7wk neutered male mikni pig

Question
we have decided to keep our little pig, he is making progress. Will he really start to grow tusks in a couple years? If so can we get them removed or trimmed?

Answer
Yes, all male pigs grow tusks. They grow quickly in intact males and slowly in neutered males.

Tusks are ivory, just like elephant tusks. They are actually part of the jawbone itself, so removing them is a bad idea. They are fairly soft and easy to trim with a cutting wire (available from valleyvet.com ). Most vets insist on putting pigs under to trim. But, calm pigs can be trained to tolerate a tusk trim or blunting, and there's several techniques to restrain a pig for tusk trimming.

Tusks will start to protrude past his lip when he is between two and three years old. This is also the age where he will reach emotional maturity. If he lives mostly indoors, he'll need hoof trimming before he's a year old.

If you start now, you can train him to cooperate with tusk and hoof trimming. Handle his feet and teeth daily. No exceptions. Filing feet and brushing teeth have to become just another part of his daily routine.

Rub an emery board around his hooves and a toothbrush around inside his mouth. When his feet get longer, switch to a wood file. If his feet are filed a little bit every day they should not be a problem.

When he gets tusks, use the cutting wire on them instead of a toothbrush. You won't have to cut all the way through the tusk at once. You can do it over several days, and once there's a deep cut in it, it may break off on it's own. Another option is to use the wood file or a battery powered dremel tool to keep the tip of the tusk very blunt. If you want to use the tool, get him used to it by first having it next to you, then near his face, then turned on, then turned on near his face, etc.