he was going to love it! I put him in the pool, but then he jumped right out. I put him back in; he jumped out again. He finally jumped out the last time and ran off. He hated water.

I gave up on the pool, but then I started wondering how in the world we were going to bathe him if he hated water. Since Oscar had several skin issues when he was younger, including mange and a skin infection, we intentionally held off on bathing him for a long time. We didn’t want to stress him out or dry his skin out more than necessary, so we just wiped him down every few days with a damp towel instead. However, even that was a challenge because he didn’t like even the small amount of water on the towel touching him.

Wiping Oscar down kept him pretty clean until we were ready to try giving him a bath. Oscar was about 10 months old before we finally tried because we knew it would be a struggle. We also waited until the weather warmed up a bit because we didn’t want to risk getting water in Oscar’s ears and increase his chances of pneumonia during the cold winter.

My husband and I teamed up for Oscar’s first bath. I got the shampoo and towel ready and added a small amount of warm water to the bath tub. My husband grabbed the peanut butter, a spoon, and Oscar. Our plan was to put Oscar in the warm water and then I was going to wash him quickly while my husband fed him peanut butter from a spoon. A lot of people prefer to put peanut butter on the side of the tub, but we just used a spoon since there were two of us and we wanted to avoid any chemicals that might be on the side of the tub.

We put Oscar down in the tub, and he freaked out! He panicked and kept trying to jump out of the tub, which meant his poor little hooves didn’t have any traction and kept slipping. On top of it, he was squealing and splashing water all over us. We didn’t want him to slip and fall, so we picked him up, put him in the towel, and dried him off. We needed to rethink our strategy.

Our biggest mistake for Oscar’s first bath was not having a bath mat since he didn’t have a way for his hooves to grip in the tub. It probably would have been fine if he stood still, but his panicking and wiggling made him slip, which made him panic even more. We decided to get a bath mat and then try again but without water. We wanted to just get him used to being in the tub and make it a happy place by using peanut butter before we even added water. I bought Oscar’s bath mat from Target so this isn’t the exact one I use, but it’s really similar. 

I bought a bath mat, put it in the tub, and we tried again. We set Oscar down on the bath mat and immediately started giving him peanut butter from the spoon. So far, so good! I let Oscar get used to the tub and enjoy the peanut butter for a few minutes and then I started slowly running warm water in the tub. I figured he would panic as soon as the water touched his hooves, but he didn’t. He was so focused on the peanut butter that he didn’t even notice. I ran just a small amount of water, enough to clean off his hooves and splash some on his belly, since I didn’t want to scare him. I quickly bathed him and rinsed him off, and he didn’t mind at all as long as the peanut butter kept flowing. As soon as the peanut butter stopped though, he remembered he was in water and all bets were off. We finished up, dried him off thoroughly, and considered it a success!

Oscar has had two other baths so far, both of which were successful. Each time I run just a little more water and bathe a little more of him, being careful not to get water in his ears, and he handles it fine as long as he has constant peanut butter. He eats more peanut butter during his baths than I would normally give him in a day, but we only bathe him when it’s absolutely necessary, so I don’t worry about it.

My husband has helped me bathe Oscar each time, which has made the process easier. However, I have received some really helpful tips over the past few months to make bathing a mini pig easier, particularly with just one person. A really popular one is to smear peanut butter on the side of the bath tub to keep your pig busy during her bath. I avoid that one if possible just because I’m worried about Oscar licking up chemicals from the side of the bathtub, but I am open to trying it someday when I need to bathe Oscar by myself. Another great idea someone shared with me is to cut up apples or use some other small treat like blueberries or Cheerios and put them in the bathtub. Many pigs will keep themselves busy searching or bobbing for the treats and won’t mind the bath as much. We started with peanut butter since it’s a really high-value treat for Oscar, but hopefully we can switch to something smaller and healthier once he’s more used to the process.

Once Oscar’s bath is finished, I towel dry him as much as possible. He doesn’t like the towel much, so then I dry him off the rest of the way with a hair dryer. I keep the heat low and usually put his harness on before blow drying him so that I have a handle in case he tries to run off. He doesn’t care for the hair dryer, but I like to make sure he’s dry to reduce his risk of pneumonia.

Don’t worry – Rylee was next but she got Cheerios too.

There are so many pigs who love water and don’t mind baths. However, if you’re like us and have a pig who hates water, hopefully our experience will help as you try to bathe your mini pig!

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