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Did i traumatize my piggy?

Opiggy

Opiggy

Junior Guinea Pig
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Ok so as some of you know I had grooming troubles with my long haired piggy. I had enough as he has been with me for 6 months or so and so his hair is very long so I helped him in his snuggle pouch and just started snipping when I could he hated it and acted like it hurt him. He then started making a pop noise like popping does thins mean something bad does he hate me now. Also then he ran out so I cut when I could I then gave him a needed bum bath but when I picked him up he got upset I held him firm but I am worried I may have squeezrd him to hard. It was terrible for both of us. I have thought about maybe getting an electric razor and putting like an inch guard on it so he could just run by and I could put it on him so it would be quicker idk.
 
Opiggy said:
Ok so as some of you know I had grooming troubles with my long haired piggy. I had enough as he has been with me for 6 months or so and so his hair is very long so I helped him in his snuggle pouch and just started snipping when I could he hated it and acted like it hurt him. He then started making a pop noise like popping does thins mean something bad does he hate me now. Also then he ran out so I cut when I could I then gave him a needed bum bath but when I picked him up he got upset I held him firm but I am worried I may have squeezrd him to hard. It was terrible for both of us. I have thought about maybe getting an electric razor and putting like an inch guard on it so he could just run by and I could put it on him so it would be quicker idk.
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Hi

HUGS

Haircutting with long-haired piggies can be quite an ordeal. Give your piggies a few das to come around again but be aware that guinea pigs are very good t picking up on your own insecurity. The calmer, confident and firmer you are, the less stressful it is going to be for your piggy. It is also a matter of practice and routine. Piggies are not stupid. Most will eventually work out that hair cutting is much less of an ordeal if they cooperate and that there is going to be a bigger treat afterwards.

You may want to use our piggy whispering tips to asser your authority but also give plenty of ongoing reassurance and praise.
Here are the tips explained with pictures:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
Who is the Boss - Your Guinea Pig or You?

Here is our hair-cutting guide with videos, pictures and how-to tips for both scissors and electric small dog clippers. Make sure that you don't use a surface at height with an uncooperative or frightened piggy that may blind jump when hair cutting.
An Illustrated Guide to Hair Cutting

I hope that this helps you. You will both survive and so will your relationship. If your piggy is talking to you then they are not frightened out of their head. ;)
 
((HUGS.)) I'm really sorry. I have a sheltie named Misa, she hates brushing and clipping. She is not the kind of pig who will just sit if you give her food or reassurance. She just tries to run away and/or jump around and face off with the scissors. Our method right now is my daughter holds her around the middle with all four feet dangling and I will grab long pieces and snip away as fast as I can and I try to cut the back short enough that I won't have to touch it again for a couple of weeks. Her favorite person in the house is my husband, she LOVES him and always goes to sit on his lap, and I honestly think it's because he does no pig maintenance so he is the only one she knows is never, EVER going to clip or brush her! LOL!

No advice but I totally feel for you... unfortunately some pigs just don't like being clipped and of course they don't understand why we're doing it. I had a couple of sheltie crosses in the past who didn't love haircuts but they had calmer personalities than Misa and I really only had to clip them once a month or so because the coat didn't grow like the real shelties. I REALLY underestimated how much work the full coat would be (and what a wild child the girl growing the coat would be!)
 
UPDATE

Sooooo… I bought clippers and gave him his first haircut. Anddd it looks a little rough I took off the guard for a second and then I accidentally shaved a bit of a half patch 😭
 
The Ever Beautiful Betsy 🌈 (the piggy taking a starring role in my hair cutting guide), used to hate having a furdo and Son No 3 used to have to hold her firmly while I cut with the scissors or clipped with the clippers. Very often, she would go around with one side short and the other side long for a few days while she calmed down so I could do the other side. She got used to having a bum trim every 6 weeks after about a year and an all over beach bod with the clippers after 2 years.

Bramble has a cut with the scissors every 4-5 weeks as her fur gets really tangled if I don't so she is used to it and didn't bat an eyelid when I used the clippers for the first time last week, Misty, however, was really traumatised by the whole affair.
 
