How many salivary glands does a pig have in total?
There are 3 pairs of salivary glands. Of these, we will view only the mandibular (the parotid is rather diffuse and the sublingual is too difficult to get to). To view the mandibular gland you must remove the skin and muscle tissue from one side of the face (cheek) and neck of your pig. You’ll need to dig through subcutaneous fat, connective tissue, and the parotid salivary gland in order to see it. The mandibular gland is a large, well-defined circular salivary gland just posterior to the masseter. Don’t confuse it with the small oval lymph nodes in the region. Keep an eye out for the facial nerve that runs posteriorly across the masseter. Try to find the parotid duct that carries saliva to the corner of the mouth. This duct can be moved surgically to empty out at the eyes. Until relatively recently, the standard “cure” for dogs whose lacrimal (tear) glands failed to produce the watery component of tears was to move the parotid duct up! The saliva producing glands are: Parotid gland:
