Paraphimosis?

[Sue_P]

I'm talking about it on facebook but everyone is just making a mockery out of my rodent's willy now.

 

[Niki]

I've never had the problem with any of my boys but i'd be wanting to know why it is happening. Is there white stuff on his penis? This is smegma (a normal secretion to keep the shaft lubricated), it can build up & prevent the foreskin from going back. I'd hold him in the sink & bathe his bottom end in warm water, making sure you remove the smegma (if there is any) & GENTLY try to pull his foreskin back over. If it won't move then i'd be taking him to the vets.
The lady in the petshop is talking rubbish saying it's ok unless it goes purple. Pigs, as you know, have short legs & his penis is being exposed to all kinds of bacteria whilst it is out, you could end up with a huge vet bill if he gets an infection in it.
I would take both boys to the vet & see what they say bout Rumball's penis & also tell them both are squeaking when weeing, he may already have an infection & his penis may be swollen & this may be why his foreskin won't go back.
Rumball being wet would most likely be wee, semen looks like wood glue & sticks like glue, it can't be washed off; it has to be cut out of their hair.

 

[Pebble]

I've never had the problem with any of my boys but i'd be wanting to know why it is happening. Is there white stuff on his penis? This is smegma (a normal secretion to keep the shaft lubricated), it can build up & prevent the foreskin from going back. I'd hold him in the sink & bathe his bottom end in warm water, making sure you remove the smegma (if there is any) & GENTLY try to pull his foreskin back over. If it won't move then i'd be taking him to the vets.
The lady in the petshop is talking rubbish saying it's ok unless it goes purple. Pigs, as you know, have short legs & his penis is being exposed to all kinds of bacteria whilst it is out, you could end up with a huge vet bill if he gets an infection in it.
I would take both boys to the vet & see what they say bout Rumball's penis & also tell them both are squeaking when weeing, he may already have an infection & his penis may be swollen & this may be why his foreskin won't go back.
Rumball being wet would most likely be wee, semen looks like wood glue & sticks like glue, it can't be washed off; it has to be cut out of their hair.

^^^^^


What she said......Spot on.

Please take him to a vet - a protruding willy for even a couple of hours is NOT good and at risk from infection. The wetness is also a good indicator that it sounds like he now needs urgent medical attention

x

 

[Sue_P]

I’m made up, it’s gone back in!

I checked him when I got home last night and it was still out so I asked Meanie Mummy to come down so we could bathe him and I could take a proper look, (can’t poke and prod whilst holding him myself). She blew a fuse and bit my head off cos she’s mean,

that old woman went mental cos I was making her miss the football, she was furious with me and is still angry and snappy this morning.

 

[Sue_P]

She came though with some vasaline but I decided not to use it cos she said it can dry sticky and I thought that’d make it worse, Bad Dad suggested KY jelly but Meanie Mummy had already set off to my house at that time. I phoned the vets to ask if vasaline was ok to use but they wouldn’t say and just said to bring him in otherwise he may need his willy amputated if an infection gets in!

I ignored them and got on with bathing him and giving him a good clean up and a proper look to see if there was any foreign objects stuck in his foreskin. Nobody warned me that rodents have like tentacles on the end of their willys,

my mum was encouraging me to pull it off but I was thinking it was part of him cos it didn’t want to come off. Well there’s two tentacles but it looked like one small strand of hay, thankfully I didn’t pull too hard and left them on, I wonder if other people have mistaken them as being something that shouldn’t be there and pulled them off?

I pulled his foreskin up and down and inspected it from all angles, didn’t know what it was supposed to look like mind but it’s all a healthy colour and there’s no odour. Underneath the foreskin at one side he had old gunk attached which took a while to poke off gently, I imagine it was that that was causing him a problem of his willy not retracting back in and probably the same thing which prevented it from going back in last time. His willy is totally clean now, didn’t use soap or owt, just luke warm water in the washing up bowl. Hope that won’t give him an infection if he didn’t have one before.

