Matted floof

Black piggies

Black piggies

Senior Guinea Pig
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So I've just done weekly weigh-in and check over, and one of the new floofs has a bit of matting on her side.
I've not had long haired piggies before, I gave them a trim before the heatwave and have bought silent pet clippers. I poop scoop twice a day and clean out / change pee pads often.
It looks like it will be easy to cut off the matted bit, which looks like a poo mushed into the hair, but I'm a bit shocked to have a matted guinea pig. There might have been more dampness in the cage with frozen water bottles and such a long heatwave.
It's the 5 year old, congenitally tiny, 670g bag of bones floof, so she might need more help to keep clean.
Wondering what else I can do to prevent it, if I can.
 
:agr:
I have a long haired boy and he needs to be brushed regularly (he isn’t keen on it!). I also cut his hair particularly around the back end and on the sides to stop it from dragging on the ground
 
Thanks. I brushed them before I trimmed them, which was as the heatwave was starting. I haven't started a routine of daily brushing or anything.
 
My Betsy has long hair and she often has a mat at the back. I just cut it off. She hates being brushed WITH A PASSION so I generally don't do it now. It doesn't help that she's as blind as a bat so doesn't understand what is happening to her.
 
Three of mine are long haired. I never brush them, just chop off any mats or wet skirts round their back end as they occur.

Cherry blossom and her smooth coated sister, Rosie, Mistletoe (cream and white, just after a trim) and neutered boar, Cufflinks ( just after a trim).P_20210412_130455.jpgP_20210412_113401.jpgP_20210104_093546.jpgP_20201212_100122.jpg
 
Betsy said:
My Betsy has long hair and she often has a mat at the back. I just cut it off. She hates being brushed WITH A PASSION so I generally don't do it now. It doesn't help that she's as blind as a bat so doesn't understand what is happening to her.
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Lol aw poor Betsy. I saw the blind piggies at TEAS running round in circles and can imagine they'd not like a grooming assault 😊 I'll do the same with our floofs.
 
A lot of longer-haired pigs get mats in their fur, even with a clean cage and regular brushing. I honestly just cut the mat out with scissors. I had two sheltie crosses with long 'skirts' in back and I would honestly just make a little ponytail of the hair and then cut the whole thing off with scissors and cut off any additional mats that they might get underneath. None of my pigs liked haircuts, but I would give them a treat to distract them and just snip away.
 
Freela said:
A lot of longer-haired pigs get mats in their fur, even with a clean cage and regular brushing. I honestly just cut the mat out with scissors. I had two sheltie crosses with long 'skirts' in back and I would honestly just make a little ponytail of the hair and then cut the whole thing off with scissors and cut off any additional mats that they might get underneath. None of my pigs liked haircuts, but I would give them a treat to distract them and just snip away.
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Thanks it's really reassuring to hear that. I thought I was messing up.
I've just done a second haircut on the floofs and it went better, managed to trim back end hair and give their bottoms a wee wash.
 
Black piggies said:
Thanks it's really reassuring to hear that. I thought I was messing up.
I've just done a second haircut on the floofs and it went better, managed to trim back end hair and give their bottoms a wee wash.
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Yes dont worry even with the best cage hygiene many floofs get little poopy matted bits around their bottoms- Blodwen often gets little bits of parsley and poop woven into her skirts that sweep the floor as she trundles about- I just snip these bits off carefully with baby nail scissors whenever I do their nail trims and/or weeky health checks during the winter, do a summer haircut or two, and bum bath as needed :)
 
PigglePuggle said:
Yes dont worry even with the best cage hygiene many floofs get little poopy matted bits around their bottoms- Blodwen often gets little bits of parsley and poop woven into her skirts that sweep the floor as she trundles about- I just snip these bits off carefully with baby nail scissors whenever I do their nail trims and/or weeky health checks during the winter, do a summer haircut or two, and bum bath as needed :)
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Thank you. Baby nail scissors, what a great idea! The floofs are so small. Will get some.
 
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