Teacup Piglets - Not Pot Bellied Pigs

[Arachnophobphile]

So I stumbled upon animals you can get called Teacup Piglets. These are not the same as Pot-Bellied Pigs.

Don't ask me how but looking for dogs in the Humane Societies around me somehow I stumbled and tripped into these teacup piglets. There is evidently breeders for these with one that has 20 years experience breeding them right here in my state.

I don't know how I feel about these animals. I guess the baby piglets are cute but not puppy cute to me.

I mean how would I even be able to look at one of these probably sitting close to me while I'm frying up some bacon or cooking a ham?

Anyways was wondering if anyone out here has one and can provide more insight to them. Apparently the breeder in my state was claiming they are smarter than dogs. They are also trained to use litter boxes.

I'm more curious than actually interested in getting one.

 

[Mustafa67]

So I stumbled upon animals you can get called Teacup Piglets. These are not the same as Pot-Bellied Pigs.

Don't ask me how but looking for dogs in the Humane Societies around me somehow I stumbled and tripped into these teacup piglets. There is evidently breeders for these with one that has 20 years experience breeding them right here in my state.

I don't know how I feel about these animals. I guess the baby piglets are cute but not puppy cute to me.

I mean how would I even be able to look at one of these probably sitting close to me while I'm frying up some bacon or cooking a ham?

Anyways was wondering if anyone out here has one and can provide more insight to them. Apparently the breeder in my state was claiming they are smarter than dogs. They are also trained to use litter boxes.

I'm more curious than actually interested in getting one.

Very cute

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Very cute

You've seen them in person or have one?

 

[The Snark]

No such species. All miniature pigs are cross or inbred, some many generations old. Some people in our town got a teacup pot belly which they have allowed to free range in their field. It's about 10-12 years old now and last weighing tipped the scale at around 70 kg.

 

[Spifdar]

Generally speaking "teacup pigs" are malnourished piglets that can and will grow into normally sized pet pigs (think potbellies) once they're fed well enough. The breeders often recommend a very harsh "specialized diet" that basically keeps them tiny through starvation. They get to be well over 100lbs, which while not "meat hog" 400lbs, is still very heavy for someone expecting the "teacup" pet that they were promised.

In general pigs are very smart, but I'd definitely do research before you choose to keep one as a pet, and do not trust any breeder that promises you'll end up with a tiny pig. (Edit to clarify: the "you" here is general!)

 

[Arachnophobphile]

No such species. All miniature pigs are cross or inbred, some many generations old. Some people in our town got a teacup pot belly which they have allowed to free range in their field. It's about 10-12 years old now and last weighing tipped the scale at around 70 kg.

Ah, so same as so-called pure bred dogs.

I've seen in person Pot-Bellied Pigs when left to free graze, they are enormous. They are very intelligent though.

Generally speaking "teacup pigs" are malnourished piglets that can and will grow

No, these so-called teacup piglets do not grow enormous. The ones that do are from back yard breeders making the claim only for the owners to see after years it's a giant hog.

I did some reading on the breeders and that seems to be the case. The teacup piglets only get to 12 - 16 LBs as adults.

This was more just a curiosity I had with these. I much prefer a dog.

 

[Brewser]

Canis lupus familiaris all the way.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Man's best friend ‍🦺

 

[Spifdar]

No, these so-called teacup piglets do not grow enormous. The ones that do are from back yard breeders making the claim only for the owners to see after years it's a giant hog.

I did some reading on the breeders and that seems to be the case. The teacup piglets only get to 12 - 16 LBs as adults.

This was more just a curiosity I had with these. I much prefer a dog.

They are lying, unfortunately, in order to sell their animals. There's no pig that matures out at 15lbs, not unless you go looking at other species of animal entirely. The tiniest pig breed's a German-bred variety that comes in a bit under 100lbs.

Bear in mind that some breeders show their "breeding stock" as small pigs (still not 15lbs) but that pigs can breed at three months old.

 

[The Snark]

Watch out for scammers that breed runts and give them fancy names. A lot of runts have genetic defects or diet deficiency. Rickets is pretty common.

Nutritional Diseases of Pigs - Nutritional Diseases of Pigs - Merck Veterinary Manual

Learn about the veterinary topic of Nutritional Diseases of Pigs. Find specific details on this topic and related topics from the Merck Vet Manual.

www.merckvetmanual.com

 

[Arachnophobphile]

I have no plans on getting one of these piglets I just stumbled on them. I still don't know how I wound up finding them when I was looking for dogs. It stoked my curiosity only. My luck I get one then have a huge hog years down the road losing my mind over it.

Yeah I still say they wind up 100-200LBs. Maybe not 1000LBs but it's still too freaking big. I rather have a dog that big.

 

[Spifdar]

Yuuup it's really tragic. Like, that site, they say the pigs end up the same size as French Bulldogs but the pigs they show alongside that breed are piglets. So are all the pigs on their site. No adults shown. Their advertisement video has comments turned off, etc. Then they sell those animals for $1000-$2000. To give an idea of how bad the situation is, the Guinness World Records "smallest domestic pig" was one of these breeders, who turned out to be starving the animals & claiming the pig in question as an adult, and when they found out what was going on, they flat-out revoked the record and removed "smallest domestic pig" from listings permanently due to those animal welfare reasons. The breeder still advertises the pig as a record-holder, but with YouTube comments again turned off...

I think it'd be cool to have a pig IF you know what you're getting into. They're supposedly really smart and affectionate, but they can be destructive, and if you DID wind up with a giant one... well, there's a whoooole lot of pet pigs in US rescues because of the scam "teacup pig" trade. I'm a dog person too, though. I'd much rather have a big ol' mutt, but definitely could see the appeal. Honestly I'd be more likely to want a big pig than anything "teacup" sized

 

[The Snark]

And then of course there's that stench. Happens quite often around here. Roll up the windows in your car, close the vents, then you have to decide whether to speed up and eventually catch up and pass the hog truck or slow down and wait it out. Cat's piss has nothing on hog farms and intensive hog farms require wearing respirators. Many states have laws requiring catchment basins for the slurry and safeguards keeping the slurry from entering the waterways. Vehicles leaving hog farms have to drive through sterilizing solution basins to get the tires cleaned.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

And then of course there's that stench. Happens quite often around here. Roll up the windows in your car, close the vents, then you have to decide whether to speed up and eventually catch up and pass the hog truck or slow down and wait it out. Cat's piss has nothing on hog farms and intensive hog farms require wearing respirators. Many states have laws requiring catchment basins for the slurry and safeguards keeping the slurry from entering the waterways. Vehicles leaving hog farms have to drive through sterilizing solution basins to get the tires cleaned.

Yup been there I can vouch for the hog stench

 

[Spifdar]

God I've never known whether that's just pig, or intensive pig farming but it's honestly the worst.

There's places here that sell houses in winter without warning buyers about the stink come summer...

 

[The Snark]

There's places here that sell houses in winter without warning buyers about the stink come summer...

We have a housing project near here. Put in a paved road, brought in electricity and water, built several display homes, and nobody stays there, 2 bedroom home with a carport for $18,000 and no takers. 3 acre hog farm one field over - about 150 yards.

 

[viper69]

sandwiches!