• PLEASE NOTE - the TEAS facebook page has been hacked, take extreme care when visiting the page, for further information visit here

Bathing?

BambiPaws

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
May 30, 2017
Messages
57
Reaction score
31
Points
165
Location
London, England
Hi,

My boy yogis fur smells disgusting (typical boy I guess) I was thinking about giving him a bath, but I've never bathed a guinea pig before. It's quite cold in London at the moment - I'm worried he'll get too cold. Is it ok to bath him? How do I do it? Can I just use water or shall I get him a shampoo?
 
I wouldn't bath guinea pigs unless it is for a medical reason. Shampoo has to be special shampoo such as something like gorgeous guineas Just For Boars Conditioning Shampoo 150ml

What are you bedding him on? Pigs normally aren't smelly
 
I agree with sport_billy! Only bath guineapigs if absolutely necessary
 
I need to bath my piggies, especially one of them, once a month. Their hair is extremely long and one of my sows makes a mess with her wee and... with her bell pepper. They don't smell, but are dirty.
For washing them I use a shampoo for humans with a perfect INCI (the list of the chemical substances), nothing bad for PH, for the skin, etc. It is the shampoo I am using at home, too. Plus a conditioner from the same firm. The result is perfect. The trouble is drying their hair... it takes a long time.
If they are not dirty, you can wash only their butts with a delicate soap for intimate parts...
 
anyway, if you decide for the bath: you need to find a good method and it is different for each piggie. If they don't like the bath they will climb on your arm and it will be difficult then.
I have noticed that they prefer a very warm water. They relax into the warm water...
But you should not bath them for their smell... the smell might be natural or might be a sign of something wrong (especially the diet).
I wash mine because they are dirty and their hair needs special cares. But they have no smell at all... (also my former boar had no smell at all)
This below is Calliope's dirty hair (which actually should be white)
100_6913.JPG

100_6901.JPG
that soap I have found does not make any foam
100_6900.JPG

I am not pro-bath, but long hair needs special cares
 
Thank you for the replies.

I'm not sure why he smells to be honest, I adopted him three weeks ago from pets at home. He was on sawdust but I've switched him to fleece. I'm wondering if he wasn't being cleaned out very much before I got him and has been laying in his wee?
He's a rex so has short hair.

I won't bath him if it'll distress him but he literally stinks
 
Today I washed Calliope, you cannot imagine how dirty and how brown the water was! she was filthy! but she did not smell... and I had to use the soap twice! never happend before (now she is enjoying the floor time in the balcony outside, maybe this is the reason)
If I were you I would wash the piggie now, because her brown fur can hide residuals of wee and bacteria. Use a very delicate soap for newborns, or search on the net about the list of products and their INCI. There are natural good soaps for humans, better than the famous ones and the specific ones for pets. Soaps for newborns don't make any foam.
Then, don't wash him another time and if he smells again it could be his wee, rich of nitrates taken from the vegs for example. Maybe at the pet store he lay on his wee... Consider that a smelly wee might be a sign of infection... or something not normal.
Use a basin and a glass for (gently) pouring the water on his fur, don't do any noise. Afterwards wrap him into a warm towel (micofibre towels work better and absorb all the water), cuddle him, give him some treat and use the hairdrier (if he does not like it, use other towels... prepare a lot of towels before starting...). Very warm water, though.
When you find a good method he will enjoy the bath, but the first time for me ended up in a disaster
 
You may find this thread useful Boar Care: Bits, Bums & Baths

I find bum baths are usually enough. My 3 year olds have been bathed fully twice in their life time. The 10 month olds have never been bathed but I am thinking of doing Willow soon as he is a bit smelly, I suspect he has been sitting in wee. Willow is a texel and has very thick curly hair he looks like a fluffy duster. When I do bath them I do it on the floor with two washing up bowls, one to rinse the soapy water out. I use the Gorgeous Guineas boar shampoo now, but in the past with previous guineas I have used baby shampoo. Be careful not to use too much shampoo trying to rinse a wriggling piggy is difficult which is why I do it on the floor so they won't get hurt falling if they manage to jump away from you.
 
Back
Top