Now then, are rodent willies supposed to be straight or can they be kinked because Rumball’s was kinked. & what are they supposed to feel like, can they have lumps in cos Rumball’s had a sort of lump (not visible but could feel it) on one side of his willy, on the side it was bending to. When you say a protruding willy can catch an infection is the infection visible? How? Does the willy swell up? Go red? Smell yeah? Could a lump indicate an infection inside the penis shaft?

Or do you reckon what I felt is nothing and just normal?

I mean all willys are different right? I’m frigid and don’t feel human willys so I wouldn’t know what they’re supposed to feel like. Are willys lumpy or bent in places? Anyway, we cleaned him at around 8.15pm and we left him with his willy out. If I knew the correct procedure of pushing it back in that the vets do I’d have done it myself but I didn’t and I didn’t want to hurt him and thought now that it’s clean and the gunk’s been removed it might go back itself. It was much smaller than it was the first time last week I’d seen it so it wasn’t fully out, well it was out but not huge and I thought as we were cleaning him it was looking a bit like it was shrinking. It was still out just before 10pm and at 10.45 I tried getting a glance without picking him up and I didn’t’ see it so it could have possibly have gone back in then. This morning I picked him up and it’s totally gone back in.

Now should I be worried that his willy could be starting with an infection whilst it’s inside of him or is that unlikely now that it’s gone back in? What are the warning signs? BTW he only squeaks whilst peeing sometimes, haven’t heard him for 4 or 5 days I think. It’s on and off with the both of my rodents, they were ok for months at one time and then they’ll start again or one will start and not the other, Rumball rarely squeaks whilst peeing, it’s the other that does it the most, haven’t heard him do it for a few days though and it’s not with every pee.

 

[Sue_P]

& another thing. I rarely handle my rodents. I get Meanie Mummy down once a month for claw cutting and in the struggling frenzy that takes place we’ve never flipped them upside down before and taken a look at their underneaths but we had a good look at the both of them last night and their fur is minging close to the skin if you take a good look.

I snipped off the main lot of mats under their back leg armpits although I didn’t take all of them off because I was finding it hard to differentiate between mats and skin.

They’re long haired mix rodents.

Rumball’s the black one. When I claw cut I usually chop off the bottom of their ‘tails’ as I call them cos their hair can grow so long that it drags on the ground behind them and that doesn’t seem hygienic but I’ve never chopped underneath where their willys are and under their bottom legs. I know some people bathe their rodies but most people don’t right? If I bathed them then they’d need a jolly good shampooing and a lot of fingering to get the skin clean near their bottoms cos that fur is putrid! It’s grim. Like I say they look fine from a distance but if you get right close up and shift the fur around to look at the skin it’s horrible, are all rodents like that? You didn’t think mine were mucky did you Niki when you stuck your face in their genitals did you? But they must have been in the same condition then.

& yeah, I think the wet on Rumball’s fur that I saw was probably pee now as it wasn’t whitey glue although when I was bathing him it was clear that cleaning him properly was impossible without a shampoo, water and hands wasn’t going to remove what was on his fur. Didn’t look bad whilst dry but when made wet it looked yuck. I didn’t bathe Fudge, just cut off the mats but condition of fur-wise they looked the same whilst dry.

So what would your prognosis be? Probably healthy enough normal rodents and one just had a willy out due to a build up of gunk, which is gone now and drama over? Or are you suspicious of their squeaking whilst peeing turning into something worse? When I took them to the vets yonks back (probably the end of last year the last time I went) that vet wasn’t worried about them, he said to just monitor and if one is proper ill, bring it in to be put down. He/we suspected bladder stones or a UTI, the medication (baytril) had no effect on either course on either rodent so we thought it was probably bladder stones. Suppose it could be a UTI now but like I say it comes and goes and gets better by itself and I don’t hear a squeak in weeks. Most of the time Rumball is fine, it’s Fudge that worries me the most. Both are still fat, active and happy rodies, Fudge will often popcorn after he’s looked to have a slightly painful wee.

