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matt in hair

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Guinea pig slave

Guinea pig slave

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Given Frankie his overdue hair cut today and noticed he has a nasty matt of wee/grease sodden hair, a hair ball that I can't cut out as too close to his skin :( It must be sooo uncomfy for him and I feel like a really bad mum !
He can have a bath in the morning after breakfast. I used Swarfega once and it made him sore so can't use it.
I've trimmed as much as possible out but am afraid to cut any more off - he's a wriggler and not particularly a fussy fella being handled, likes 10 minutes on my lap then nips me to go back to his house :(
Any tips please would be very appreciated from this bad slave mallethead :...
 
Have heard olive oil is ok to use for soaking such things out? It may be a little more skin friendly than swarfega. Olive oil soap might be worth a try as well. I have loads of it so if you need some PM me or facebook me and you can nip round and pick some up....
 
Thanks Rachel - have some Olive Oil in the cupboard so will try it. I cannot believe I didn't notice this before as keep his butt area short but it was when I checked his boy bits. The friction from the bedding doesn't help I don't think :(
He has such sensitive skin too :...
Thanks again :)p
 
Guinea pig slave said:
Thanks Rachel - have some Olive Oil in the cupboard so will try it. I cannot believe I didn't notice this before as keep his butt area short but it was when I checked his boy bits. The friction from the bedding doesn't help I don't think :(
He has such sensitive skin too :...
Thanks again :)p
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Oooh friction.... sounds nasty! It's easy for them to get tangles and bits without noticing. Even our short/smooth pigs develop some strange grooming issues occasionally like 'where did that brown stain on your side come from? Oh I know you've been sleeping under the manky vet bed again!' and Hamish's tail feathers just have a life of their own...
 
Mmm - dirty boys eh ;)
Have just chased Chops, (our Aby with a skirt) armed with the scissors but he's not daft and has hidden under his tunnel rolleyes
Getting the stink eye from Frankie too, I'm not popular here today at all but they'll all run to me when they hear the veggies being prepped :x :))
 
Don't know if its any help or not but I usually bum bath the girls & tease out the knotted bits in the water. Using my fingers or a a dog grooming comb with widely spaced teeth. If I hold on to the ends of hair closest to their skin &gently tease it apart from the opposite end away from the skin. The skin end of the hair doesn't get pulled that way making it painful or pulling hair out! I don't bath mine very often but use Johnsons baby shampoo. Put your chosen shampoo on the knotted bit &it should help dissolve any grease sticking it together to :) makes it a lot easier.
Also if its done in the water I don't think they seem to take as much notice if you do catch the odd hair or two :o
Good luck tho as the one that I have that needs this doing most is a very fidgety pig!
 
GPTV said:
Don't know if its any help or not but I usually bum bath the girls & tease out the knotted bits in the water. Using my fingers or a a dog grooming comb with widely spaced teeth. If I hold on to the ends of hair closest to their skin &gently tease it apart from the opposite end away from the skin. The skin end of the hair doesn't get pulled that way making it painful or pulling hair out! I don't bath mine very often but use Johnsons baby shampoo. Put your chosen shampoo on the knotted bit &it should help dissolve any grease sticking it together to :) makes it a lot easier.
Also if its done in the water I don't think they seem to take as much notice if you do catch the odd hair or two :o
Good luck tho as the one that I have that needs this doing most is a very fidgety pig!
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It's always the fidgety ones...Benny, his brother is so much easier to trim as he's happy to sit still but Frankie...:{
I've got the Johnson's baby shampoo for emergency purposes as we use the GG products so perhaps some oil then a good butt shampers will get rid of it rolleyes
 
If been told that coconut oil dissolves grease from the grease gland, haven't tried it yet though.
 
Girls are mucky at times also. Poppy is all white & she sometimes just randomly has a stain on her side. How did it get there?! Ha ha.
 
Maybe cut the most you can off, even if it still leaves a bit of a knot it will then come out gradually with daily brushing? If it helps at all, I find that all of mine are a nightmare to pick up, trim nails etc when they are hungry ;) so now I always feed them first, give them about 15 minutes to settle down to sleep then I get them when they are least expecting it & they are much less wriggly lol :D
 
Mine are a nightmare to trim, tried everything food, cuddles and still wise to the old scissors and comb routine, found a knot on one of mine yesterday that I ain't a clue how it got there as I brush him regularly and pretty sure it wasn't there last week. Thankfully I caught it before it got worse but I find soaking knots helps, soften them and allow you to tease them out, if it won't budge trim it as far as you dare then allow it to grow out a little :)
 
Have invested in some very gentle and quiet electric clippers so will be giving the oil treatment etc. to Frankie's butt. Hope it works, will let you know :)
Thanks for the tips, I'd be a wreck at times without the great advice on here...:red :))
 
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