Pig cleaning

Question
How often should a pig be showered, and what is a good method of doing so.

Answer
Pigs don't really need to be bathed or showered. But a regular bath for indoor pigs makes life easier for the people who live with the pig.

It's ok to wash piggys feet and legs every time piggy comes in the house. Most people who do give their pigs full baths, do so between once a week and once a month. Other people bathe their pigs before taking them out to public places. And some people bathe them only when they've gotten extremely dirty or muddy.

The younger the pig, the easier it is to teach them to take a bath. Older pigs can learn, but it will take more time and it's better to go slower with them.

Most people find that a sponge bath works best. Use slightly warm water, not hot or cold. Using a damp cloth, start with the feet and work your way up, wiping piggy clean and occasionally rinsing out the cloth in the water. If this is an older pig and a first bath, you may want to stop after doing just the legs, and work your way farther up the pig on the next bath.

Soap is not necessary and can dry out the skin. Pigs tend to have dry, flaky skin anyway, and soap can make this worse. But if piggy gets into something really sticky or smelly, then add a little moisturizing soap to the water, and rinse the soap off by washing piggy again with fresh, clean water.

After the bath, apply a moisturizer. Any moisturizer made for people is fine for pigs. Corn Huskers and Udder Cream are inexpensive and readily available.

Pigs love to play in water. They also realize that "playing" is not the same as "bathing". So some people simply put their pig out on a fairly clean surface, like a driveway or deck. They fill a baby wading pool with water, drop in a few grapes or slices of apple, and let piggy play in the water until piggy is clean. This is also a great way to keep piggy cool in hot weather, using cool or cold water in the pool.