pot belly pig bite

Question
Hi Helen
just doing some research on line about pig agression and found the email about the person who was bit by the piglet she found on the road.
i recently aquired a young un neutered male.  i do have an unspayed female in the pen as well.  the male charged my teenage son and when i intervened to attempt to teach him to respect humans by making him move back, he lunged at my leg and bit me.  needless to say i spent 4 hrs in emerg,got a tetnus shot & antibiotics and nine stitches.  it was a huge gash approx 4" long and 1 1/2" deep.  the previous owner said that he was friendly and her son 'played' with him.  could the introduction of a female have caused this?  i am shocked and not sure what to do with the guy.  he does have tusks on both his upper and lower jaws (hence the damage to my leg).  i have two preschoolers and can't take the chance of anyone else getting hurt.
Danielle

Answer
Intelligent animals are complex, sometimes it can be hard to understand what's going on inside a pig's head. People often expect pigs to think and behave like dogs or cats, but they actually think and act quite differently.
I am assuming that these pigs are adults.
Normally, when an unaltered pair of pigs are placed together, the male devotes all his attention to the female. But, the male pig does not usually "guard" or "protect" the female from others, he just wants to "have fun".
Chances are the aggression is due to some other issue. The pig may have been abused by a male teenager. Or, he may have been able to "push around" a male teen at his previous home.
But the most likely cause is that the male has realized that this is his new home. Pigs have a distinct social order, and he sees your family as part of his herd. He wants to be the "Top Hog". He was treating your son the way he would treat another pig. When you intervened, he redirected his aggression towards you.
A technique that works with smaller pigs to stop a charging pig is putting one or both hands on his forehead and pushing down and away. It won't work on a large pig and it can be scary to try this. But it will throw a smaller pig off balance, sending the message that you want to be in charge.
I strongly recommend Priscilla Valentines book Pot-Bellied Pig Behavior and Training. She really understands how pigs think. It's available from Amazon and Pigstuff.com