Mini Pig Indoor Spaces: Ideas & Inspiration (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep a mini pig inside? ›

It is recommended that owners keep other pets and provide frequent human interaction. Recommendation on the size and configuration of the pen is 10 square feet per pig.

Your potbellied pigs bed should consist of blankets and pillows. Never use cedar bedding or sleeping bags. Your best bet will be to get some cheap blankets from a thrift store as they love to shred them to just the way they want them. This will make them as happy as a pig in heaven.

Potbellied

Though there are 14 subspecies of potbellied pigs, most are dwarfs and don't usually get larger than a medium or large sized dog. Potbellied pigs are clean, odorless, and can thrive indoors or outdoors. They're highly trainable, which means you can potty train them!

Much like people, pigs are soothed by music, love playing ball, and even enjoy getting massages.

Mini-pigs may be housed successfully inside if they are given enough space, an area in which to root (dig), and proper environmental enrichment (see handout "Behavior of Mini-Pigs").

Pigs generally prefer heavy, durable objects to push around, such as tires, cement blocks, large rocks, bales of hay, large piles of straw, and iron chains. They also like soft, chewy items such as leather and hemp rope. Despite their name, they prefer to play with clean objects over dirty ones.

Pigs must always have access to warm, dry, draft-free, straw-bedded housing in cooler weather and at night. Appropriate fencing must be used to enclose their outdoor area, as pigs are very strong and can uproot it, push it over and even dig underneath it if not properly secured.

Potbellied pig shelter

A large pen equipped with a structure—such as a large dog house—to provide a sleeping, feeding, and watering area makes a suitable outdoor home. You should allow at least 50 square feet per pig.

They will need some form of bedding to sleep in. Comforters, beach towels, blankets, or sleeping bags are good, soft choices for bedding. Mini-pigs should have daily outdoor time in a fenced-in yard to allow time for foraging, rooting, and playing.

Where do mini pigs sleep? ›

Pigs should have a cozy sheltered area away from extreme weather. For indoor pigs, they tend to prefer an area with blankets they can burrow under. Some pig owners have their pig crate trained which becomes their “safe” spot.

Mini pigs love heat, and the warm blanket might help her settle down and feel more comfortable in her new space. Of course, always feel the blanket first to make sure it's not too hot for your mini pig, but otherwise you can leave it in her room or wrap her in it if she'll allow you to cuddle with her.

Around midday, pigs like to rest for several hours or dedicate themselves to extensive bathing, wallowing and rolling around. In the early evening hours, they set up their sleeping nest by bringing together fresh material such as grass, leaves and thin twigs, in which they nestle comfortably.

To put the pig at ease, talk softly and sweet as you would to a timid child. Make your movements purposeful and slow. Do not force yourself into the pig's comfort zone. If they are backing away, you've gotten too close.

Pigs require little in the way of housing and can be kept indoors or out. They can be toilet trained like dogs. Indoor pigs will need their own space, preferably their own room with a pile of blankets to nest in.

Pigs have very specific needs which are difficult to meet, meaning that keeping them as pets can be a real challenge. Although some people are well-equipped to own a pig, it is important that potential owners are properly informed about the challenges they may face when buying and keeping a pig.

People often expect caring for a pet pig to be similar to caring for a dog, but pigs have specific needs that are difficult to meet in a house. Mini pigs are best suited to an outdoor environment that provides them lots of space and opportunities to carry out their natural behaviours.

Pigs can also be kept inside as they are easily housetrained or litter-box trained.” Pet pigs, like their livestock counterparts, should be checked regularly by a veterinarian to ensure that they are healthy as possible.