My first long haired pig - bath tips.

[JoeSuff88]

Hey all

I recently rescued a long haired pig after my other pigs cage mate passed away.

She’s a lovelly wee thing - only difference is her long hair - all my others were short haired.

I’m starting to think I should bathe and cut her hair regularly, I am looking for some guidance please - what shampoo, should I use warm water, towel dry/hair dryer

Any advice would be welcome I don’t want to do a trial and error as they’re my kids lol

Thanks!

 

[Piggies&buns]

She is beautiful.

You don’t bathe regularly - it isn’t good for their skin. I have a 6 year old boy who is long haired and he has only had one bum bath in his whole life (he ran through a pee puddle and made a mess of himself!).
Only bathe is she is very dirty (ie not keeping herself clean) or is there is a medical need to do so.

She will need to be brushed if she will tolerate it and you will need to cut her hair. It’s recommended to keep the hair around the back end and back legs cut short so it doesn’t get matted.

I keep my long haired boy’s back end and sides cut short year round (so it doesn’t get tangled with hay and bedding) and then in summer he gets a full cut all over to keep him cool.

The guide below will help further.

An Illustrated Guide to Hair Cutting

As an aside, it looks to be too many nuggets in the bowl - ensure they are kept limited to just one tablespoon per pig per day.

 

[Freela]

Awww, she's lovely!

I've had a couple sheltie crosses and recently acquired what I expected to be another sheltie cross... much to my surprise she is pretty much a full-blown sheltie with a LOT of fur. A LOT. Very much fur! So I feel you here!

There's really no need to bath unless your pig is very wet/dirty (the only pig I've ever bathed regularly had persistent bladder issues in old age- she was short-haired, I only washed her bum end and belly, and even she was hard to dry afterwards!) The easiest thing is just to cut the hair short enough that it doesn't trail on the ground and get matted/wet.

My current long-haired pig, Misa, is kind of a nightmare... she is very busy, she doesn't like scissors or clippers, and she likes our slicker brush on her neck and upper body but hates it on her long end. I've tried clippers and scissors and although she hates both so far the easiest thing I've found is to have someone else hold her while I just cut the back end short. I keep the sides longer but not trailing on the ground. Aesthetic results vary depending on how cooperative she is that day, but the most important part is that it's off the ground so she doesn't pee on it all the time!

I actually always wanted a full sheltie and now I wonder why on earth I felt that way! LOL! Don't get me wrong, she is beautiful, but the coat is way more work than I anticipated and Misa is way less cooperative than my past longer-haired pigs. I do hope she settles down as she gets older!

Here's a picture of the coat in all it's glory... we do normally keep it quite a bit shorter than this but I went to the cottage for a couple weeks and forgot my scissors!

 

[Merab]

What a beautiful girl you have.
My Priscilla was a long haired piggy and I just kept the fur around her bum short.
I occasionally gave her a bum bath if she got too mucky but that was probably only once a year.

 

[fluffysal]

Wow, the Rapunzel of guinea pigs

Awww, she's lovely!

I've had a couple sheltie crosses and recently acquired what I expected to be another sheltie cross... much to my surprise she is pretty much a full-blown sheltie with a LOT of fur. A LOT. Very much fur! So I feel you here!

There's really no need to bath unless your pig is very wet/dirty (the only pig I've ever bathed regularly had persistent bladder issues in old age- she was short-haired, I only washed her bum end and belly, and even she was hard to dry afterwards!) The easiest thing is just to cut the hair short enough that it doesn't trail on the ground and get matted/wet.

My current long-haired pig, Misa, is kind of a nightmare... she is very busy, she doesn't like scissors or clippers, and she likes our slicker brush on her neck and upper body but hates it on her long end. I've tried clippers and scissors and although she hates both so far the easiest thing I've found is to have someone else hold her while I just cut the back end short. I keep the sides longer but not trailing on the ground. Aesthetic results vary depending on how cooperative she is that day, but the most important part is that it's off the ground so she doesn't pee on it all the time!

I actually always wanted a full sheltie and now I wonder why on earth I felt that way! LOL! Don't get me wrong, she is beautiful, but the coat is way more work than I anticipated and Misa is way less cooperative than my past longer-haired pigs. I do hope she settles down as she gets older!

Here's a picture of the coat in all it's glory... we do normally keep it quite a bit shorter than this but I went to the cottage for a couple weeks and forgot my scissors!
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