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Much happier piggie

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paulag

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Amber and Priscilla are well settled in here, both *** happily come to the bars to take food from my hand and they've been out on the lawn as much as possible.

Their coats have grown back beautifully and were really long. However Amber's was proving a bit of a problem to her. As she got tamer, and the coat got longer, she had started to jump and squeal when combed, no matter how carefully. She was also looking quite hot and bothered. So I decided that she had to have a haircut - it's quite daunting being faced with a thick, long merino coat, but I did what I used to do with a Sheltie I owned a few years back and cut a small amount of at a time and she doesn't look too bad. I ended up with a much larger pile of fur than the guinea pig I had left :)

I think I may have to do Priscilla as well as Amber is noticably livelier and moves around the cage much more. She's also not as unhappy about being picked up now I've stopped combing her.

Apologies for the rather poor quality photo.

Paula
 

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I dud consider trying some clippers but wasn't sure I could clip her safely.

Paula
 
paulag said:
I dud consider trying some clippers but wasn't sure I could clip her safely.

Paula
Click to expand...

My Caramel (Avatar) screams when trimmed (unfortunately she has whirls under her long hair which are uncomfortable for her). I used a clippers on her and although she grumbled she did not scream (one person to hold, one to clip). Try doing it in short bursts. Although I would leave the area around the head or do with scissors as I found that Caramel didn't like the clippers any higher than her shoulders.

Good luck and I look forward to the pictures
 
Please avert your eyes if you are of sensitive disposition. I'm afraid I made a bit of a mess of Priscilla's haircut. She was very good about it and just munched away on some dandelions, but I think it's harder to get straight hair to look any good when you've hacked away on it. And she was soooo pretty.

But guinea pigs don't have mirrors and it's 26 degrees out in the garden this afternoon - her coat would have made a wooly mammoth proud and if you felt underneath it she was too warm. Her skin temperature seemed higher than my chinchillas when I checked her when I got in from work.

Amber seems to have almost changed personality in the last few days - much livelier and comes out to see me when I go in there rather than just sitting in her tube. So it was worth doing even if I don't have quite such beautiful piggies any more.

Paula
 

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That's one heck of a haircut! LOL!

It'll grow back and will be better for her in the warm weather! :)
 
I feel like I'm going to get an angry visit from the Sheltie Preservation League for sacriledge. :)

Paula
 
Just a quick update. Prissie also seems much livelier since loosing her rug. She was a pretty sedentary piggie, but seems to be moving around a lot more.

Paula
 
That's great. My head always feels lighter when I come out of the hairdressers too. She must feel better. :)
 
The girls are looking beautiful, Amber's haircut turned out really well, you did a good job! :)
 
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