Before we brought Oscar home, I didn’t know what mini pigs sounded like. Mini pigs are expressive and make many types of noises. Oscar communicates to us with several sounds, including squeals, oinks, and grunts which have different meanings.
Depending on the meaning and the volume, some of these sounds are adorable and others are really frustrating. I could try to describe the sounds, but I figured it was better to record Oscar and let you hear mini pig noises directly from him. Note: Mini pig sounds (and these audio files) can be loud, so you might have some explaining to do to your co-workers if you play these clips at work.
1) The first sound is Oscar “talking” to us. Mini pigs “talk” in oinks nearly all day, and it’s slightly disruptive but mostly pleasant. Once you get used to these little oinks, it feels like a conversation with your mini pig and can become cute and enjoyable. Here is a video of Oscar “talking” to us (and an audio file if you prefer).
2) The next sound is Oscar’s anticipatory noise, and it’s my favorite. He makes this sound when he’s anticipating something, whether it’s smelling something interesting or meeting a new person. He often makes this sound when he’s excited about getting a fun treat. For the sound recording, we gave him a baby carrot, a food he doesn’t get every day. He’s always eager and excited when he makes this sound, which is probably why I like it so much.
3) The third sound is Oscar’s frustrated noise. It reminds me of the sound a human makes when frustrated, which makes it endearing. He makes this sound at different volumes depending on what he’s frustrated about. He makes it at a low level if he can’t figure something out or if he “lost” his family in the house, but it’s much louder if he isn’t getting what he wants, usually food.
4) The fourth sound is Oscar’s hangry noise. Oscar makes this noise when he perceives that it is past his dinner time and is hungry and angry. This is a really frustrating sound for me, as it is loud and disruptive. This sound generally results in a battle of wills, as Oscar makes it when he wants to be fed, and I won’t feed him when he’s making his hangry noise. Aside from outright squealing, Oscar’s hangry noise is the equivalent of a mini pig temper tantrum.
5) The last sound is Oscar’s squealing noise. I knew that mini piglets squealed, but I hadn’t actually heard the sound until I held Oscar for the very first time. It was so much louder than I expected! What’s interesting is that he barely opens his mouth when he squeals, yet this awful, piercing sound comes out loud and clear. Oscar did most of his squealing when we were learning to pick up and hold him, so it has largely subsided. Mini pig squeals are unpleasant and painful for your ears, but at least they generally stop once the piglet has adjusted to his family and home.
Update: Oscar some new sounds! Listen to his sleepy screaming and his snoring.
Hahahaha! These are perfect!!! Our house will never be quite again!
Hahaha…ours will never be quiet again either! The life of a pig parent! 🙂
my piggy freaks out when i play 5 for him
Haha…I can’t blame him. It’s a pretty awful sound! 🙂
I received a mini pig for my 30th birthday I’m not sure about these sounds plus I don’t think it’s ever had human interaction he’s 4 months old and off of formula just trying to make sure I’m doing the right thing if you could send me any kind of guy that I would appreciate it
Hi! The sounds are generally overwhelming at first but do get better as your pig gets older and more comfortable at home. Do you have any specific questions about the sounds or the interaction that I can answer? I also have a post on bonding with your mini pig that might help with your interaction concerns. Just search for bonding on the main Life With a Mini Pig page, and you’ll find it.
Does Oscar have tusks that part concerns me
Oscar doesn’t have tusks yet. He will someday, but they haven’t grown yet. Here is a helpful article about pig tusks that might help. http://www.pigs4ever.com/pot_belly_pig_information/tusks_and_hooves.php
Totally off topic. Why won’t my mini pig eat like treats or anything? He only eats his food.
