Bathing- help needed, grumpy Guinea

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nedajaffa

nedajaffa

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Hi

I'm looking for some advice. I needed to bath my long haired guinea. He has on his rear end some matted fur and bits of bedding. Problem is, my guinea does not enjoy being handled at all! This morning I tried wrapping him loosely with a towel, which helped me to actually catch him, but after a minute or two he got agitated. Has anyone any pearls of wisdom to share? Really need to do this as don't want him getting ill because of it.
Thanks
 
Bathing time can be an ordeal at times! As can haircutting for longhaired piggies. I have my monthly wrestling session with my three perus... Generally, I cut their hair in the kitchen, our of their comfort range; they are more subdued. It can help if ou keep the front end stuffed with grass; they are generally a little bit less aware what goes on with the rest of the body.

I cut the bum hair very short in order to prevent matting, as well as the underhair on the sides and make sure that the top side hair is not trailing on the floor. When cutting, make sure that you have a finger between the piggy skin and the sharp scissors in order to prevent accidents when piggies make unexpected maneouvres.

Gorgeous guineas offer a special shampoo for longhair piggies with some conditioner mixed in. All their shampoos are specifically make for guinea pig skin. http://gorgeousguineas.com/shampoos.html
 
I had to bath my two a couple of weeks ago. They too dislike being handled a lot, so I set it all up very carefully. I used our bath as they can't jump out of there. I had two buckets, one with warm water, and one to put the pig in. Pig went in one bucket, and I ladled water from the other as I needed it. When the piggy bucket got too much water in it, I took the pig out into the main bath, emptied the bucket, then put the pig back in the bucket for more rinsing. Having your pig in a bucket rather than loose in the bath means they can't run about so much.
I used one of the Gorgeous Guineas shampoos, it smelled lovely :)
I swaddled in a towel once I'd finished bathing each pig, then they both went into a deep-sided box, with their Snugglesafe warmer pad (this was covered in another towel), to dry off fully.
They didn't like it one bit but throughout the whole thing they were safe. Having them in a safe place meant I could do the job quicker (without having to spend ages catching the pig again!); I think they have just about forgiven me...
 
Thank you for all this.

I did it!

I used the kitchen sink as I thought being at waist height was probably useful. I think my guinea was so confused that it made it all easier! I was very surprised at how well he took it, and that he hasn't ignored me too much after the event!

Sadly, the matting is worse than I thought. I've very carefully used the comb and scissors to trim it, but it's like felt and will need me to try again maybe tomorrow. Front half looking slick and pampered, bottom half looking like a fuzzy felt.

Feel so sorry for the little dude, had so much to contend with this weekend....mainly having a new side-by-side companion called Monty!
 
i have experience also with matted back ends on my longhaired piggies i wash them in a luke warm bath, with johnsons baby shampoo it brings a nice shine to their coats, then i use a hair dryer to dry them then i use my piggies hair brush to brush out the mats and i trim round the bum so that flies cannot annoy them. i also groom other peoples piggies and cut nails.
 
I think I may need to use the small clippers with a guard on to remove the matting. It feels quite loose from the skin, will just need to be very careful. After this, it should be much easier to maintain.

Not many people do Guinea Pig grooming. I was looking yesterday and can't see anyone in my area that does it.
 
I'm really disappointed as it is a treat to help others out more people should get into the grooming of small animals.

i have just set up this service as part of my boarding service if * are ever in scotland look me up, anyway have * checked out the boarding services near * as most of them have a grooming facility.
 
There was one place near me that offer guinea pig boarding. They claimed to offer grooming too. I thought "Brilliant, just what I need!". I gave them a call and they said they only do cats and dogs :-( Shame I'm the other end of the country from you. We really need a guinea pig groomer around here. I went and bought some pet clippers today and gave Billy a buzz cut...not as slick as if a professional had done it, but served a purpose none the less!
 
good for * as long as piggie is happy thats all that counts, * did the right thing and keep doing it, groomers should advertise and correctly tell people what animals they groom its shocking, i do guinea pigs and rabbits not cats and dogs as i know how important small animals are and i want to help people like urself, i feel bad living so far away from *, i do not know why groomers have a problem grooming small animals, i asked my local groomer about trimming my texels hair as he hates being brushed and they point blank refused, the only thing they would do is cut nails which i can do anyway.
 
I managed to get a significant amount removed before he got too agitated. Was really pleased as he did so much better than I thought! I'll give him some time and then I'll try to get a little more off- it's all a start!

I do wish groomers would be specific. It seems round here dogs and cats only need grooming. A few people do nails (which I may use as hate cutting them) but that's all they do. I'm sure vets would do it, but I don't want to do that unnecessarily. You shouldn't feel bad, sure your clients are so glad to have you around!
 
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