Do Piggies Swallow?

[AbiS]

It was a bit of a random observation that I made last night while watching Toby & Barney eat their evening Romaine lettuce. They start with one end of a leaf and nibble and nibble and nibble and nibble and slowly (well quite fast actually) the romaine vanishes without the nibbling pausing to allow them time to swallow. I then forgot at lunchtime to see if I could swallow and chew at the same time (I don't know how I don't know if this is possible).

I'm pretty sure they must swallow at some point but does anyone know any different?

 

[Freela]

They must, or they would starve to death! LOL! They chew their food for a very long time... when one of my pigs was having dental issues, the vet used to ask me to pull her food a couple hours before her appointment, and he would still have to rinse her mouth out with water to see her back teeth for all the gunk she was still chewing on. So obviously they do swallow, but they may not be doing it while you are watching them eat.

 

[AbiS]

They must have huge mouths to store all of that food!

 

[Lilly]

They must have huge mouths to store all of that food!

I've wondered myself as like you I've noticed they never seem to stop chewing long enough to swalllow! I have a dental piggy and like Freela's vet mine also says Peanut Butter's mouth is always dirty with food.

 

[Elwickcavies]

As I understand it, it's not so much a swallow as a continuous chewing and the mush eventually goes down (so if they are chewing, they are swallowing). They do keep the food at the back of their mouths for ages! x