Micro Mini Pig Teething

Question
Hello,

I'm a proud Mama to a 3 month old female piggy. I was wondering if it's safe to give our micro mini pig baby Orajel? Last week she was 13 weeks old and she was very ornery and moody. I read that it's ok to give baby asprin to pigs, but I'm afraid to do this. I've read that female pigs go into heat by 12 weeks of age, but they don't become sexually active until they're 5 months of age. I'm going to get her spayed soon, but I think the reason she was so moody is because she's probably teething and was going into heat at the same time. Is that possible? She foams at the mouth sometimes and grinds her teeth, but her behavior has been normal this week.

Do you recommend a babies teething ring for her that does not have the gel in it? I assume she would bite through it and the gel to freeze the teething ring could be toxic to her.

I also wanted to know if there's a large size dog bone that you recommend we give to her to chew on? She loves the Greenies bones, but they are expensive and she eats the large ones up in no time at all. I don't want to give her a rawhide (made of pigs ears) bone.

Lastly, I was wondering what to do about her constantly knocking over her water dish? We have noticed she seems to do this when she throws a temper tantrum. For instance, when I'm cleaning and I put her up in her room, she gets mad at me and throws her water bowl, food bowl and toys around. She's so mischievous when she gets mad that she puts her baby pillow in her potty pan! I'd let her "help" me clean, but she wants to put everything in her mouth to chew on!

I love our baby girl and I hope you can help!
Thank you!

Answer
Pigs have three sets of teeth in their lives. The final teeth don't erupt until piggy reaches full adulthood at age 2-1/2 or so. This means that your piggy is going to be teething pretty much all the time. So it's really nothing to worry about unless piggy is showing obvious signs of pain and discomfort.

It's hard to look inside a tiny pig mouth, but you might be able to feel with a finger. Put a little sugar on your finger, and stick it in piggy's mouth. Feel for loose teeth, lumps or bits of odd junk stuck in between or behind the teeth.

Pigs grind their teeth and foam at the mouth for many reasons. They may be contented or angry or bored, or they may smell, or just be thinking about, food.

Male piglets are fertile at just 8 weeks of age. Fortunately, female piglets usually are not fertile until about 5 months, they can begin cycling as young as 12 - 16 weeks. So it's very possible your baby is in her first heat.

Most pigs actually root more than chew. They have powerful neck muscles and can really dig deep and hard with their snouts. Pigs enjoy any toy they can push or root on, especially if it makes noise when doing so. They often like infant toys. They also enjoy tearing apart old magazines and phone books. Some pigs love the noise that plastic shopping bags make. I've never heard of a pig choking on a bag, but it could happen.

Pigs do throw temper tantrums. Most well trained pigs outgrow this phase in a few years. One option is to temporarily remove her water bowl if you know she's going to spill it. For example when you go to clean her room, remove the food and water bowls first, before doing anything else. Another option is to fasten the bowl to a large, heavy board, or directly to the floor. By large board, I mean like 3 ft square, or so. There's also commercial water dishes available that mount directly on the wall. Some of them can even be connected to the household plumbing to fill automatically. Manufacturers make assorted styles of "tip proof" bowls. I'm sure these are tip-proof for the average dog, but pigs use their noses to root, so these styles may or may not work for you. Check Amazon, Drs Foster & Smith, and Jeffers Pet or Jeffers Livestock websites for a huge variety of bowls.

The desire to put everything in her mouth to chew is her way of exploring the world. Pigs don't have hands, they use their snouts and mouths instead.