Autumn Acres Mini Pet Pigs

Episode: 49/ Season 2 / November 7, 2023

Can I Give My Pet Pig a Bath?

If you have a pet pig, most likely you have tried to give them a bath. There is a 50/50 chance that it did not go well. Giving a pig a bath can be traumatic for the pig and us. There is a very good reason why it is so difficult for a pig. Pigs are prey animals so anything new or even slightly scary sends them into high alert and makes them panic. I have some tips that will help bath time be much more successful and way less stressful for everybody involved.

What can we do to make bath time not so scary? Bathrooms in general are scary to a pig because they echo, they are bright and maybe cold. A bathtub has no traction and it echoes and has loud water flowing into the tub and filling up. We want to try to make it a calm, happy experience. What makes a pig calm and happy? FOOD. We need to incorporate food into a bath for our pig so they view it as something fun and not super scary. Let’s go over the steps I do to give a pig a bath. If it does not go well at all I will talk about the steps to desensitize your pig to getting a bath in the first place.

How to give a pig a bath.

Get the bathroom all ready before you bring your pig in.
The water temperature should be warm to hot and about half way up their body.
Put a towel or bath mat on the bottom of the tub so it’s not slippery when you put your pig in.
Have a cup ready to dump the water on your pig, have shampoo ready, towel ready, and snacks ready.
Once everything is ready, bring the pig in and be as calm and quiet as possible.
Slowly fill the cup and pour it on the pig. Be very gentle and be sure to get all of the shampoo off.
Once the pig is soaped up and rinsed off let the pig enjoy the water if they are. If the pig is enjoying the bath I let them eat the treats while the water drains. If they are panicking then I take them out and get them wrapped up in a towel and get them out of there as quickly as possible.

If you have a pig that is freaking out and jumping out of the tub it’s important to get them in and out as quickly as possible. It is very common, so try very hard not to stress out. If you have tried to give your pig a bath and it is freaking out and trying to bite and will not cooperate at all, then I suggest putting in a little extra time to desensitize your pig to the bathroom and the tub. This is going to help immensely.

How can we desensitize our pig to the bathtub? This is going to take some time and effort on your part. It will be worth your time and effort.

Start with getting your pig actually into the bathroom.
Feed them their breakfast and dinner in the bathroom until they willingly go into the bathroom.
Next try getting them into the bathtub by feeding them in the bathtub.
Once the pig is excited to get in the tub, I run a bath with very low water and start brushing them while they are in the tub.
Once they are comfortable with that then I raise the water.
Then I try to pour some water on them.

Once a pig lets me do whatever to them while they are in the bath I know they are officially desensitized to taking a bath. I would then give them a bath once a week for a month. I don’t use soap every bath for that week, sometimes I just get them wet and brush them. Putting in the effort to desensitize your pig to baths, giving them a bath, without soap, often while they are young, is going to help bath time be so much easier when they are older. It is very important to teach your pig to be comfortable and calm in the bathtub. I promise that all the effort will be so worth it!

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