Any Help On Keeping Piggies Clean?

[Watermelon-Pets]

So when I got given my two piggies I noticed straight away they were quite dirty, especially the white one! So I want to give them a nice clean to make them look the cutest they can! So how do I do this? Is it water and shampoo or sand? Or is there an even easier way of keeping them clean?

 

[Keiko The Pig]

Guinea pigs do not use bath sand like other rodents. Sand also won't help with getting white fur dirt free. I have a long haired white piggy so I feel your pain. You'll have to bathe them to get the dirt out, but if the dirty parts are the long ends of fur you could just trim those off as they are likely to get dirty very quickly if they drag on the floor of the cage. You'll need to purchase a shampoo for Guinea pigs. If you're in the UK gorgeous guineas seems to be the most recommended. You'll have to shampoo and rinse them just as you do your own hair but make sure their eyes ears nose don't get water or shampoo in them! If their face is also dirty I suggest using a warm wash cloth to wet the area and see if you can get any out before putting any product that close to their eyes ears etc. If you just got your piggies I would hold off on bathing them. Moving to a new home can be very stressful and a bath right away would probably be downright traumatic to them as they have no idea if they can trust you or not! There are mixed views on bathing but I don't think it should be done often as you can end up drying out their skin. When I bathed my white piggy he was very squirmy and wouldn't let me scrub him much (this was a solo mission as my partner was too sick and at the last minute couldn't help hold them) this resulted in the shampoo not really getting the dirt out and I found a trim to be much more effective. If your piggies are long haired like my white one, I recommend trimming every month or so depending how fast the hair grows. Especially around the rear end you'll want to keep the hair nice and short so it isn't dragged through piggy wee and poo. My boy also had long belly fur so I trimmed this and he hasn't gotten dirty since (it's been about 3-4 weeks since I bathed and trimmed him)

 

[Watermelon-Pets]

Guinea pigs do not use bath sand like other rodents. Sand also won't help with getting white fur dirt free. I have a long haired white piggy so I feel your pain. You'll have to bathe them to get the dirt out, but if the dirty parts are the long ends of fur you could just trim those off as they are likely to get dirty very quickly if they drag on the floor of the cage. You'll need to purchase a shampoo for Guinea pigs. If you're in the UK gorgeous guineas seems to be the most recommended. You'll have to shampoo and rinse them just as you do your own hair but make sure their eyes ears nose don't get water or shampoo in them! If their face is also dirty I suggest using a warm wash cloth to wet the area and see if you can get any out before putting any product that close to their eyes ears etc. If you just got your piggies I would hold off on bathing them. Moving to a new home can be very stressful and a bath right away would probably be downright traumatic to them as they have no idea if they can trust you or not! There are mixed views on bathing but I don't think it should be done often as you can end up drying out their skin. When I bathed my white piggy he was very squirmy and wouldn't let me scrub him much (this was a solo mission as my partner was too sick and at the last minute couldn't help hold them) this resulted in the shampoo not really getting the dirt out and I found a trim to be much more effective. If your piggies are long haired like my white one, I recommend trimming every month or so depending how fast the hair grows. Especially around the rear end you'll want to keep the hair nice and short so it isn't dragged through piggy wee and poo. My boy also had long belly fur so I trimmed this and he hasn't gotten dirty since (it's been about 3-4 weeks since I bathed and trimmed him)

Thanks for the advice! I think I'm best trimming the white one, she has quite long hair so I will give it a go. I will leave her alone to gain alot more confidence before I start to do this. Thanks again!

 

[Wiebke]

So when I got given my two piggies I noticed straight away they were quite dirty, especially the white one! So I want to give them a nice clean to make them look the cutest they can! So how do I do this? Is it water and shampoo or sand? Or is there an even easier way of keeping them clean?

Here are our tips for bathing: How To Bathe Guinea Pigs - Including Ears & Grease Glands

Once yours are cleaned, they should be able to keep themselves piggy washed and don't need lots of baths. Rough-haired rex-based guinea pigs tend to pick up dust more. Messy boars you give a judicious bum bath if and when needed; that usually does the trick.

With long-haired guinea pigs, you can keep the mess down buy keeping the undercoat and especially the area around the genitals nice and short. In summer, long-haired guinea pigs really profit from an overall short haircut to get rid of their thick "ski suit".

No sand!