Oh and should I have sprayed human antiseptic spray on his willy after groping him? To avoid him drawing bacteria back inside himself? Only thought of that now, doh.

Although I was apprehensive of using creams and stuff on him incase it did him more harm than good.

& also is it true that when vets put back in willys they put in a couple of stitches to stop it coming back out again? That’s what the woman at the pet shop said. Is that safe? Does it interfere with them peeing? Surely it’d be painful if it has an erection? & do they knock the rodent out to put in the stitches cos I wouldn’t want mine being knocked out.

 

[Niki]

She came though with some vasaline but I decided not to use it cos she said it can dry sticky and I thought that’d make it worse, Bad Dad suggested KY jelly but Meanie Mummy had already set off to my house at that time. I phoned the vets to ask if vasaline was ok to use but they wouldn’t say and just said to bring him in otherwise he may need his willy amputated if an infection gets in!

I ignored them and got on with bathing him and giving him a good clean up and a proper look to see if there was any foreign objects stuck in his foreskin. Nobody warned me that rodents have like tentacles on the end of their willys,

my mum was encouraging me to pull it off but I was thinking it was part of him cos it didn’t want to come off. Well there’s two tentacles but it looked like one small strand of hay, thankfully I didn’t pull too hard and left them on, I wonder if other people have mistaken them as being something that shouldn’t be there and pulled them off?

I pulled his foreskin up and down and inspected it from all angles, didn’t know what it was supposed to look like mind but it’s all a healthy colour and there’s no odour. Underneath the foreskin at one side he had old gunk attached which took a while to poke off gently, I imagine it was that that was causing him a problem of his willy not retracting back in and probably the same thing which prevented it from going back in last time. His willy is totally clean now, didn’t use soap or owt, just luke warm water in the washing up bowl. Hope that won’t give him an infection if he didn’t have one before.

Now then, are rodent willies supposed to be straight or can they be kinked because Rumball’s was kinked. & what are they supposed to feel like, can they have lumps in cos Rumball’s had a sort of lump (not visible but could feel it) on one side of his willy, on the side it was bending to. When you say a protruding willy can catch an infection is the infection visible? How? Does the willy swell up? Go red? Smell yeah? Could a lump indicate an infection inside the penis shaft?

Or do you reckon what I felt is nothing and just normal?

I mean all willys are different right? I’m frigid and don’t feel human willys so I wouldn’t know what they’re supposed to feel like. Are willys lumpy or bent in places? Anyway, we cleaned him at around 8.15pm and we left him with his willy out. If I knew the correct procedure of pushing it back in that the vets do I’d have done it myself but I didn’t and I didn’t want to hurt him and thought now that it’s clean and the gunk’s been removed it might go back itself. It was much smaller than it was the first time last week I’d seen it so it wasn’t fully out, well it was out but not huge and I thought as we were cleaning him it was looking a bit like it was shrinking. It was still out just before 10pm and at 10.45 I tried getting a glance without picking him up and I didn’t’ see it so it could have possibly have gone back in then. This morning I picked him up and it’s totally gone back in.

Now should I be worried that his willy could be starting with an infection whilst it’s inside of him or is that unlikely now that it’s gone back in? What are the warning signs? BTW he only squeaks whilst peeing sometimes, haven’t heard him for 4 or 5 days I think. It’s on and off with the both of my rodents, they were ok for months at one time and then they’ll start again or one will start and not the other, Rumball rarely squeaks whilst peeing, it’s the other that does it the most, haven’t heard him do it for a few days though and it’s not with every pee.

