To shave or not to shave? That is the question

[C&K]

Originally Posted by bromers
I don't think shaving is right they was born a long haired guinea pig for a reason. Thats them its there identity.

??
To the best of my understanding, Wild Cavies where all short haired. The long hair is a freak mutation that with selective breeding, has become prevalent in our domesticated pet. Just as all budgies in the wild are the same green and yellow. Now we have tons of different feather colours and tones to choose from.

It seems silly to say that you are Robbing them of their natural identity. It just isn't natural to have long hair to start with. It can cover the eyes, trail on the ground, get saturated in pee, mat and get tangled. Steps can be taken to prevent such things, but for the average person who has a long hair and doesn't want to spend hours grooming every week, a little snippy snip goes a long way to making a happier cleaner guinea pig.

I have 3 girls. One short hair, two long, at least they where long, the short haired girl got jealous of her cage mates luxurious locks and mowed them down with her teeth. I miss the long hair, but they seem healthy and happy with the styling efforts of their cage mate.

 

[tashagurl]

I have four silkies. I have experimented with different hair cuts for them, but I find that just trimming up the butt hair and some of the tummy hair keeps them clean and happy. I have thought about using clippers and just shaving them down, but in the end I decided it would be more maitenence for me. I also have a barber in the group who likes to chop half the hair on her family's sides and leave the other half untouched. Im left with lopsided pigs. Im going to try shaving my boar's belly though. scissors(sp) dont work and he lays in his pee and turns his white belly yellow.