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Bathing Can I bathe him more than once a month?

Ena_MM

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When I first got Snowball I didnt know that I shouldnt bathe him too much so for the first month I bathed him twice. Then I found on the internet that I shouldn't bathe him more than once a month so I stopped the frequent bathing, which is hard for me because Snowball is completely white and its obvious when he gets dirty.

His last bath was on November 4th so I told myself that I will not bathe him until december 4th. But these couple of days he started to smell pretty bad. After I held him my hands would smell, too. And I noticed the big areas of dirt on his back and above his butt.

I hear people say its unnecessary to wash them more than once a month but I'm feeling the desperate need to wash him right now. So, I'm wondering will there be any harm if I wash him just twice a month? Will his skin get dried out because I've added only one more bath for the month? Will he catch a cold even when I use very warm water, wash him very quickly, and blowdry him right away?
 

sarahczspots

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Honestly I don't have any advice to give you but I'm very interested to see what answers you get! I don't know anything about how to bathe mine yet and, though it has been something that I've thought about to clean my piggie up, I haven't looked into it too much because I was afraid that I'd do it wrong and scare him. :/ I'm beginning to take his stink as just part of owning him, but if he's allowed to be bathed, I'd love to know more about it!
 

Ly&Pigs

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Bathing once a month is too much. They should not be bathed more than every 3-4 months and if they are a short haired pig then they will rarely, if ever, need a bath. Their skin will get too dry from too much bathing.

How is he getting dirt on his back?
 

dReaa

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I wouldn't bathe him that often because it will dry his skin and hair out. I bathe my pig about once or maybe twice a year. However, because you have a male, you may want to start doing cleanings of his anal sac. I started doing it once a week and it helped with the smell a lot! I usually use Q-tips soaked in mineral oil. I have heard that you can use grape-seed oil too but I prefer mineral oil. Hope that helps a bit!
 

Ena_MM

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Bathing once a month is too much. They should not be bathed more than every 3-4 months and if they are a short haired pig then they will rarely, if ever, need a bath. Their skin will get too dry from too much bathing.

How is he getting dirt on his back?

I have no idea how did he get dirty on his back. But the fur on the back have turned grey, not completely though. I think his breed is smooth haired. His hair is longer than short haired but doesnt grow. And the dirt on his back comes off a bit when i brush him, sort of like dandruff but coloured like mud.
 

Ena_MM

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I wouldn't bathe him that often because it will dry his skin and hair out. I bathe my pig about once or maybe twice a year. However, because you have a male, you may want to start doing cleanings of his anal sac. I started doing it once a week and it helped with the smell a lot! I usually use Q-tips soaked in mineral oil. I have heard that you can use grape-seed oil too but I prefer mineral oil. Hope that helps a bit!

Thanks, I didn't know males need cleaning in their private area. but won't he run away from me if I Q-tip his butt? I've seen him bending over to clean his penis, or at least I think that's what he was doing.
 

idramaxx0

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My mom went crazy shopping at the pet store once and bought me a whole bunch of stuff I don't need. One thing was this powder "bath". It's simply a powder that removes odors and cleans the fur without removing any of the necessary oils from their fur. I haven't used this yet but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this sort of things and opinions on it.
 

idramaxx0

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Thanks, I didn't know males need cleaning in their private area. but won't he run away from me if I Q-tip his butt? I've seen him bending over to clean his penis, or at least I think that's what he was doing.

Does he have a buddy? Cause this happened to my white pig Seymour. He was getting "dirt" on his back side and I couldn't figure out how on earth this was happening. Then one day I realized his buddy Princeton (who sometimes likes to dump his food bowl and then lay down on the food) was, shall we say, doing the happy happy? And that's how the dirt got on the back side :D Oh silly piggies
 

dReaa

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Thanks, I didn't know males need cleaning in their private area. but won't he run away from me if I Q-tip his butt? I've seen him bending over to clean his penis, or at least I think that's what he was doing.

Yeah I didn't know either until about a month ago! My Prince doesn't enjoy it much but he got used to it after a while. What I do is wrap him snugly (but not too tight) then gently lay him against my stomach and pull it open and clean it out. I'm pretty sure there's a video on GuineaLynx where I learned this little tactic. I was looking for it a minute ago but I couldn't find it :( Sorry. If you have anymore questions just ask :)

EDIT: I found the link: https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=55414&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=100

look about halfway down the page. I do this but I hold him against my stomach instead :) I find it much easier.
 
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Ena_MM

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Does he have a buddy? Cause this happened to my white pig Seymour. He was getting "dirt" on his back side and I couldn't figure out how on earth this was happening. Then one day I realized his buddy Princeton (who sometimes likes to dump his food bowl and then lay down on the food) was, shall we say, doing the happy happy? And that's how the dirt got on the back side :D Oh silly piggies
awww you sure have some silly little fluff balls. I wish Snowball have a buddy to live with but right now he's alone. by the way, which pet store did your mom bought the powder from? maybe they have chains here in Vancouver BC. So far the only none water needed cleansing product I've found is this spray for small animals, but it's still wet and I'm afraid the chemicals in there might be bad fo Snowball since he grooms himself from time to time.
 

