First bath...

[MemberY]

I want to give Lennie a bath over the weekend. I have had him a couple of months and not bathed him and I am almost certain he has never been bathed. A bit nervous about it as he is a big fellow and probably won't be impressed but his fur is looking a bit tatty. He lets me brush him but isn't keen I can tell.
Any tips to make his bath less stressful for him and is it ok to use gg neem and coconut shampoo, even though he doesn't have a fungal infection? I have the melt too.
Thanks! Fiona.

 

[Cavy Crazy]

Take it slow and let him just get use to it. What I do with my guineas if they have never been bathed before is introduce them slowly. One day I will put them in the empty bath for five minutes or so. A few hours later or the next day I will put them in shallow water (just enough that their feet are covered) for five minutes or so. Depending on how they handle standing in the water the next day or the day after that I fill the bath up a little bit more so the water is about half way up their side for five minutes or so (if they didn‘t handle standing in the water, I do it a couple of times until they handle it a bit better, same as with having the water half way up their side). Then a couple of days later I will attempt to bath them. But this is just what I do. I also personally don't bath a guinea under six months of age nor do I bath a guinea over the age of 2 - 2 1/2 years of age if they have never been bathed before, unless they really need to be. Good luck and let us know how it goes. I think the shampoos will be fine to use but someone else could tell you for sure.