smartrus Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Hi all, I'm usually on the chicken forum but I have come for some advice. I have been given a very long haired guinea pig to look after who is quite matted and the hair feels quite greasy and stinky. I have brushed it as best as I can and cut out the larger clumps, ( much to the poor things annoyance, it squeaked and shouted through the whole ordeal). I wondered if it would do any good to give it a warm bath? I have baby shampoo. Would this harm it in any way? It isn't mine and don't want to risk making it poorly. Any advice welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HennyPenny59 Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Can you ask the owners whether you might be allowed to give him/her a proper haircut and just take all the length out of its coat, and especially around the back end ... I do this regularly for my two long haired girls with a sharp pair of hairdressing scissors, and I swear they understand/appreciate what I am doing for them, and I think that now after 3 years, they really enjoy it. Unfortunately their hair does grow back very quickly, so this is a regular thing I have to do about every 6 weeks or so. You will probably have to enlist the help of someone to stop the Guinea from wriggling or trying to get away, and be very careful not to accidently jab their little back feet with the scissors as its very difficult to see them under all that hair. If the little Guinea seriously protests you might want to do it in small stages so that it doesn't get too stressed. As far as bathing is concerned, if the Guinea is an outdoor Guinea I definitely wouldn't do it as the weather is too cold now, but if its indoors and your central heating is on I think it would probably be ok. I bathe mine in the kitchen sink with a shampoo called Gorgeous Guineas (I would have thought that baby shampoo would be ok, but im not totally sure) and rinse them loads under a running tap that is lukewarm. I then bundle them up in a towel and try to take as much moisture out of the coat as I can. I give them a little massage at this point which they seem to enjoy .. By the way I never bathe their heads, only their bodies. Have a look at its toenails too, they also might need trimming, but be extremely careful not to cut them too short and into the blood supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smartrus Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 Hi, thanks for the advice. I managed to cut quite a few lumps out the hair and give it a brush. I have asked the owner to maybe take it down to the local pet shop who are quite good at trimming pets. I have to say, we have a lot of pets and this long haired g pig is the most high maintenance pets I have ever had the pleasure of looking after!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Leia Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 My piggies are indoor ones. One is short haired - American crested - the other longish haired, but not so long that he needs regular trimming. Both love a bath and don't make the slightest complaint. We do use mild dog shampoo, but we don't tell them... Strange thing is, the also love the hair-drier (not sure if that's normal or not)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
