Guinea Pigs & Baths

[joylam]

I have a quick question. I've been looking out here at some of these pictures and noticed the guinea pigs in the bath tub, and other ones that look wet. Do guinea pigs like baths? Is it necessary to give them baths? Is there anything I need to know before I attempt this? I have a longer hair piggie and his hair around his butt area gets really matted some times. I try my best to keep him brushed but his hair in that area still doesn't feel soft. Would the bath help?

Thanks!

[C&K]

Do guinea pigs like baths?

I don't think that many pigs like the bath, but sometimes the owners like to see them bathed because they are a little stinky. Also, a buddy bath is something that is done to get two pigs to stop fighting. I guess if you remove some of the smell from them, they don't perceive each other to be as much of a threat, or forget they where not getting along altogether! A pig might also get a bath with a special anti fungal shampoo if they have a fungal infection, but this is not a common practice, and should only be done with a vets advice if you don't know what you are doing. A lot of medicated shampoos can be toxic so don't use unless you are 100% sure it is ok.

Other then that, you may want to keep in mind they should only use a very mild shampoo, not even most baby shampoos, visit a pet supply store and get one formulated for either kittens or small animals with no medical ingredients or anti parasitic chemicals (no flea or bug shampoos)

As for your matted pig, the bath may help, but you can't put cream rinse in it, so it may make it worse! i would suggest trimming this hair back that gets matted. Do you brush everyday? That helps too. Sometimes though, there is not much you can do about it, just cut out the mats if they are really hopeless and it will stop them from getting worse!

[Slap Maxwell]

What you can do for a long haired pig is give them butt-baths. Just dip their butt into some warm water and wash with some critter shampoo. The best shampoo is "Bunny Bath" by Four Paws. I use Ferret Glow by them. Then use the hairdryer on the cool low setting to dry them off.

Make sure you brush your long haired pigs everyday and watch out for matts.

[joylam]

Thank you both for your advice. I do brush my piggie every day. He really likes his hair being brushed until I get to the butt area then he gets a little jumpy. I try to distract him by having my daughter feed him a treat while I do the brushing, this seems to work out pretty well. Thank you again, this has got to be the best forum I have found for getting advice on taking care of my pigs, everyone on here is very knowledgeable and friendly. Thanks again!

[aqh88]

Normally guinea pigs hate baths and I have a few that will try to leap out of the tub in panic. Unless you have a long haired pig or they get dirty somehow a bath should only be needed about once a year. Guinea pigs also get dry skin very easily so baths can be quite uncomfortable especially if you don't watch what shampoo you use. For long haired pigs trim any hair you can and do spot baths like butt baths. Just dip or rinse that part of their hair in the sink with a little shampoo. There are a few good conditioners for guinea pigs such as Buddy Rinse by cloudstar which is what I use.

The only exception I have to yearly baths is Maple. Luckily she likes playing in water because Chris has allergy problems when he's around her unless she gets a bath at least every 2months. We still dont know why he has problems with her and noone else but she seems to have more loose hair on her than the others. Possibly just the way her hair grows which is backward to all other pigs. You have to pet her from her butt to her head because petting the normal direction rubs her hair backward instead.