Ethel has been a bit of a hairdresser for a while, sneakily munching on the odd bit of hair when she grooms Nellie. Over the past few months she has taken it to a whole new level and so Nellie is rapidly looking less and less like a sheltie; she is also now trying to barber my two sheltie babies whenever she gets the chance. She will also eat any clumps or strands of hair she finds lying around the hutch. I have seen the vet and had her checked for any physical health problems, she is in a large indoor home with lots of enrichment, I have added branches etc to give her things to chew on, but she is still munching on hair whenever she gets the chance. Does anyone have any suggestions for anything else I can try? (Ethel is the boss pig of a herd of 8 girls, Nellie is second in command but never challenges for dominance)
Barbering Advice
- Thread starter Sasco
- Start date
Hi!
Please take the time to read our very detailed Barbering guide link, which deals with all forms of barbering. It is a much more complex matter than most people would think.
If you have a social barber with a taste for long hair, you can unfortunately either live with shaggy piggies or you will have to find new short-hair company. You cannot stop it. If it is dominance grooming, then you will have to find a solution for the underlying issue.
PS: My Alan has over the last weeks lost his long-haired train and is currently all over short-hair, courtesy of his wife...
Please take the time to read our very detailed Barbering guide link, which deals with all forms of barbering. It is a much more complex matter than most people would think.
If you have a social barber with a taste for long hair, you can unfortunately either live with shaggy piggies or you will have to find new short-hair company. You cannot stop it. If it is dominance grooming, then you will have to find a solution for the underlying issue.
PS: My Alan has over the last weeks lost his long-haired train and is currently all over short-hair, courtesy of his wife...
Thank you, the guide is brilliant! I've pretty much ruled out any cause other than social barbering, coupled with the fact Ethel genuinely seems to enjoy the taste of sheltie hair, so I think I am just going to have to embrace the slightly scruffier look for Nellie and hope that she doesn't eat too much of the two babies. I hope Alan isn't too put out with his new hair do!
Tigermoth
Adult Guinea Pig
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Thank you for this, my Jenny has a bald bum. I knew Timmy seemed to “nuzzle” her a lot there but it was only after a degrease bum bath that I realised there is a 10p size bald spot. Timmy is now blind and deaf so it looks like it could be a form of social interaction for him. Poor girl, but she doesn’t seem bothered!
I thought I'd post an update on Ethel, partly to emphasise how important Wiebke's advice about the complexity of barbering is. After taking Ethel to see both the local and exotic vet several times I had come the conclusion that her barbering had to be social. Over the last few weeks she had been barbering more than ever, leaving Nellie with many bald patches, but otherwise still being normal, lively Ethel. Something just didn't feel right and last week I spotted tiny specks of blood in her urine and some slightly abnormal droppings so took her back to the exotic vet again. They gave her a thorough examination and thought they could feel a lump in her abdomen. X- ray showed a golf ball sized tumour pressing on her bladder. She's now on pain meds and we are discussing whether surgery or palliative care is the more appropriate route for her. The vet thinks the barbering probably does have a social origin but that being in pain/uncomfortable has escalated it. So - definitely complex and I am very grateful for the barbering guide for making me question her behaviour again.
Hi!
Please take the time to read our very detailed Barbering guide link, which deals with all forms of barbering. It is a much more complex matter than most people would think.
If you have a social barber with a taste for long hair, you can unfortunately either live with shaggy piggies or you will have to find new short-hair company. You cannot stop it. If it is dominance grooming, then you will have to find a solution for the underlying issue.
PS: My Alan has over the last weeks lost his long-haired train and is currently all over short-hair, courtesy of his wife...
Free Ranger
Adult Guinea Pig
I'm so sorry and what a shock this must have been. I hope she can get comfortable on her meds.
Mine don't 'barber' but have chewed newspaper in the past when they have been uncomfortable. It's part of the cage lining in some areas. I didn't put 2 and 2 together for ages as it's not been all my pigs. At first I heard nibbling and tearing, saw shredded paper (they don't eat it) and just thought I had a 'nesting' piggy who maybe felt a bit cold - it was a couple of weeks later I saw blood in urine and realised there was a UTI but I still didn't link the events until it happened again later in her life when she got a stone and UTI with it. So mine don't chew each other, they chew the paper. Until recently though all mine have been short-haired and I don't know if that makes a difference?
George has started chewing paper again for the past couple of days as I'm tweaking his loxicom dose for arthritis - at his vet exam she noticed he had hair in his lower gum pocket - it was his own hair trapped in his teeth and he's thinning round his inner knee/groin area where the arthritis is. He also has mild impaction and gets checked and unbunged every night if necessary. Usually he just lays like a hairy baby until we're done but sometimes he suddenly 'chews' at thin air - and I think it causes him discomfort then. I know I'd complain!
Mine don't 'barber' but have chewed newspaper in the past when they have been uncomfortable. It's part of the cage lining in some areas. I didn't put 2 and 2 together for ages as it's not been all my pigs. At first I heard nibbling and tearing, saw shredded paper (they don't eat it) and just thought I had a 'nesting' piggy who maybe felt a bit cold - it was a couple of weeks later I saw blood in urine and realised there was a UTI but I still didn't link the events until it happened again later in her life when she got a stone and UTI with it. So mine don't chew each other, they chew the paper. Until recently though all mine have been short-haired and I don't know if that makes a difference?
George has started chewing paper again for the past couple of days as I'm tweaking his loxicom dose for arthritis - at his vet exam she noticed he had hair in his lower gum pocket - it was his own hair trapped in his teeth and he's thinning round his inner knee/groin area where the arthritis is. He also has mild impaction and gets checked and unbunged every night if necessary. Usually he just lays like a hairy baby until we're done but sometimes he suddenly 'chews' at thin air - and I think it causes him discomfort then. I know I'd complain!
I am glad that my guide has helped you persisting in getting to the bottom of it all but extremely sorry about the bad news.
Here is another guide, which you may may find useful. It doesn't make easy reading but it may help you with the decision making process, so you can do it with a clearer heart and mind and be able to deal with the inevitable emotional fall-out that little bit better: A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs
Sorry to hear your bad news.