Bathing?

[Fudge and Rainbow :)]

I have seen some people's pictures of guinea pigs having baths and I really don't know what to think? mallethead Are you suppost to bath them? :{ In 5 years of having mine they've never been bathed,they wash themselves. They are very clean. |) In my opinion I thjink it would probably be cruel to bath my two, I don't know what they'd think! It mustn't be a nice feeling to be all wet when you have fur! It would take ages for their fur to dry as I wouldn't use a hairdryer because they're scared of loud noises! They could also get a cold from being bathed. :red Sorry I'm unsure, but should I bath my guinea pigs?

 

[flintstones]

I do bath mine roughly every 3 months as there coat looks so much healthier and they smell alot better too but then again my pigs get very smelly, as they like to pee on one another, another reason why they have baths.

No one can tell you it's right or wrong, it's your preference and the individual pigs of course.

 

[Shauna]

i bath mine because i have a long haired piggie in each group and they get smelly so i then have to bath them all to make sure they smell the same.. but they feel lovely aferwards

 

[Sarah from Chucklebunnies]

One of mine gets stress related scurfy skin on her lower back, a piggy I used to have was prone to cystitis, another after getting cancer needed bottom washes because she couldn't do it herself, it really just all depends on your piggies! Some need it and some don't.

Bathing can be a seriously useful tool when introducing piggies as well.

 

[Sabrinova]

I would have thought that short-haired piggies should be pretty much self cleaning. My Gilbert hardly ever has a bath - when I have bathed him he hasn't needed it - he always has neat soft fur and smells pretty fresh, so it doesn't really seem worth the effort of trying to hold him in a bowl!

On the other hand, manky little Milo, with his slightly longer hair, doesn't take the same interest in personal hygiene and has needed bathing about once a month, until his recent matted hair treatment where the vet told me to bathe the poor little thing twice a week I guess it just depends on your piggie

 

[fritsthegirl]

It does seem to have been a weekend of baths! I bathed mine this weekend, but it's never been a regular thing. It's such a lot of work, and they really do hate it. Flo didn't have her first bath until she was 3.5 and then it was only because she had lice. I only bathed them both again recently because Sancho has real trouble cleaning parts of himself (his neck is so thick and stiff that he can't reach his back) so he had a lot of dry skin build up that was very itchy and irritating him. Flo had to be his unwilling support 'person'. I think it is true to say if pigs are housed on clean bedding, bathing is not really necessary unless they have specific skin problems or an infestation of something. Guineas are remarkably good at cleaning themselves.

 

[CiaraPatricia]

Short haired piggies don't need baths, unless there's some reason, like they pee on each other, get really dirty, or like my old piggy Devlin, who was too old and fat to clean herself properly, and lived on her own for a few months before her new friends got here so had nobody to groom her!

They don't really like baths in my experience, but I'm sure they can get used to it. I had to bath my new long haired guinea pig since he was a rescued piggy he was kinda dirty. He didn't really mind because he's very laid back, I even used the hairdrier!

But since yours pigs are clean, there's no reasons to bath them It's better for (most) pigs' skin not to bath them anyway. If you did want to bath them, I'd recommend it only for indoor pigs and no more than every 3 months really.

My short haired ones and abyruvian one haven't needed baths yet and I don't think they ever will, especially if their house is cleaned out a lot. I'm sure burrowing into the hay (or whatever bedding) helps keep them clean too

 

[Laura-CCC4]

This thread may help with some of your questions:

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=47314

I used to bath mine maybe once or twice a year and I thought they were fine. But I have noticed a vast improvement in skin and coat condition since bathing every 1-3 months, especially with the long haired pigs.

 

[CiaraPatricia]

Oh and I forgot to say, I think of it much like dogs (I'm a dog groomer) and you can tell if they're dirty then they have a kinda greasy, grubby feel, and after you touch them your hands feel dirty and you have to wash them. If the guinea pigs don't feel greasy or grubby and don't smell bad (I love that piggy smell, like hay and stuff!) then I don't think there's any reason to wash them. Some short haired dogs clean themselves and don't need bathing, some don't clean themselves well (or can't reach everywhere) and still need bathing, so it's kinda the same.

With dogs it's generally said that every 6 weeks is the maximum amount to be bathing them, every 2-3 months is better, depending on the dog.

I'd be worried with outdoor pigs that bathing them would stop them be able to keep as warm. I'm not sure about it, but I'd worry about it, so I don't wash mine. They have lovely hair though. Indoor animals sometimes have drier hair because of central heating anyway.

 

[Claire W]

I think it is down to personnel preference. Eliza gets a lot of dry skin which irritates her so that is a main reason why she has a bath. Eleanor and Erin are light coloured so wee stains show up on their bellies. Eleanor is a mucky pig who sits in her own urine.

They do not particularly like having a bath but they do not hate it either.

I tend to bath mine early in the morning so that they have all day to dry off as I could never use a hair dryer on them. I always provide them with a snugglesafe and things to cosy down in to as it helps to keep them warm and allows them to dry quicker.

I only put them back in the hutch when they are fully dry which takes a good four hours or so.

If your guinea pigs are clean and do not smell, there is no reason for you to bath them if you don't want to

 

[Fudge and Rainbow :)]

Thank You everyone. I think I will stay as I am by not bathing them. They are short haired girls who live outside, so like someone has said I'd worry about them not being able to keep warm! The only time I will ever bath them is if the vet tells me I need to for a specific reason.