pig odor

Question
We just got a male 6 week old pot belly pig.  He was outside at the place we got him from and he had a terrible odor, so we bathed him.  The odor seemed to go away right after the bath, but the next day the odor was back.  Is this normal for male pigs or is he still just dirty from being outside.  It seems that the odor gets worse when he gets excited or scared.

Answer
The odor is a sign that he is excited or scared. Intact male pot-bellied pigs secrete an oily substance in a gland called the preputial diverticulum, located near the penis sheath in the center of the belly. Intact female pigs love this smell, but most people feel differently.

Getting him neutered will practically eliminate the secretions and the smell. Surgery to remove the preputial diverticulum altogether is difficult and expensive, and carries a high risk of complications from scar tissue, so it's not recommended.

Neutered adult males may occasionally release this odor when they are excited or stressed, but the intensity of the scent will decrease as he gets older.

There's a list of vets who see pot-bellied pigs here:http://www.petpigs.com/vet_list/map.html