dry-skin

Question
Gilbert my 3rd old pot-bellied pig has dry peely skin just on his back-I've been wiping him with skin so soft and giving him a vit E pill aday is there any thing else that will help?

Answer
Piglets have soft, supple skin, but adults have hard, thick skin especially on their backs and shoulders. Intact males grow very thick "armor" on their shoulders, to protect them in mating disputes.

Pigs are very individual animals. Some neutered male pigs will grow "light armor", not as heavy as an intact male, but heavier than usual.

Peeling skin can be a normal sign of blowing a coat, a healed sunburn, or mange. Using sunscreen on piggy's back will help prevent sunburn. You can use any sunscreen made for people on pigs. Pigs do not like cold lotions, so drop the container into a bowl of hot water for a few minutes before applying it. If the problem is sunburn, then preventing further sunburn will solve the problem.

If piggy is blowing his coat, and that's the cause of the problem, the peeling will stop when coat has come in fully. If the problem is mange, you might begin to see other signs such as an orange color behind the ears. A veterinarian can detect mange by doing a skin scraping, and prescribe medicine.