AboutHelen Morrison Expertise Pot-bellied or other miniature pet pig care, including diet, housing, training, health care. Can provide information about zoning, adoption, supplies, and organizations. Questions about any kind of pet swine are welcome!
Experience Fifteen years experience owning, raising, and caring for small pet swine, including "Vietnamese" pot-bellied pigs.
Organizations Pigs of Great Fortune
Publications Animals Exotic and Small
I am the Swine Contributing Editor
Expert: Helen Morrison Date: 6/10/2008 Subject: male pot bellied pig
Question My pot bellied pig, who is about 2 months old and intact, has a rather strange thing coming out of his penis - it looks like a piece of skin? or something. Can you tell me what this might be?
Answer I am guessing that the "strange thing" is actually the corkscrew penis itself, extending from the "belly button" pocket in the center of the belly.
A pot-bellied pig penis is located in the middle of the belly, NOT at the rear near the tail. Many people mistakenly assume the little bulge of flesh that protects the penis is a "belly button", and they are amazed to see a pig pee from the "belly button!".
The penis itself is a slender "corkscrew" spiral that twists as it extends and retracts from the body. People sometimes think it is a worm!
Older, neutered males often grow very long bristles in the "belly button" area. It sounds silly, but one time, when the light was dim, a person who had never before seen a live pig thought those long bristles were the penis!
If the "strange thing" is coming from under the tail it's related to the digestive system, and without a better description, I can only offer two very common scenarios. One, the pig ate something "stringy" like, well, string, and it's "stuck" on it's way out. The pig will need to see a vet, if the string is tangled inside just pulling it could seriously damage the intestine. Or two, the pig has worms. Again, the pig needs to see a vet to identify them and prescribe the proper dewormer.