Hi Sage! That’s somewhat common when mini pigs are really young and especially new at home. I’m not sure why some pigs are picky about treats or choose to just eat their food and others eat anything in sight, but I think it will change as your pig gets older. My theory (which is just that and is not based on research or anything) is that some stick to what they know and what is comfortable when they are new at home and still adjusting. Then, as they get more comfortable and learn their environment, they branch out more and start trying new things. Just my thought but my guess is your pig will be eating all kinds of foods before you know it. 🙂
Hi! I just got my mini pig and he is biting and rooting everything !!! Will this go away as he gets older or what should I do to stop this? Thank you!
Hi Emily! Some of that behavior should improve as your pig gets more adjusted to home and as your pig gets older. Oscar is significantly more calm and easy going now than he was when he was younger. That being said, I think the best solution for now is to focus on keeping your pig entertained and stimulated. This will help him get his energy out in positive ways and keep him from wanting to root on everything in places you don’t want him to. I find letting Oscar have rooting time outside to be the absolute best way to get his energy out and keep him happy. When the weather is nice, I try to get him outside for a half hour to an hour each morning so that he can root to his heart’s content. When he can do that, he is noticeably calmer and better behaved the rest of the day. Make sure to not try to stop his rooting, but instead focus more on redirecting his rooting to either outside or to a rooting box, ball pit, or rooting rug where he can root in more productive places. Oscar took to rooting constantly on some new rugs we bought several months ago. It was driving me crazy, and that’s when I started making sure he got enough rooting time outside. Now that he does, he’s too tired to root on the rugs. If you can’t get him out to root as often as he would like, you can also look into some of the treat dispensing toys. Here are the ones Oscar likes: http://lifewithaminipig.com/toys-for-mini-pigs/.
As for the biting, we’ve struggled with Oscar’s biting too. I think you will see some improvement once your pig adjusts to you more. Right now he’s probably still scared and not sure who he can trust. In the meantime, I recommend checking out my other posts on biting because we’ve had our share of issues with it. You can find a lot of information in those (more than I can give you here), including our attempts to stop the biting and what’s helped and what hasn’t. If you go to the search box on the site and search for biting, you can start with some of those. Hope that helps!
Hi! I love your blog, you seemed to have gone through everything I’m going through as a new pig owner. I’ve had my pig for a week now and have had a hard time adjusting (maybe just as hard as my new pig). The squealing is a MAJOR issue with me. I feel like even when I let him work it out he takes a very long time to calm down. How long did it take Oscar to get past this?
Hi. Tonight is night 3 with my 3rd month old toby. 1st night slept all night. 2nd night got up 3 time grunting very loudly no matter if I feed him give him something to drink or take him outside or just love on him he still grunts. I’m actually up with him right now. He has his own bed with baby blanket that I wrap him in in his bed.
Hello I am Taryn, I just got a 5-week old Hampshire pig named Circe and she weighs 20 lbs. She absolutely does not like to be held and she refuses to walk with us on her harness. Usually she goes crazy and screams and fights us. Is there any way to prevent this in a baby piglet?
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and all the noises pigs make! We just got our little boy yesterday and were horrified with the noises coming out of this little guy! It caused shear panic for our 9 year old who ran to her room to distance herself from the high pitch squeals and our attempts to soothe him.
Today is going much better and we are learning what is normal pig talk and trying to avoid the other squeals or tolerating better when picking him up.
Your shared experienc and recordings were so helpful and comforting knowing we aren’t the only ones adjusting to the array of piggy grunts, squeals, and yelps.
When my pig is out of our house she’s dead quiet and I can not figure out if she’s scared or what. She’s so well behaved and says/does nothing when we take her out of the house. Is this common? She is also terrified of cats. How can I get her to be more social with animals? Please help.
Hello! We just got our mini pig, and I’m wondering how you introduce them to dogs? Any tips on making this easier? We have him in a separate room for now until he is comfortable with us, but no sure how to bring the dogs into the picture.
It really depends on size of your pig and your dogs and how well tempered your dogs are your dogs are most likely to be more scared of him then he is them
But how to introduce have a few people by yourside put your dogs on leashes hold them close hold the pig and inch closer to the dogs and let them sniff