My personal opinion is that you did right not using vaseline. Warm water, no soap is sufficient to do the job as his penis will lubricate itself naturally & vaseline could well have done more harm than good on such a sensitive area.
The tentacles you describe are perfectly normal & should be left alone, i think they are sperm rods.
Regarding the lump/kink i can't say wether it's normal or not, it may be it's normal for him or it could have been caused by an old injury, i've not examined enough penises to know what is right/wrong but i would think if it were causing him a problem you would know.
I wouldn't be concerned about him picking up an infection, the signs would be redness, swelling & possible odour or an inability to pass urine.

 

[Niki]

& another thing. I rarely handle my rodents. I get Meanie Mummy down once a month for claw cutting and in the struggling frenzy that takes place we’ve never flipped them upside down before and taken a look at their underneaths but we had a good look at the both of them last night and their fur is minging close to the skin if you take a good look.

I snipped off the main lot of mats under their back leg armpits although I didn’t take all of them off because I was finding it hard to differentiate between mats and skin.

They’re long haired mix rodents.

Rumball’s the black one. When I claw cut I usually chop off the bottom of their ‘tails’ as I call them cos their hair can grow so long that it drags on the ground behind them and that doesn’t seem hygienic but I’ve never chopped underneath where their willys are and under their bottom legs. I know some people bathe their rodies but most people don’t right? If I bathed them then they’d need a jolly good shampooing and a lot of fingering to get the skin clean near their bottoms cos that fur is putrid! It’s grim. Like I say they look fine from a distance but if you get right close up and shift the fur around to look at the skin it’s horrible, are all rodents like that? You didn’t think mine were mucky did you Niki when you stuck your face in their genitals did you? But they must have been in the same condition then.

& yeah, I think the wet on Rumball’s fur that I saw was probably pee now as it wasn’t whitey glue although when I was bathing him it was clear that cleaning him properly was impossible without a shampoo, water and hands wasn’t going to remove what was on his fur. Didn’t look bad whilst dry but when made wet it looked yuck. I didn’t bathe Fudge, just cut off the mats but condition of fur-wise they looked the same whilst dry.

So what would your prognosis be? Probably healthy enough normal rodents and one just had a willy out due to a build up of gunk, which is gone now and drama over? Or are you suspicious of their squeaking whilst peeing turning into something worse? When I took them to the vets yonks back (probably the end of last year the last time I went) that vet wasn’t worried about them, he said to just monitor and if one is proper ill, bring it in to be put down. He/we suspected bladder stones or a UTI, the medication (baytril) had no effect on either course on either rodent so we thought it was probably bladder stones. Suppose it could be a UTI now but like I say it comes and goes and gets better by itself and I don’t hear a squeak in weeks. Most of the time Rumball is fine, it’s Fudge that worries me the most. Both are still fat, active and happy rodies, Fudge will often popcorn after he’s looked to have a slightly painful wee.

Oh and should I have sprayed human antiseptic spray on his willy after groping him? To avoid him drawing bacteria back inside himself? Only thought of that now, doh.

Although I was apprehensive of using creams and stuff on him incase it did him more harm than good.

& also is it true that when vets put back in willys they put in a couple of stitches to stop it coming back out again? That’s what the woman at the pet shop said. Is that safe? Does it interfere with them peeing? Surely it’d be painful if it has an erection? & do they knock the rodent out to put in the stitches cos I wouldn’t want mine being knocked out.

You can bathe the boys if you want, i rarely bath mine but mine live in their shed, not inside so i usually do mine in the summer when we have a hot day. I do cut some of my piggies hair round their back legs usually Lyric & Larks when they've been sitting in wee & go yellow.
You shouldn't 've sprayed his penis with antiseptic spray - OUCH!
I wouldn't think any vet (or doctor for that matter) would put a couple of stitches into a penis to keep it in place, a foreskin hais designed to move otherwise infection would set in & cause huge problems.

 

[Sue_P]

My personal opinion is that you did right not using vaseline. Warm water, no soap is sufficient to do the job as his penis will lubricate itself naturally & vaseline could well have done more harm than good on such a sensitive area.

