Bathing Bathing=Unsafe???

[Mr.Waffles101]

Hi I just got down playing with the piggy today, and he feels kinda... somewhat sticky and oily (not sure if that's a word or not). I've asked other peeps about bathing on another forum, but they said if I'm afraid something bad will happen, just clean him over with a cloth. I did, and it's no difference. Can I give him a bath? I'm just afraid he's gonna bite, scratch and squeal like crazy. Should I just keep running a wet cloth over him and dry him off, or bathe him?

Thanks for any advices,
Mr.W101

 

[madelineelaine]

I bathe my pig in the laundry tub because of his grease gland. I think you'll be fine, use about an inch of water, lukewarm, and have a fluffy towel ready to go to dry his afterwards. It's probably his grease gland that's oily, use a mild scent free baby shampoo, or cetaphil cleanser. I've heard dish soap is okay, but I've never used it.

 

[bpatters]

You can give him a bath. You just don't want to overdo it and dry his skin out.

Use a shampoo made for pocket pets. If his grease gland is really yucky, you can put a drop of Dawn dish soap on it to loosen the grease. Just be sure to rinse any soap out really well, and dry him off well before putting him back in the cage.

 

[CathiiPiggie]

Bathing is not bad unless it is done regularly. If they're bathed too often their skin will dry out. I never bath Broccoli more than every 6 months, but normally only when he needs his grease gland done.
He shouldn't bite - even my piggie Broccoli who was terrified didn't bite - he just tried to jump out. If you are afraid this is going to be the case then you should ask someone to help you hold him. Getting the bathing over and done with very quickly before he starts to try and jump out may help.
Find some special guinea pig shampoo, or if not a very mild baby shampoo. Rinse your piggie with warm water all over first. Once he is wet all over, gently massage in the shampoo, staying clear away from the eyes. You can do the shampooing out of water if you prefer, by resting him on a towel. Place him back and rinse off all the shampoo. Any shampoo left on the skin will cause irritation. Once he's free of shampoo, let him shake himself off and place him in a towel. Do not blow dry unless necessary, and if you do use it on the lowest heat about 1.5-2ft away from him. Keep him in a towel until he's dry enough to go back into his cage.
You can use a sink or bathtub with about an inch of water or hold him under a good mixer tap.
Good luck

 

[madelineelaine]

I bathe my pigs grease gland every 2 or 3 weeks. It needs to be done, because it's hyperactive, so my vet told me. It starts emitting chunks of grease and gets really dark, then he needs a wash.

 

[Mr.Waffles101]

Soo.... you guys are saying I CAN bathe him, right? And I'm guessing I NEED to? I think I need to too. So a little cooler than luke warm water and first wet him, shampoo, rinse then dry. Ok, I can do that. But what if I think I have dried him enough, but I didn't. I don't want to kill the poor dude!! I don't think my mom will help me because she-- she'll probably think he doesn't need one (I give the cat a bath and she doesn't say anything, if I give the pig a bath, she'll think I'm crazy). My sister won't help, she doesn't want to come near him because he's a 'pig'. And my dad just won't.
I'm kinda scared to do it. I'm afraid he'll catch a lung infection and die over the night. :guilty:

 

[piggi_zone]

yes one time I tried to bathe my piggie with one of the pet wipes it was for pets that
sheds alot (which she does) I have a question will a regular bath help with shedding?
I already brush her.

 

[bpatters]

Soo.... you guys are saying I CAN bathe him, right?

That's right. You can give him a bath. And short of bathing him and then putting him directly under an air conditioner, you probably can't hurt him as long as you keep the water out of his eyes, ears and nose, and rinse all the soap out of his hair. Some people bathe their pigs every week, and they do quite well, in spite of all the hand-wringing over frequent baths for pigs.

He's a relative of the capybara, which is also a cavy, and capybaras live in water. He can swim, and if he's like mine, he may even enjoy it.

My two had a bath today, and they're over there wheeking madly at me for their supper.

