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Grease gland! yuk!

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fred'n'ted

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What is the best thing to use to clean the grease gland? How do i know its blocked? My guineas are bit smelly even after bath
 
with my oldest (17 months) his gets very greasy feeling and as he's a merino cross it's all clogged up in the hair around it, he's definitely my smelliest boy and I bought some swarfega hand gel online and massaged it into the area around the gland, left for a few minutes, them shampooed and bathed him and he smelt lovely (for a week or two)
 
swafega is the best thing let it soak then rinse it off:))
 
i noticed on the link it says washing up liquid for the grease gland area... any type of washing up liquid? i.e value range or fairy? :)) scented ones or origional?


Esther x
 
Curlycritter said:
i noticed on the link it says washing up liquid for the grease gland area... any type of washing up liquid? i.e value range or fairy? :)) scented ones or origional?


Esther x
Click to expand...


Please be careful everone about using scented products...guinea pigs have very sensitive skin...which is why in years gone by they were the animal of choice for skin sensitvity tests for cosmetics/drugs etc. Essentail oils (often used to provide the scent in products these days) can upset guinea pigs skin AND respiratory systems and cause allergic reactions.
There's a lot of lavendar-sceneted small pet hygiene products floating around now, including shavings etc, so please consider thoughtfully before purchase)


It is possible to gently "pick/pluck out" any surrounding hair with "offending grease gland bogies" attached....I have seen Vedra from CCT do this with one of my more "productive" boars :red

You need to cut out all the matted/gunky hair first before you attend the grease gland itself. If you are using scissors rather than plucking...please be careful (I had an embarassing accident with Willow's bottom and a pair of scissors recently which required stitches at the vets :red)

The grease gland itself needs very gentle cleansing as it is just skin and very sensitive.

I have used all the following directly on the gland itself with no ill effects:
Swarfega,
Normal fairy liquid,
Star drops (my preference - this is actually very good for dissolving grease and I prefer it to Swarfega..and it's cheaper......and great for all other household cleaning applications. 99p in most major supermarkets),
Johnsons baby shampoo (not as effective on the "stubborn" gunk but little risk to the pig if used )

You need to leave the cleaning agent to soak for a few minutes before gently abrading it with eg a cotton flannel. A fingernail can also help gently scrape any gunk off the gland/skin itself.


Personally I would NOT use value range....as sometimes they contain a higher concentration of harsh detergents/chemicals (eg sodium dodecyl sulphate SDS). I myself have very sensitive skin and am allergic to a lot of cleaning products/washing powders etc...especially the value ranges and the more powerful biological cleaners....so I work on the prinicple that if my skin can take it then it's "probably" OK to try on my piggies


HTH
x
 
P.S.

If it is the grease gland itself that is smelling badly then it could be infected and a vets visit is necessary pronto.

However if the smell is more "general"....then "productive" boys can also have very very smelly bottoms (anal sacs) with lots of hair/gunk in them from where they are continually scraping/marking their scent along the floor. Maple's bottom is full of white gunk most of the time and is, quite frankly, the worst most smelly bottom I have ever experienced :)>>>:)>>>. I clean it out periodically with a moistened cotton bud....but boys will be boys :(|)

x
 
my problem i found is his fur is very greasy and even when trying to groom the area. its difficult as his fur is greasy.. I have trimmed his long hair round the back.. but i just wondered if there was a "grooming spray" you could get that could easily brush out or condition his greasy fur.. rather than having to bathe him all the time.. (which i havnt bathed him yet btw, due to his castrated he had 2weeks ago) and i didnt know whatt would be best... but tbh i found his "greasy-ness" has got far worse since his castration... i remember before it, his hair was lovely and soft .. he doesnt smell though, no normal than a strong guinea smell, and the area is clean.

just curious if there is a easier way to groom him? ?/

Esther x
 
For "Big Boar" greasy fur the only way I have found to "sort it" is to bathe/soak with either Johnson insecticidal or Nizoral (antifungal) shampoo....after picking off the gunk with a fingernail....preceded by a scissor haircut if necessary I have not found any other shampoos (including gorgoeus guineas, johnsons etc ) to have successful grease dissolving capacities

I only bathe the boars every 3 months (have to put up with a certain amount of gunk in the interim but not detrimental to them...dominant boar has to exert/mark his supremacy to the rest of them after all....)

HTH
x
 
Pebble said:
For "Big Boar" greasy fur the only way I have found to "sort it" is to bathe/soak with either Johnson insecticidal or Nizoral (antifungal) shampoo....after picking off the gunk with a fingernail....preceded by a scissor haircut if necessary I have not found any other shampoos (including gorgoeus guineas, johnsons etc ) to have successful grease dissolving capacities


HTH
x
Click to expand...

he has got quite a dodgy hair cut round his back end (he is a long haired piggy) though..lol i have tried to pick alot out of him, but its just greasy when i groom him.

esther x
 
Curlycritter said:
he has got quite a dodgy hair cut round his back end (he is a long haired piggy) though..lol i have tried to pick alot out of him, but its just greasy when i groom him.

esther x
Click to expand...

You'll have to set a "threshold" of greasiness...above which it means the full "bath/scrape/works/monty"

Maple is a very "productive" smelly heavyweight boar....he gets a bath every 2-3 months. Rest of the time I (and his cagemate/brother Willow) live with it!

Very productive boars can have their "output" curtailed by neutering...but if it is not necessary for them, then from my experiene, I wouldn;t choose this as an option for a boar piggie over greasy smelly bums because of the potential neutering complications......

Boars will be boars.....every two months a bath would be fine for his greasy fur...

Happy to answer any further questions you have

x
 
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