Appropriate Bedding Material for your Pet Pig


Pigs make wonderful pets but people who keep them don't always
realize how many common ordinary things can be injurious to a
pig. For instance, the type of bedding material that you use for
your pet pig can be dangerous. Often blankets are made from synthetic
substances that, if your pig were to take a bite out of them,
which pigs, especially young pigs, will do, may well make them
sick.

Think about what you use for your pig to sleep in or on. Never
use anything that can harm your pig. Blankets made from nylon or
polyester are a big no, no. Pigs are grazers and will sample
anything that is at ground level and sometimes higher. That is
why, if you keep house plants that are toxic to animals they
should be moved high enough that the pig can't reach them so that
you do not risk poisoning your pig. By the same token, do a
thorough search of the exercise yard you plan for your pig and
remove any unknown plants or plants known to be toxic. (Oleander
is a good example; it is toxic to most living things including
people.)

The dietary fiber provided by natural plant material, on the
other hand, is necessary for your piggy. Pigs are natural grazers
and especially if kept inside they need to be provided with good
dietary fiber in order to keep them healthy. A grazing box full
of edible grasses and dandelions and some sticks for them to push
around while they graze is great. Grazing is the main way that
pigs keep their immune system working properly. For this reason,
be very careful if you should allow your pig into a room with
carpeting. Watch the pig carefully. The nylon in the carpet, if
it manages to bite and eat some of it, can kill them.

Providing your pig with a blanket of one hundred percent cotton
or another natural fiber gives your pig both some cover and some
fiber to chew on, and something for it to cover itself up with so
that it can feel safe and secure. Pigs enjoy burrowing and hiding
under material while they sleep. It is an instinct that gives
them protection from predators. A deep bed of grass hay and a
nice cotton blanket is a bed fit for a piggy king.

The danger to pigs from eating indigestible material or
accidentally poisoning themselves is very high when a pig is kept
indoors. If a pig does manage to eat something that is
indigestible it can cause gut impaction that may be fatal. Ant or
rodent poisons, cleaners, and household products such as carpet
scent dust will poison your pig if ingested. You must be very
careful not to allow your pig near any of these products or use
these products in the house areas where your pig is allowed.

Again, if you have an outside enclosure for your pig (which is
ideal) make sure that you use some kind of edible hay that you
keep sixteen inches deep so that the pig can burrow into it at
sleep time. And check on the bedding every now and again because
not only does you piggy eat some of it but bedding gets mashed
flat after time.

Be aware of what you give your piggy and what is in your piggy's
environment. It just could save its life.


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