Diet

Question

Nicanor   Hi, Nicanor is 7 months old and looks healthy, his breeders told me i could feed him with dog food and a vegetarian diet, since here in Mexico we can't find special food for him, but I'm afraid he might get sick in the future (it happened with my ferret and cat food). Today i found out i can get pot bellied pig food Mazuri brand, i just want to know if it is good for him, so i can buy it and recommend it to the breeders so they can sell healthy piglets. thank you

Answer
Yes, Mazuri is an excellent brand. Manna-Pro is another good brand you might be able to find.

If you can't find mini-pig food, there are much better options than dog food. Regular hog food is not a good choice, because it's designed to make pigs grow fat quickly. It's Ok for a short while in a pinch, but not long term. Rabbit food could also be Ok for emergencies. Most feed for other small pets, like hamsters, usually include bird seed. Pig like bird seed but it isn't good for them, so that kind of feed is not a good choice.

What's in the bag is more important than the name on the front. Look for a horse or mule feed or a multi-animal feed that's low in protein and high in fiber. Avoid anything labeled "Sweet Feed", Sweet Feed is very high in sugar and much like eating only deserts.

I'm not sure what the rules are in Mexico, in the US, every ingredient must be listed on the bag, in order of quantity. In other words, if a food is 40% alfalfa, 30% oats, 20% wheat and 10% rye, the ingredients must appear in the order alfalfa, oats, wheat, rye.

Look for ingredients with recognizable names, like alfalfa and oats. Avoid foods that include an ingredient called "animal products", and watch out for words like "sugar" "fructose" "molasses" or any sort of "syrup".