Ena_MM

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Yeah I didn't know either until about a month ago! My Prince doesn't enjoy it much but he got used to it after a while. What I do is wrap him snugly (but not too tight) then gently lay him against my stomach and pull it open and clean it out. I'm pretty sure there's a video on GuineaLynx where I learned this little tactic. I was looking for it a minute ago but I couldn't find it :( Sorry. If you have anymore questions just ask :)

EDIT: I found the link: https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=55414&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=100

look about halfway down the page. I do this but I hold him against my stomach instead :) I find it much easier.

Thanks, I'll give it a try tomorrow after school =]
 

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I have an all white piggy. I agree about the anal sac cleaning for the smell. Generally, mine get dirty, but don't smell. The smell is probably due to some other cause like that.

As for the dirt:

My all white piggies butt gets dirty easily. I have to cut her fur REALLY REALLY short, shorter than her already short hair, to keep it clean.

I also have to make sure where she lays is as clean as I can get it (for example putting down towels and changing them daily) or she lays her white little butt right in poop and pee spots getting her butt all dirty.

The dirt on the back thing kind of concerns me. I believe it is lice that will leave dirt in their fur. I would try to rule that out asap as it kind of sounds like it could possibly be a cause.

Also, in my opinion, and this is not an expert opinion by any means, I feel like there is a difference between wiping their butt down with water and giving them a bath. Every time I trim their butts, they get their butts washed also. This happens about every other month. I don't give them a full out bath. I just clean em up a little. It probably isn't great for them but I don't think the dirt is good for them either and it makes it harder to trim with their butts dirty.
 

Ena_MM

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The dirt on the back thing kind of concerns me. I believe it is lice that will leave dirt in their fur. I would try to rule that out asap as it kind of sounds like it could possibly be a cause.

Oh god will the lice get on me and my parents? I got him through SPCA at the end of this August and the routine for them is to have all their pets checked. So I assumed that he's completely fine. Is there a way to tell if he got lice? I researched and found out Advantage can treat lice but I don't know if there'll be any side effects from it if my pig doesn't have lice.
 

Ena_MM

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Is baby oil okay for guinea pigs? If not I'll have to go buy so mineral oil.
 

blackarrow

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That's nuts. I've had my boars a year and a half and have never had to bathe either one of them, and they don't smell a bit or have parasites. Granted, they're cresteds, not a long haired variety, but there's absolutely no reason a long haired pig would get dirt on their back regularly unless their living conditions are unclean or they have lice or something causing the dirt.
 

natashia

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When I first got my piggies (before I discovered this wonderful site) I was told by the ever knowledgeable *COUGH* people of pets at home staff that I should bath my piggies once a month.

Well their skin dried out terribly, I've stopped bathing them and they're just fine now! I find if they get stinky I give their scent glands on their bottoms a good clean with some warm water and I clean out their manly parts, and voila, clean piggy!
 

sdpiggylvr

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I have an all-white long-haired Abby-with-Himi guinea pig, and she is rarely dirty at all except for the longer hairs around her hind end. Guinea pigs naturally bathe themselves and rarely need their humans to do it for them.

However, I do have to sometimes give her butt baths (where I just wash the hair around her butt), but I never have to do that more than maybe once a month, if that. Because you're only doing her bottom, I think you can do that a bit more often. Can someone clarify whether that is a correct statement?
 

Ly&Pigs

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Lice does not cause dirt looking stuff in the fur. Lice only leave eggs on the hair shafts. They are whitish to almost clear in color.

Fleas are what leave behind dark dirt looking stuff in the fur.
 

Ena_MM

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I see that he sometimes scratches himself. is that because of fleas or lice? I noticed that he scratches his back also, is that might be why he got dirt on his back? Because his paws stepped on partically dried poop?
 

idramaxx0

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awww you sure have some silly little fluff balls. I wish Snowball have a buddy to live with but right now he's alone. by the way, which pet store did your mom bought the powder from? maybe they have chains here in Vancouver BC. So far the only none water needed cleansing product I've found is this spray for small animals, but it's still wet and I'm afraid the chemicals in there might be bad fo Snowball since he grooms himself from time to time.

She got it at something called "pet supplies plus". It's a small chain here in NY I don't know where else they would be located. I also don't know if it is any good for the pigs. If anyone reading this thread has some thoughts on the matter I would appreciate it =]

Also, while my pigs did actually have a bad case if lice once, all piggies get itches. If they are constantly and violently itching, I'd say it would be worth checking out. But think of how many itches you get throughout the day. I would think piggies get just as many. I made the mistake of thinking they still had lice after the vet told me they had been cleared, all because I still saw them itching a bit. I paid $30 to go back to the vet and be told that they are just itching their normal everyday itches. :rolleyes:
 
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