 

[Freela]

Guinea pigs don't do sand baths, so no need for sand. I've found that only my long-haired pigs get really dirty. To combat that, I do clip their coats to a level where the coats don't touch the ground. Otherwise the get peed on. They do have specialty guinea shampoos, but if you can't get those easily where you live (I can't) my vet has always said that you can use another animal shampoo or even a mild human shampoo. One of my pigs went through a period of time where she would get yeast infection of the skin and lose fur and my vet suggested washing her with a human anti-dandruff shampoo as an antifungal, so weirdly enough most of her baths have been with Nizoral!

 

[Watermelon-Pets]

Here are our tips for bathing: How To Bathe Guinea Pigs - Including Ears & Grease Glands

Once yours are cleaned, they should be able to keep themselves piggy washed and don't need lots of baths. Rough-haired rex-based guinea pigs tend to pick up dust more. Messy boars you give a judicious bum bath if and when needed; that usually does the trick.

With long-haired guinea pigs, you can keep the mess down buy keeping the undercoat and especially the area around the genitals nice and short. In summer, long-haired guinea pigs really profit from an overall short haircut to get rid of their thick "ski suit".

No sand!

Thanks for the help! I'll check out that link. Thanks again!

 

[Watermelon-Pets]

Guinea pigs don't do sand baths, so no need for sand. I've found that only my long-haired pigs get really dirty. To combat that, I do clip their coats to a level where the coats don't touch the ground. Otherwise the get peed on. They do have specialty guinea shampoos, but if you can't get those easily where you live (I can't) my vet has always said that you can use another animal shampoo or even a mild human shampoo. One of my pigs went through a period of time where she would get yeast infection of the skin and lose fur and my vet suggested washing her with a human anti-dandruff shampoo as an antifungal, so weirdly enough most of her baths have been with Nizoral!

I would've never imagine using human shampoo to keep a piggy clean! Thanks for your help!

 

[Wiebke]

I would've never imagine using human shampoo to keep a piggy clean! Thanks for your help!

Please be careful using human shampoo; they are pretty harsh on the skin, ESPECIALLY nizoral, which is pretty aggressive even for human skin (and yes, I have used it when I picked up ringworm from my piggies some years ago)! Even the mildest baby shampoo can contain substances that are not good for regular use.
There are now better and milder antifungal medicated dips and shampoos around, which should ONLY be used in case of diagnosed fungal and with the consent of the treating vet. We do no longer recommend to treat on spec with human products; the majority have turned out to be less than ideal to downright harmful.

If you want to use shampoos with a ph for guinea pig skin, then please look at Gorgeous Guineas products, which can be delivered worldwide. Generally, we no longer recommend bathing unless absolutely necessary. In most cases, a bum bath with hand warm water will do the trick.
Gorgeous Guineas - Aromatherapy skincare products for guinea pigs

 

[Freela]

Please be careful using human shampoo; they are pretty harsh on the skin, ESPECIALLY nizoral, which is pretty aggressive even for human skin (and yes, I have used it when I picked up ringworm from my piggies some years ago)! Even the mildest baby shampoo can contain substances that are not good for regular use.
There are now better and milder antifungal medicated dips and shampoos around, which should ONLY be used in case of diagnosed fungal and with the consent of the treating vet. We do no longer recommend to treat on spec with human products; the majority have turned out to be less than ideal to downright harmful.

If you want to use shampoos with a ph for guinea pig skin, then please look at Gorgeous Guineas products, which can be delivered worldwide. Generally, we no longer recommend bathing unless absolutely necessary. In most cases, a bum bath with hand warm water will do the trick.
Gorgeous Guineas - Aromatherapy skincare products for guinea pigs

Yes, I wouldn't recommend using human shampoo, especially antifungals, without a vet indication and where better products are available. Bear in mind I'm in a market where there are very few products marketed specifically to guinea pigs or other small animals, as they are common pets here too but not a pet where a lot of marketing is aimed at them. The options for fungal skin problems in guinea pigs here largely come down to human products or dog/cat products, and the vet's point was that given the two options available here, the human product was the cheapest/easiest to find. In a situation where there is a guinea pig antifungal shampoo readily available, that is obviously the better choice.

 

[Freela]

I would also add that a full bath may not be necessary or desirable. I have found that guinea pigs have more fur than you think and it can be difficult to get them dry. What I do is to wet the dirty area (usually the hind end, Sundae has a very active grease gland) and to shampoo the specific area. In this way only a small area is ever wet and the exposure to any kind of shampoo is as minimal as possible.