Bathing Tips and Suggestions

[Corinne]

Hi,

We've had the girls for about a month and a bath is in order. Quite frankly, I'm nervous. They're new to us. I'm new to guinea pigs. They are about 10 months old. I have very limited info on their previous background.

I've watched a youtube video and read some suggestions on another site. You are all so knowledgeable, and I've discovered how much misinformation is out there, that I'd like your input.

Best/ favourite method(s)? Frequency? What shampoo do you use? I need products I can get in Canada!

Thanks so much for your support and input.

[pigsmakemesmile]

Hello,
Guinea Pigs arely need bathing, maybe once in a 6 month period. They are clean animals and keep themselves groomed. However Anal sacs need weekly cleanings with a q-tip and mineral oil. Guinea Lynx has information and details on how to perform this, it's very easy.
If you do bathe, I found the best method is in a bathroom sink. A kitchen sink is fine just that my boys feel more safe and secure in a bathroom sink.
You don't need a lot of water, just enough a couple inches of luke warm water. Use your elbow to test the temperature.
I use 4 paws bunny bath, can purchase this in a petstore, I bought mine from Petsmart. It's gentle and non irritating. DO NOT use human shampoos.
Wet the Piggy and massage the shampoo in then rinse. AVOID FACE AND EARS! Becareful to avoid getting water in ears. I gently hold down their little ear flaps when I'm rinsing near their neck area.
Piggies also have grease glands behind on their little cute butts. You can feel a thick funny feeling substance. I soak this with a Dawn dish detergent, maybe just a small penny size dab to help break it up, Sometimes I need to gently break it up as it gets so matted.
Take a bath towel and wrap them in it to soak up the water.
You can use a blow dryer on a warm setting. Avoid drying their face to avoid injuring their eyes. Hold the blow dryer up and away several inches to avoid burning the piggy, and keep your other hand on the pig. I blow the air between my fingers holding the pig so I can tell if it's getting too hot. I use a q-tip and mineral oil to clean their anal sac by gently pulling it back and gently swabbing along the side wall to remove the thick, smelly white gluey substance. Don't be surprised to find hair and shavings matted in there and be prepared.....It's quite smelly.
But before cleaning anal sacs, read up on the process over on guinea lynx.

[Ly&Pigs]

Anal sac cleaning is more for boars and not sows as sows don't really have too many problems with impaction. The OP stated she has sows.

Pigs do rarely need bathing. Too much bathing can dry out the skin badly as they have pretty delicate skin. If you have short haired pigs, they probably will rarely if ever need a bath in their lifetimes. If you have long haired pigs then you can do butt baths every so often and keep the hind end hair trimmed short. At most, long haired pigs should only be bathed 2-3 times per year with regular daily grooming.

You need to use a shampoo formulated for small animals. No human shampoos at all, no puppy/dog shampoos at all, kitten/cat shampoos can't be used if they contain medicines or pesticides. The best shampoo I've found is called Four Paws Bunny Bath.

If you do need to bath then do it in the sink or tub but with very little water, don't wash the head area or get soap in their eyes. Dry them fully before putting them back in the cage. You can use a hair dryer to dry them but it needs to be set on low and held about 12" away from them.

[Piggy Pip's Mom]

I was not able to locate any detailed info on Guinea Lynx regarding the cleaning of the anal sacs...and I most definately want to be sure to do it right - that's not something you want to mess up!

Could you please provide a direct link if possible? It would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

[pigsmakemesmile]

Go back onto guinea lynx, In the upper right of the page click on the "Index" the index will give you just that the index and under the "A" column, you'll see the topic "anal sac." Click on this topic and it will take you to this information.

[guineapigluver1]

Originally Posted by Piggy Pip's Mom

I was not able to locate any detailed info on Guinea Lynx regarding the cleaning of the anal sacs...and I most definately want to be sure to do it right - that's not something you want to mess up!

Could you please provide a direct link if possible? It would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

If you have sows it isn't necessary(sp?). It is extremely rare that it happenes to sows (I haven't ever heard of it happening to any sows). And if you had boars it wouldn't be necessary(sp?) to do it at all unless it was a problem, but it would be a good idea to do it at least once a month to get them used to it just in case it happens (again, this is if you had boars). You have a male, right Piggy Pip's mom?

[tehdoc809]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

The best shampoo I've found is called Four Paws Bunny Bath.

I agree, thats the same shampoo I use

This is my process for giving my piggies a bath.

First I use my kitchen sink because its slightly deeper and has counter space if they manage to jump out. My bathroom sink has basically no counter attached to it so if they jump they could fall straight to the floor and get seriously hurt.

Second, I pad bottom of the sink with two hand towels and fill just deep enough so that only my piggies feet get wet if they are standing.

Next I add the piggie and fill a glass full of water. Then I put my hand over my pigges ears and poor the water over the back make sure to poor away from the ears. Typically I touch the glass to the neck just to be extra careful.

After that apply shampoo and I rub gently, take extra time around the scent gland area on my boar not so much on the sows. Then rinse the same way I initially wet them.

The last part I combo towel and hairy dryer on the low setting. This is Booger (boar)'s favorite part he will let you move him every which way as long as the dryer is blowing on him. My girls are split, beacuse they enjoy the heat since they are chilled from the water but the noise scares them. So they squirm a little. But I find that if you set them on a towel then use some of the excess to rub them while the hair dryer they dry off faster. Just take special care not to get the blow dry to close because you can burn them even on the low setting. I also recommend doing this part on the floor because if the piggie is scare by the noise they could run for it and end up falling.

Things I do not recommend doing during bath time. No tubs, they are too big and if they start running around they could splash water on their face and in their ears which could have bad results, always make sure to keep the water away from the ears. For the same reason Do not keep the water running because they could get under and soak their little ears.

One last thing, most animals natural instinct when they get wet is to shake it off, this goes double for piggies. All my babies do this like crazy when they are getting a bath, so be ready to take some water in the face.

[Corinne]

Thanks so much for all your input. I thought bathing once a month sounded like too much. I'm also assuming the ears don't need to be wiped.

I'll have a look for the shampoo- hopefully I can get it here.

The need for a bath was a rookie mistake on my part. I discovered how dirty they can get very quickly in their litter box (even with regular cleaning) when they choose to sit in it all the time.

Good part is, they're training me very well.

[Wheek Weak]

Originally Posted by Corinne

The need for a bath was a rookie mistake on my part. I discovered how dirty they can get very quickly in their litter box (even with regular cleaning) when they choose to sit in it all the time.

I know what you mean. They certainly can get dirty bums!

In our case, we'll notice a dirty bottom, then a little while later - it's white again (3 of our babies have white behinds)! Piggies are very good about keeping themselves clean (it's instinct for a prey animal).

If any of your girls have long hair on their behind - just trim it on a regular basis with a pair of scissors to keep it neat and clean.

[Piggy Pip's Mom]

How do you hold your piggie down when you trim their hair - to keep their bum clean?

[Wheek Weak]

When we trim Otie's bum hair, my husband sits him on his lap while I do the trimming. It just takes two or three snips while my husband distracts him with his favorite food.

It must tickle his behind because he'll jump and squeek when I'm holding the hair up to cut (you don't have to trim down to the skin - to within about a half an inch - to an inch is ok). Just kind of work with the little pops, squirms, and wiggles until it's done. It only takes a few seconds.