Photo Credit: @maggiemaethepig
This might be very surprising to many of you, but purebred Juliana pigs are not currently available as pets. Breeders may claim they are selling you pure Juliana pigs, but this is probably not true. They are just trying to market their pigs in a way to make more money.
The smaller the pig, the more breeders can charge, so marketing their pigs as the smallest pig breed in the world makes sense. But in reality, purebred Juliana pigs are very rare. More than likely, there are very few to none alive right now.
The Facts
When you look up how big do Juliana pigs get, you are answered with 35 to 55 pounds (data is from the Cincinnati Zoo). This is very misleading because although it is true, the Juliana pigs you would purchase from breeders are extremely unlikely to be this small. Most Juliana pigs purchased from breeders will reach 90 pounds and some will even grow 150 pounds or more!
Here is an example of how big mini pigs get that were labeled as Juliana pigs by there breeder
Maggie Mae the pig was labeled as a pure Juliana pig when she was purchased from her breeder. Well, obviously Maggie has grown much larger than a pure Juliana should. Maggie actually weighs 90 pounds, which is 35 pounds more than a real Juliana pig should ever weigh.
After getting checked out by the vet, the vet told Maggie’s owner that she was mostly a Vietnamese Potbelly pig. The breeder may have had legal papers to prove she was a Juliana, but as you can see, those papers are not very trustworthy.
There are countless more stories such as Maggie’s of breeders who have ripped of unfortunate pig buyers. Luckily Maggie’s parents decided on keeping her even though she became much larger than advertised. So many pigs are being abandoned by their parents because of how unexpectedly big they end up growing. It’s time we need to learn the truth about mini pigs so this doesn’t happen anymore.
How do breeders get away with this
Unfortunately, there is a very unreliable registration for Juliana pigs that honestly should be illegal. If you search Juliana pig registry on google, you will be sent to the website. After reading it for myself, I have found many flaws that make it completely misleading, and it allows breeders to register their pigs as pure Juliana pigs when they really aren’t.
First of all, there aren’t many real unique descriptions of a Juliana pig that may differentiate them from an American mini pig. For example, the American mini pig association has a page based on all of the different mini pig breeds (check it out here). They use the exact same image for a Juliana mini pig and an American mini pig. How could the same pig be 2 pure breeds? It’s not possible.
Unreliability in the Juliana pig registry
Especially because of the similarities between Juliana pigs and other breeds, using only images to identify them isn’t exactly the most reliable thing to do. But this is really the only way the registration identifies them. They give two requirements: your pig must be under 19 inches tall and have spots.
They recommend you have a 5 generation pedigree (which can easily be falsely filled out), but if you don’t have this, they only require photos of the parents (also can be falsely filed). The parents are required only to be one years old, but pigs will grow till they are 4 or 5, so it is unlikely that a one year old parent would be fully grown. They could easily grow to more than 19 inches as they continue to grow.
The Juliana pig registry also allows pigs that they classify as 7/8th Juliana will be considered purebred Juliana pigs. Not to mention that a pig that is only 7/8th of a breed is not a purebred, I don’t really know how they can determine this without using DNA or having a true 5 generation pedigree.
Why do breeders want their pigs to be registered as Juliana pigs?
Juliana pigs only grow to about 20 to 40 pounds and are known as the world’s smallest pig breed. Unfortunately, breeders know that they can charge more when people believe their pigs will be smaller. This is why there are many other misleading terms such as teacup and micro pigs, which are really the same as a mini pig.
What is the difference between a pig labeled as a potbelly pig and one who is labeled as a Juliana pig by their breeder?
There is really no difference between a pig labeled as a Juliana and one as a potbelly by their breeder, besides that Juliana pigs will have black spots, and a potbelly pig will be a solid color. Both will grow to around the same size ( 90 pounds and 18 inches tall on average).
Henry is a Vietnamese potbelly. His Instagram (photo credit): @henry.neverham.
Tickle pig has black spots, and his breeder could easily get Juliana pig papers for him. His Instagram (photo credit): @ticklepigandfriends.
Are all breeders labeling their pigs as Juliana pigs bad?
It is misleading that breeders are saying their pigs are pure Juliana breed, but really it’s not fully their fault. The real problem is how there is a very flawed registry, and in my opinion, should be illegal. When breeders have to compete with each other to get you to buy their pigs, they will use their resources to promote their business, and unfortunately, the Juliana registration is legal for them to use.
So, just because a breeder labels their pigs as Juliana pigs, I would still consider them when purchasing a mini pig. As long as you can get some real testimonies and pictures of the parents and preferably the grandparents, the breeder should be fine to purchase from.
You want to be cautious though, because there will always be shady breeders that will give you pigs that will grow 200 or 300 plus pounds and label them as mini pigs.
Adopt your mini pig
If you want to not even deal with breeders, look into adopting a rescue pig. These pigs will still be around the same size as ones from breeders, no matter what the breeder may say. To start the adoption process, visit americanminipigrescue.com. Put in your location and see all of the mini pig rescue spots in your area.
What does a true Juliana pig look like
- A true Juliana usually has grey, white, or red hair with black spots
- Their snouts are very long and narrow
- Usually very lean and muscular
- They are very small and will never exceed the size of 65 pounds, usually 35 to 55 pounds when fully grown
- Their tail is straight when relaxed. When excited, their tail may curl
Info gathered from the American Mini Pig Association
Will pure Juliana pigs ever be available as pets?
It is possible that pure Juliana pigs could become available as pets in a very long time from now, but it is unlikely. What is more likely is a crossbreed between Juliana and another breed of pig. Unfortunately, there really isn’t anything as small as a Juliana pig, so the crossbred pigs will most likely be larger than pure Juliana’s.
