Too late to socialize and neuter?

Question
I just got a male pot belly pig on Monday. He is about 4 months old and hasn't been neutered yet. I've always wanted a pot belly pig but this one kind of spur of the moment. A friend of the family had him but discovered they weren't allowed to have him where they live, so they brought him to their parents house in the country. They didn't want him, so they just let him loose in their back yard and left food out for him which he came up to eat on occasion. I felt he deserved a good home and didn't want him to be stuck outside all winter long, so I offered to take him home. At first he was very timid and didn't want anyone touching him. The second night, however, he actually let me baby him and rub his belly for about two hours straight. I thought we were making progress, but last night when I got home from work, he pretty much attacked me (chased me around the room trying to bite me... I jumped up on the couch to get away from him, but he even jumped up there to get to me which he has never done). My mom wanted to spank him, but I told her we weren't supposed to do that. I tried using gentle commands saying "no" but to no avail. My mom took him outside to go to the bathroom while I prepared a root box for him. I wasn't sure if he was being aggressive because he was bored or he was mad at me for being gone all day (at this point, I was the only person he'd tried attacking that day). When he came back inside, he played in his box for awhile then started trying to attack everyone in the room. He knocked over the only thing in the room, a jug of his pig feed and proceeded to hump it for a long time. Now I'm wondering if his bad behavior was due to sexual frustration. I'm hoping that getting him neutered will help calm him down, but my mom is afraid he's already too wild due to his upbringing thus far. I read that you should get them neutered before they're three months old, so is it already too late for it to make a difference? Do you think there's still hope for socializing him and getting him to have better behavior? Any advice you could give me and possible explanations for his behavior would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Answer
It is never too late to neuter a male pig. His behavior is typical of intact males. It will take about a month after he's neutered for him to really settle down, but you can begin a socialization program for him immediately. The problem is his hormones are driving his behavior.

Give him his own safe space, where he can be confined unsupervised, like a closet or laundry room. Put a bed, litter box, and toys in with him.

Spanking really doesn't help. The way to deal with his chasing/attacking is to stand your ground and make him back up a few steps. Keep something handy, like a garbage pail lid or small board, that he can bite without hurting you. If he attacks, use the shield, and make him take a couple of steps back. Chances are he'll continue to try a few more times because his hormones are telling him to. He may also turn to another person, so everyone should be ready.

Then, make him get up and move at random times. This is how pigs in the wild reinforce their social status, by making subordinate pigs move aside.

Piggy will have to go potty often, at least once every 90 minutes, until he's about 8 or 9 months old. Take him to his potty box or outside at least once every 90 minutes to prevent any potty accidents.

There's a list of vets that treat pot-bellied pigs, along with other pbp info, at www.farec.org

Also, I suggest the Yahoo Pot-Bellied Pig Info and Chat group. This is a group of knowledgeable and experienced pot-bellied pig owners that are happy to answer questions and talk about pigs and their pig experience.

Finally, I also recommend the book Pot-Bellied Pig Behavior and Training by Priscilla Valentine. Pris really understands how pigs think and why they do the things they do. Her book is available from Amazon.