For future use, is soap safe around the willy and bum area? & what about human shampoo? I know pet shops do animal shampoo but is that just a gimmick, is there any real difference?

The tentacles you describe are perfectly normal & should be left alone, i think they are sperm rods.

Hope Rumball’s are ok and can take a bit of tugging. Hope they’re not too delicate cos I did mess with them quite a bit.

He didn’t flinch though.

Regarding the lump/kink i can't say wether it's normal or not, it may be it's normal for him or it could have been caused by an old injury, i've not examined enough penises to know what is right/wrong but i would think if it were causing him a problem you would know.
I wouldn't be concerned about him picking up an infection, the signs would be redness, swelling & possible odour or an inability to pass urine.

But maybe he picked up bacteria the other day onto his willy and now that it’s gone back up inside him it’s festering away and will start an infection?

I won’t be able to tell unless it comes out again will I?

 

[Sue_P]

You can bathe the boys if you want, i rarely bath mine but mine live in their shed, not inside so i usually do mine in the summer when we have a hot day. I do cut some of my piggies hair round their back legs usually Lyric & Larks when they've been sitting in wee & go yellow.

Urrgh yuck, yellow!

& is that just the outside fur that goes yellow or are your rodies like mine and have revolting looking mank on top of their skin on their back ends underneath the fur? Oh BTW, I went looking for my rodent’s bum holes but couldn’t find them.

But I suspected they were around the most grotty area.

Wonder if I should give both my rodents a jolly good lather with shampoo and warm water and a good combing afterwards?

Can’t say I fancy it but I might. Can them being mucky make them ill in any way or get them infections? Or is the rodent bathing lark just mainly for human aesthetics? & human smell senses? Must say after handling those dirty bottoms I felt the urge to wash my indoor cardigan afterwards.

Do the rodents not care at all if they’re mucky and haven’t ever been bathed? They’re in no danger are they, it’s natural ain’t it or are rodies in the wild generally cleaner? I was thinking about this last night about where they live in the wild. (Haven’t a clue myself, never seen footage of wild ones). But I imagined they’d be out grazing dropping poos all over but surely they’d have a safe home base in like a burrow or something and that’d be manky cos it’d never get cleaned out.

Basically I couldn’t decide if in the wild they have cleaner living conditions than being in confined hutches.

Oh BTW, I took your advise and have only been mucking my rodies out once a day for the last few months, oddly I think I go through more newspaper though.

 

[Sue_P]

You shouldn't 've sprayed his penis with antiseptic spray - OUCH!

Oh dear, that’d hurt would it?!

I didn’t know.

I thought it only hurt if you had an open wound.

I wouldn't think any vet (or doctor for that matter) would put a couple of stitches into a penis to keep it in place, a foreskin hais designed to move otherwise infection would set in & cause huge problems.

Either the lady at the petshop talks b*llocks or the vets around here are as cr*p as I thought.

Have you ever heard of any rodents with their penis’ amputated? Does that really happen? How on earth do they pee afterwards?

So then, when do you think Rumball will do another erection?

I’m living in fear now thinking that it’ll pop out again and not go back in, I just hope if it happens I spot it. I mean are erections a daily thing or don’t happen often? He had one last week, he had one this week, do you reckon’ there’s been any in between that have come and gone quickly and I haven’t seen?

 

[Niki]

Urrgh yuck, yellow!

& is that just the outside fur that goes yellow or are your rodies like mine and have revolting looking mank on top of their skin on their back ends underneath the fur? Oh BTW, I went looking for my rodent’s bum holes but couldn’t find them.

But I suspected they were around the most grotty area.

Wonder if I should give both my rodents a jolly good lather with shampoo and warm water and a good combing afterwards?

Can’t say I fancy it but I might. Can them being mucky make them ill in any way or get them infections? Or is the rodent bathing lark just mainly for human aesthetics? & human smell senses? Must say after handling those dirty bottoms I felt the urge to wash my indoor cardigan afterwards.

