Finding homes for pet pigs is always a problem because people have a conception of what it is like to have a pet pig and find very quickly thatin the real world it is not quite what they had in mind. Films like Babe, which revolved round a talking piglet, give children (and adults) the idea that it would be great fun to have a pet pig and before they know it they have taken on something which very quickly turns into a nightmare for the pig, the owner, neighbours, friends, animal welfare officers, councils and rescue centres. I have lost count of the amount of pigs I have re-housed who were named 'Babe'.

Unlike the smallholder who is producing pigs for market, the pet pig keeper has a different set of criteria in maintaining his pig. A pig can live 15-20 years and there are even pigs who have reached 25 years. With this in mind it must be realised that you do not want your pig to be continually adding weight otherwise within 5 years you will have a pig which will be overweight and suffer some of the many problems that this can bring, lameness, heart conditions, fat blindness etc. Unfortunately people think that potbellied pigs should be fat, which in part is due to our perception bought about by images of fat farm pigs in our childhood. In truth one of the hardest things to do is to control the intake of a pet pig. Pet pigs need a special feed that is lower in protein (12.5%) than normal finishing pig feed (17% average). Although this special feed is available, many continue to feed the higher protein feed and wonder why their pig is overweight. Many pet pig owners get very defensive about the weight of their pig and will go to great lengths to explain why their pig is the size it is and find it difficult to accept that they are over feeding their pig.

As you can see, I have my work cut out working with pet pigs, although to be honest the tough part of my work is with the owners and not the pigs. In short, there is far more to keeping a potbellied pig than you think.