Bathing Piggies

[Flamestriker]

hello all

I have been reading about the care of boars, but how often should boars and sows be bathed?

I have two sows who I have had for 4 months and I have not yet bathed them. They don't smell or anything, and I check them for muck or being dirty.

I have a little boar, a red eyed white Rex, and I was wondering how often boars should be bathed. Is it only if they get dirty or have overactive grease glands?

Is it acceptable for piggies never to be bathed unless they get dirty?

 

[Swissgreys]

We have had 3 of ours for 9 months and Oreo for 4 months.
We have never given any of them a bath, and although I do have some Gorgeous Guineas shampoo on standby, I wouldn't plan on bathing them unless they need it (smelly, dirty, lice infestations, etc).

 

[Flamestriker]

That's great. Thank you very much Swissgreys.

Even if my lot curl up in cosies that they have peed in, they don't smell of it for very long. I will get some shampoo just in case. Someone posted about dry animal shampoo. Could I get that instead?

 

[Adelle]

That's great. Thank you very much Swissgreys.

Even if my lot curl up in cosies that they have peed in, they don't smell of it for very long. I will get some shampoo just in case. Someone posted about dry animal shampoo. Could I get that instead?

Don't use dry shampoo, it's purely a talcum powder based aerosol that soaks up oils and masks odours, it's extremely drying to the skin and stays there until actually washed off.

I only bath if they need it, every pig is different. Crunchie is bathed the most as she's a bladder pig so can get quite wiffy after a few weeks x

 

[JenniferG]

I use guinea pig shampoo from the pet shop and bath them when they get stinky. Because Clove is fluffy, she can get quite skanky from sitting in the pee zone, so bathing happens when she needs a bath. Not sure how often it happens but not regularly.

 

[Poppy'sMum]

I bathe mine about 3 times a year, but never in the winter months even though they live indoors.

 

[TheCavySlave]

Basically, only bathe when visually dirty! A few times a year pretty much, any more than that and your pig will glare at you and your arms will never recover.
Whatever you do, do NOT ask your piggy if s/he is due a bath. The answer will be very biased, and usually ends with "...which is reason 34 as to why we need more foods. Are you LISTENING, human?"

 

[3Tyger]

I bath my piggies very rarely; 1-2 times per year on average.

I usually do it a couple of weeks after xeno treatment (from routine vet check ups), so if they had picked up any unnoticed parasites the xeno would have killed them and then the bath washed any dirt they'd left behind on their skin off of them.

I don't ever put them in deep water, really they're just standing in it over their feet. I highly recommend Gorgeous Guineas shampoo & sometimes I've also used their creams & gels to moisturise.

For my boys grease gland i would usually use a damp sponge with a dab of washing up liquid on if it was necessary to clean it.

Not everybody agrees on whether or not guinea pigs need baths, some people bath them quite frequently, some people never bath them at all. It's up to you really. But obviously if you choose to bath them make sure you get info about how only from good sources like here to make sure piggy stays safe and as comfy as possible - some out there thinks its ok to put guinea pigs in deep water which is clearly NOT good for them at all!