Do the rodents not care at all if they’re mucky and haven’t ever been bathed? They’re in no danger are they, it’s natural ain’t it or are rodies in the wild generally cleaner? I was thinking about this last night about where they live in the wild. (Haven’t a clue myself, never seen footage of wild ones). But I imagined they’d be out grazing dropping poos all over but surely they’d have a safe home base in like a burrow or something and that’d be manky cos it’d never get cleaned out.

Basically I couldn’t decide if in the wild they have cleaner living conditions than being in confined hutches.

Oh BTW, I took your advise and have only been mucking my rodies out once a day for the last few months, oddly I think I go through more newspaper though.

Lyric & Lark's yellow bits (when it happens) is just their hair, being white it shows but is easily sorted. Your boys have grease glands that need cleaning if they're overactive. You will see a matted greasy area where you'd expect to see a tail, low down on the rump. This too is easily sorted with either washing up liquid or swarfega. You massage a small amount into the area teasing the grease & rinse with warm water & repeat if necessary or you can do this when you bath them. It is dependant on the boy himself as to how dirty the grease gland gets.
Their anal sacs (bums) are behind (lower) than their penises & above their testicles, you should check this periodically for any bedding etc that may have collected in there.
Regarding bathing, this is up to you, if they were mine & their hair looked to be matted/dirty then i would bath them but if not i leave alone. I'd not say they'd get an infection if you don't bath them but if their hair was matted then it would be uncomfortable for them & a bath does them no harm, some enjoy it, others don't.

 

[Niki]

Oh dear, that’d hurt would it?!

I didn’t know.

I thought it only hurt if you had an open wound.

I would think it'd be uncomfortable given that the skin there is so sensitive & antiseptic spray can be quite harsh.

Either the lady at the petshop talks b*llocks or the vets around here are as cr*p as I thought.

Have you ever heard of any rodents with their penis’ amputated? Does that really happen? How on earth do they pee afterwards?

I haven't heard of or seen a guinea pig who's penis has had to be amputated but i know of a pig who had a tumour of the penis & another who had a stone stuck in the small tube of the penis.

So then, when do you think Rumball will do another erection?

I’m living in fear now thinking that it’ll pop out again and not go back in, I just hope if it happens I spot it. I mean are erections a daily thing or don’t happen often? He had one last week, he had one this week, do you reckon’ there’s been any in between that have come and gone quickly and I haven’t seen?

I cannot answer wether Rumball will or won't have another erection but if he does i would take him to the vet & ask why it is happening, is there something wrong.
I can only speak about my own pigs & i've never seen any of them (past or present) with their penises exposed, it may be that it happens but they're able to retract theirs back & this is why i don't see it.

 

[Sue_P]

Lyric & Lark's yellow bits (when it happens) is just their hair, being white it shows but is easily sorted. Your boys have grease glands that need cleaning if they're overactive. You will see a matted greasy area where you'd expect to see a tail, low down on the rump. This too is easily sorted with either washing up liquid or swarfega. You massage a small amount into the area teasing the grease & rinse with warm water & repeat if necessary or you can do this when you bath them. It is dependant on the boy himself as to how dirty the grease gland gets.

That’ll be the putrid bit I was looking at then.

Meanie Mummy said at the time don’t they have scent glands and could it be that, but we weren’t sure, then just decided their bum holes must be around that area and I was in fact fingering old poos.

Regarding bathing, this is up to you, if they were mine & their hair looked to be matted/dirty then i would bath them but if not i leave alone. I'd not say they'd get an infection if you don't bath them but if their hair was matted then it would be uncomfortable for them & a bath does them no harm, some enjoy it, others don't.

You know what, I will give them a bath sometime but only shampoo (with washing up liquid) their back ends and under their back legs.

I’m sure their heads don’t need doing and I can’t imagine they’d be cooperative so it’d be good to limit the stress. Do you ever do it by yourself Niki? Do you place a rodent in a washing up bowl with shallow water in and do it? Do accidents ever occur where they’re stood in water and they take a gulp? Or is it best for someone to hold the head end up and someone else do the rubbing?