So go ahead already and give him a bath. Use one drop of Dawn dish soap on his grease gland, and shampoo for small pocket pets on the rest of him. He'll be fine.

 

[Mastershroom]

Not that I'm adding anything new to the discussion, but I'll say it as well: bathing is fine. lol

Just use gentle shampoo, preferably for small animals (I use "Squeaky Clean", available at Petsmart), or I've read kitten shampoo can be used as well. Just avoid getting the head/face wet, and dry them off fully. Kwee loves bath time; she can't wait to dive into the sink when I fill it up, and when she's in she loves running around. I haven't filled it up deep enough for actual swimming, but I may try that soon. Quee, on the other hand, lived the first 4 years of her life without a bath, so she's a bit less comfortable with it.

 

[CathiiPiggie]

Sorry, but I have to disagree. I'm assuming that you don't have longer hair cavies? I have an Aby and a Texel and they both need to be bathed fairly frequently, especially in the summer ... My cavies would NEVER get dry if I didn't use a hair dryer. And yes, I agree that one should keep the dryer on the lowest setting and have your hand between the dryer and the cavy to monitor the heat.

I have an abyssinian cross, Broccoli and he sits on my lap for about an hour with access to water bottle, and I feed him his favourite veggies. I change the towel when it gets too damp or he will get cold and dry slower. Once he is almost dry, I finish him off with the hair dryer. By 'if necessary I was talking about short haired pigs, as my old piggie Carrot never needed the hair dryer really. Sorry for the confusion.

Hold him under a mixer tap?? My goodness, my "kids" would leap out of the pan in absolute terror! :eye-poppi I run a couple of inches of water in a dish pan, put one hand under the front half of the cavy so that it feels safe, and wash it with the other hand.

Wow, you have some opinionated ideas about bathing. I'm just going to let you know that before I ever bathed my piggies I did tons of research on forums, Google, YouTube etc and found out a lot and had seen that plenty of people bath their pigs like this. Broccoli preferred to have his paws firmly on the ground, but my tamer one, Carrot liked sitting in my hands and getting a soft "shower" from the mixer tap. It's down to your cavy's personal preference, really. Please don't jump on what I said like that because I would not have said that if I didn't know what I was talking about.

 

[Haymonster]

You can hold a pig under a running tap, if s/he's ok with it, and you don't get water in their eyes, nose or ears. One of my pigs, Noodle, gets baths every 4 weeks or so. He's a part Peruvian and lives with 6 lady friends who don't hesitate to urine spray him if they think he's out of line. So he gets dirty and smelly. Luckily, he likes baths (especially the massaging part) and will happily let me run the tap over his belly and back to make sure all of the soap is completely washed out. Most pigs probably won't be ok with this, though. I wouldn't do it with Noodle if it would make him "leap out of the pan in absolute terror!"

 

[Haymonster]

Noodle thinks it's great! He's definitely been neutered, but doesn't seem to have really lost his drive. He's a very good natured pig, though, and while he loves to mount the lady pigs, he's not prone to aggressive behaviour.

 

[CathiiPiggie]

Perhaps your babies don't mind being bathed under a faucet or the spray attachment? Mine scream and scrambled to get away when I've tried it. BPatters says that hers love the water and I don't doubt that with her experience. ... I think it all comes down to the fact that there are very few absolutes when it comes to cavy care.

No, one of mine didn't mind going under running water, but the other did not. That's what I said in my previous post, and in the post before that, why I stated that you can use running water OR a bathtub or sink, rather than state one thing is wrong and the other right.

But yes, I agree that there are few things that are absolutes in piggie care.

 

[Haymonster]

It seems like we need to swap male pigs! I always feel sorry for the girls because he seems to harass them all the time, and they mostly don't want any part in it, hence the urine spraying! Luckily there's six girls, so no one pig gets harassed ALL the time.

 

[Mr.Waffles101]

Thanks Everyone!! I'll give him a bath!!