It's something you have to do and he'll get used to it. The reward is he's nice and cool to and you will most likely see him popcorning joyously afterwards, especially in hot weather. Use sharp hair dressing scissors or dog trimming scissors for facial fur, as if the scissors are sharp, they won't pull on the hair. My piggy missed his hair cut at the weekend because I had a cold and in the hot weather to his week, he has flopped into the furthest corner of his bendy bridge hides. I think he would love it if I trimmed off his extra fur, (but he won't show it too much) 😊
 
Thanks so much! I am relatively knew to owning piggies and I always worry for their health. I tried picking them up yesterday and they are quite sassy so they still are upset with me and won’t let me pet them. Still trying to get to their nails. And whenever I see my Opie acting a little weird or has his fur off I am like OH NO. And I worry he may be sick😭. Thanks for all the support and insight!
 
Opiggy said:
Thanks so much! I am relatively knew to owning piggies and I always worry for their health. I tried picking them up yesterday and they are quite sassy so they still are upset with me and won’t let me pet them. Still trying to get to their nails. And whenever I see my Opie acting a little weird or has his fur off I am like OH NO. And I worry he may be sick😭. Thanks for all the support and insight!
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Actually, sassy piggies is a step forward and not back. It is another big step up if your piggies trust you enough to tell you that they do not like being petted and handled. Most piggies don't.

The problem is that videos and pictures on social media are totally human interest but not reality driven. Who wants to post and watch videos of wiggly piggies after all? But it gives a very distorted picture to wannabe and new owners. :(
 
Opiggy said:
Thanks so much! I am relatively knew to owning piggies and I always worry for their health. I tried picking them up yesterday and they are quite sassy so they still are upset with me and won’t let me pet them. Still trying to get to their nails. And whenever I see my Opie acting a little weird or has his fur off I am like OH NO. And I worry he may be sick😭. Thanks for all the support and insight!
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My Gaia is a very sassy sheltie and she hates being trimmed or combed and kicks up a real fuss about having either thing done; running, biting, chattering, climbing up me, screaming at me... you would think she was being tortured and I always worry she'll never get over her 'ordeal' but the second I put her down and give her an apple treat, she carries on like nothing happened. 🙄

I just gave her a full body summer cut and now she has less fur than her short-haired companion. 😆 Did she like having it done? Not at all. Did she get over it? Yes. Are we friends now? Honestly... we were never friends; she likes hating me.


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That is a lot of hair! Yes, they recover quickly, especially if their fave food is on hand!
 
Well I’m glad they are good then. I just like it when they are more cuddly but I’m glad it’s good they are letting me know when they don’t want to be pet
 
They like to scare me becuase normally he responds to my petting with purring but now he just runs lol. But I hope he will soon get over the fact I had the audacity to try to pick him up.
 
FORAGE
I’m sure some of you have heard of piggy parcels( if not it’s an amazing and affordable option for getting healthy natural forage into your piggies diet) however I don’t live in the UK and they do not ship internationally. Does anyone know of any other companies or ways to get good forage for piggies in the US
 
Opiggy said:
FORAGE
I’m sure some of you have heard of piggy parcels( if not it’s an amazing and affordable option for getting healthy natural forage into your piggies diet) however I don’t live in the UK and they do not ship internationally. Does anyone know of any other companies or ways to get good forage for piggies in the US
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Small Pet Select is good, I have their vitalicious forage. Based in the US.
 
YESSS!

Thank you for all your help I finally had the confidence to pick up my piggy and I clipped his nails! He just sat there and let me pick up each paw I was so surprised! With that confidence I then tried the one that hates being picked up even more… and that didn’t work he just wouldn’t stop squirming when I put him back in I dropped him and inch from the ground and he landed on his back I felt so bad and worried if I hurt him
 
Oh dear, I fear you are getting dark looks now from your piggy. He should be OK though. Some people return their piggies into the cage facing bum first to prevent a crash landing. I have to hold on to mine firmly but gently until they are at floor level, but they can fight quite determinedly if they think there's a chance they can get away. I like the LA Guinea Pig Rescue videos by Saskia. She's very confident and the pigs seem to know they won't get up to anything with her. She's much more coordinated than I am though. Great to hear your first piggy was good for his trim, I find the nails the most difficult to do.
 
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