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Coat condition

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first_time_piggie_mum

first_time_piggie_mum

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Hi
Couple of quick questions for you....Never having owned smooth coat guineas (Rodney was part rex so his coat was quite fluffy)..do their coats get greasy?

Ive noticed a couple of things with my boys -

They are scratching quite a bit. Not to the point of breaking the skin, but they are definitely scratching. Theres no hair loss or broken skin.

Ginos coat looks quite greasy. Jamies is getting that way but its not so obvious on him because his coat is much lighter.

Trimmed their nails today,(Ginos nails are black and the shining a light thing didnt work with him as they are jet black, was a bit of a scary time for both of us lol!) and gave their coats a good look through and there is a small amount of dandruff in some areas from their waist down. Skin looks ok, its a nice pale pink colour so no redness or irritation that I could see. They didnt seem to mind be rubbing the dandruff, so no discomfort.

Is this just because they need a bath? I used to bathe Rodders once a month because he was quite a smelly boy and he needed it! But I havent bathed these guys yet, so is the greasy fur, the scratching and the little bits of dandruff just because they need a bath......or should I be hoofing it down to the vets for some Ivermectin?

Sorry for the silly questions, just want to make sure my little ones are happy!
 
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I cant really answer this but I am looking for the same answer

My boys feel a bit greasy and are a bit itchy but no irritated skin, odd coloured patches, dandruff etc and I had been putting off bathing them because its cold!
 
I did manage to find a shampoo spray that doesnt need water, just spray wait and brush .... leaves them smelling beautiful

Its nice and warm in my house Ive just never bathed a piggie before so ...
 
The dandruff from the waist down could indicate static mites :(

Get a little piece of sellotape, lift the fur on the rump up & stick it to their bums ;) Have a look under a microscope if you have one or a magnifying glass, if they wave at you they have them lol

Mine are indoor piggies & I have just bathed my three, I use Flea or Die but Gorgeous Guineas do Lice n Easy which does the same job. If I hadn't of bathed them I wouldn't have found Daisy's huge abscess so thank goodness I did! Afterwards I towel dried them & then blow dried them on a gentle, just warm setting, holding the drier away from them & careful of their eyes & ears.
 
Poppy'sMum said:
The dandruff from the waist down could indicate static mites :(

Get a little piece of sellotape, lift the fur on the rump up & stick it to their bums ;) Have a look under a microscope if you have one or a magnifying glass, if they wave at you they have them lol

Mine are indoor piggies & I have just bathed my three, I use Flea or Die but Gorgeous Guineas do Lice n Easy which does the same job. If I hadn't of bathed them I wouldn't have found Daisy's huge abscess so thank goodness I did! Afterwards I towel dried them & then blow dried them on a gentle, just warm setting, holding the drier away from them & careful of their eyes & ears.
Click to expand...

I am trying not to hijack this thread , but I might bath mine tonight as the house will be beautifully warm with the heating on as its set up high but its not actually that cold today and I have the fire on in the front room too on an evening so its really cosy!
 
There is no creepy crawlies on them, hair is not coming out when I pull it.....so I am going to bathe them in the Neem shampoo that i have from GG as a start to see if that helps.

If they are still scratching in a day or so I will take them to Simon for a check over.
 
My smooth haired boy is really greasy and quite scurfy, will be bathing him as soon as it gets warm enough. I have got some GGs manuka and neem shampoo to use. He gets greasy again about 1 week after a bath though! He really is a stinky boy!
 
Thanks PP :)

Bath done! :... Wasnt a pleasant experience for Gino bless him. Jamie was quite calm but Gino was not impressed at all!

They are both now pretty dry after a thorough rub, and are currently tucked up in mountains of fresh, dry warm towels with lots of treats and a pile of hay.

Will leave them in peace now for a few hours, then go up and check on them later. Hopefully they will have forgiven me by then :(|)
 
I have noticed this too! I have four boars and two of them are smooth haired and I get the same. I bathed them because of it and then they were nice and fluffy and clean hehe but now they are greasy again haha Do they need regular baths? hmm :)

x
 
Well the bath has definitely eased the itching, havent seen them scratch much at all today which is great.

They still havent forgiven me though :... Neither of them will come anywhere near me when I walk into the room lol! Even a piece of cucumber didnt make up for it :))
 
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