Oscar recently turned three months old, and he’s really showing his personality and curiosity! He’s been so much fun lately. He is still eating his Mazuri mini pig food and is supplementing it with a good amount of grass that he grabs by the mouthful when he’s outside. When he’s being good, he gets some Cheerios and freeze-dried peas for treats. He also runs around with us outside and stays pretty active until he crashes around 8 pm.
He’s growing up so quickly, so we’re really cherishing these days when he’s small and can easily cuddle up with us. At three months, our little Oscar came in at 10.5″ tall and 10 pounds.
Hello. I just recently got a mini pig. He is about 7 weeks old right now. I’m just trying to make sure I’m feeding him properly and wanted to know what and how much you were feeding Oscar at this age? Also how much he weighed. I see sweet Oscar and would love for my Tucker to be this sweet but I’m having some trouble getting him to trust us. If you don’t mind emailing me back, I would really appreciate any advice. You seem to be raising a very great little friend and I would love some tips. Thankyou.
Hi! Congrats on getting Tucker! When Oscar was 7 weeks old, he was somewhere between 7-10 pounds. At that point, we fed him Mazuri Youth and he got 1/4 cup pellets twice each day (so 1/2 cup total per day). We also fed him some veggies and treats, especially as we were working on the bonding process. There are some useful food charts online, so definitely check those out as well for comparison (I believe AMPA – American Mini Pig Association has one on their website).
Thanks for the compliment about Oscar! It’s been a journey! 🙂 In my experience, it’s totally normal that Tucker doesn’t trust you yet, so I wouldn’t worry at all. It took us a few months really before Oscar trusted us and even a few more before he would actively approach us. Some pigs trust a bit more quickly depending on how much they were socialized by the breeder, but ours was a slow process with ups and downs. I felt a lot in the beginning like Oscar didn’t like me and like I was just going through the motions, but we eventually got there. I have a post on Bonding with Your Mini Pig that I definitely recommend checking out if you haven’t, since it talks more about our bonding process with Oscar. It sounds like you’re a great mini pig parent, so you’ll get there eventually. In the meantime, you might throw in some training (like circle/spin) since that could be a fun activity for you and Tucker that will help build trust as well.
Thanks so so much. I am feeding him the same food as you are but I was doing 1/2 twice a day so I’m going to lower that some. Tucker is mostly inside but has a out door pin he can run around in during the day if the weather is nice. I absolutely cannot get a harness on him. He fights me like a bull lol. Is oscars just a dog harness? Do you keep it on him all the time to get use to it. I have to carry him to his outdoor pin (while squealing) lol bc I can’t get a harness on him. Any tips??? One more thing and I’ll leave you alone, since I can’t take him outside to potty bc he won’t let me put the harness on him I’m trying to figure out a way to potty train him to use pee pad or something until I can take him outside. I’m having no success with this either. Any tip would be wonderful. Thanks again for replying. I really really appreciate the advice.
No problem! The harness is tough. We do use a dog harness, although none of them are a perfect fit. I plan on getting Oscar a mini pig harness at some point, but I wanted to wait until he stopped growing so quickly. That being said, if we weren’t in the country where Oscar is far away from a road with cars, I would definitely get him a mini pig harness because he likes to wiggle out of the dog harnesses. We’ve tried both the step-in and the over-the-head harnesses. When he was a baby, we used the over-the-head ones because he wiggled too much for me to get his hooves in the openings of the step-in kind. Now that he’s older and will stand still, we use the step-in kind more often, but he knows exactly how to slip out of it and does about every other day. My biggest tip on the harness is treats. For us, treats helped turn putting his harness on from a nightmare to a mild annoyance…haha. So, not perfect but better! If you do a search on Life With a Mini Pig for harness, we have a video on putting a harness on that I think you’ll find helpful. Unfortunately, I’m not very helpful on training with a pee pad. Oscar always preferred to go outside to potty, so we never litter trained. We intended to but he didn’t like to go inside. If you prefer him to go outside, I would try some treats to see if Tucker will let you get his harness on and then, if that doesn’t work, try inside. If you can get the harness on him, go ahead and let him wear it around the house while you’re supervising him, and he’ll eventually get used to it. Oscar never minded actually having his harness on after we got it on him, so he just hated putting it on. I do take Oscar’s harness off if I’m not around to watch him so that he doesn’t accidentally hook himself on something. For what it’s worth, the harness does get easier, especially once they trust you and aren’t as wiggly. It’s still a mild annoyance these days but much easier than when he was a baby. Hope that helps!
Ok I watched the videos including the one where you are holding him without squealing. I’m going to try that technique as well. Again Thankyou for responding. You have been more helpful then anyone. Where did you get your over the head harness? I’m thinking that will be our best option. We also live in the country but if he slipped out I’m not sure we could catch him lol. Thanks again.
Hopefully that technique makes it easier for Tucker to be held without squealing. It still took time and “practice” with holding Oscar before he stopped squealing, but it does improve with time and repetition. Honestly, Oscar still grunts at me some when I pick him up, even now that he’s older and used to being held. For the harness, we got our over the head one at Petsmart. They’re pretty affordable, which is great since pigs grow so quickly when young. Oh gosh, I’ve chased Oscar around our house multiple times when he’s slipped out of his harness and doesn’t want to go back inside, so I feel your pain on that. You might keep some treats in your pocket just in case. It’s probably not good to use them too often so that you don’t train him that if he slips out of his harness he gets treats, but they might be nice to have in case of an emergency. 🙂
Oscar is sooo cute. I recently got a mini pig and im not so sure hes a mini pig. He will be 7 weeks sunday and hes pretty big. I am at this point starting to freak a little. Not sure what he weighs
Hi Danielle! Thank you! I wouldn’t worry too much about the size of your mini pig yet. They all kind of grow at their own rate, and honestly I think your panic is a common one to have. There are so many mini pigs on social media to compare to and also a ton of nightmare not-so-mini-pig stories that it can cause some panic when your pig is young. I really wouldn’t worry about it yet and just enjoy him for now. Pigs kind of have a predetermined structure and size based on their genetics, so try not to worry about it and just focus on keeping him happy and healthy since he’s so young. For what it’s worth, I had a similar panic when we got Oscar. He was a bigger piglet compared to other piglets I saw on social media, but now Oscar is much smaller than I expected he would be (although he still has years of growing left to do). Happy 7 weeks to your little one! 🙂
Hello! My mini pig, Lachlan, is 8 weeks old and today I took him to the vet. The vet said we was a little big for 8 weeks old. He weighed 9lbs. I thought he was small but I guess not. I know they grow at their own pace but still, I am a little worried. His size doesn’t matter to me but I am a first time owner so I don’t know how other piggies are at this age.
Oscar is so sweet. My baby is 3 months old and weighs 16 pounds. She won’t eat any pellets though. What can I do? Also having problems getting her to pee in her litter box please help.