 

[Sue_P]

Their anal sacs (bums) are behind (lower) than their penises & above their testicles, you should check this periodically for any bedding etc that may have collected in there.

Didn’t know you’re supposed to check the bum holes.

& I ain’t even noticed the testicles before.

I’ll have to do another search for the bum holes, it’s probably cos they’re so hairy that I didn’t spot them when looking.

But why would hay get stuck up there anyway?

Things come out not in.

& can they not reach their bums with their teeth cos I see my ones with their heads in their bits a lot.

 

[Sue_P]

I would think it'd be uncomfortable given that the skin there is so sensitive & antiseptic spray can be quite harsh.

You wouldn’t have been able to tell that Ruball’s willy was sensitive cos he didn’t sem to mind me handling it lots.

Or when I gave it a tug when I first saw it.

He acted like nothing had happened and didn’t start hiding from me.

I haven't heard of or seen a guinea pig who's penis has had to be amputated but i know of a pig who had a tumour of the penis & another who had a stone stuck in the small tube of the penis.

Youch.

I cannot answer wether Rumball will or won't have another erection but if he does i would take him to the vet & ask why it is happening, is there something wrong.
I can only speak about my own pigs & i've never seen any of them (past or present) with their penises exposed, it may be that it happens but they're able to retract theirs back & this is why i don't see it.

Hope I don’t catch it out again.

Maybe he’s just one randy rodie.

 

[lauralucy]

You know what, I will give them a bath sometime but only shampoo (with washing up liquid) their back ends and under their back legs.

I’m sure their heads don’t need doing and I can’t imagine they’d be cooperative so it’d be good to limit the stress. Do you ever do it by yourself Niki? Do you place a rodent in a washing up bowl with shallow water in and do it? Do accidents ever occur where they’re stood in water and they take a gulp? Or is it best for someone to hold the head end up and someone else do the rubbing?[/QUOTE]

only use washing up liquid on the grease glands it will be too harsh on their skin if used, i use johnsons small animal shampoo, but you can buy guinea pig shampoos from gorgeous guineas.

i bath mine by my self in a washing up bowl with about an inch of water, no problems except them jumping. also do not get their ears or eyes wet, i wash from the neck down.

 

[Niki]

Didn’t know you’re supposed to check the bum holes.

& I ain’t even noticed the testicles before.

I’ll have to do another search for the bum holes, it’s probably cos they’re so hairy that I didn’t spot them when looking.

But why would hay get stuck up there anyway?

Things come out not in.

& can they not reach their bums with their teeth cos I see my ones with their heads in their bits a lot.

Quite how hay gets up there i don't know it could be because boys have a tendency to drag their bum along the floor periodically. Yes they can reach their bums themselves, when you see them doing this they will most likely be eating their caecotrophes (soft pellets) which are full of essential nutrients & is perfectly normal.

 

[Sue_P]

Thanks for the advice.

Quite how hay gets up there i don't know it could be because boys have a tendency to drag their bum along the floor periodically. Yes they can reach their bums themselves, when you see them doing this they will most likely be eating their caecotrophes (soft pellets) which are full of essential nutrients & is perfectly normal.

Mine don’t do much bum dragging, do plenty of wee sniffing though.

only use washing up liquid on the grease glands it will be too harsh on their skin if used, i use johnsons small animal shampoo, but you can buy guinea pig shampoos from gorgeous guineas.

i bath mine by my self in a washing up bowl with about an inch of water, no problems except them jumping. also do not get their ears or eyes wet, i wash from the neck down.

Do I really have to buy guinea pig shampoo or will just human stuff do? Surely human stuff can’t cause them catastrophic skin problems?

 

[lauralucy]

i wouldnt use human shampoo just in case, if you want to its up to you but i wouldnt risk it, guinea's have very senstive skin.