Some grooming questions....

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Lisajazz

Lisajazz

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Okay tonight Bessie was grooming Gypsy's ears. I have never witnessed any of my pigs grooming each other before. Is that normal behaviour?

Also - does anyone have any tips for me on cutting peruvians hair? I have bathed and groomed both girls tonight and cut their hair and nails but I am hopeless at cutting it and they hate it. Hope for some good tips.

Nails: Do they all have nails that are the equivalent I suppose to our little finger nails that curl in? One of my peruvians has both paws and the other one one paw (they are sisters). The nails aren't particularly long but they grow in on some of the small nails.

Finally - how long does it take to be used to doing the nails and get more confident? I have done it 4 times on these pigs and it still scares me to death!
 
For cutting hair you will need a small pair of sharp scissors and I find it best to cut with the tip of the scissors. I sit piggy on my lap with their bum facing my knees. Lift a section of hair and hold your fingers close to the skin then trim the end of the hair. I don't mind cutting hair and am much more relaxed about doing it than cutting nails! I cut the hair in layers keeping it short around the rear and grease gland.

Some piggys seem to be more prone than others to nails which curl slightly and even more so in older piggys. Keep a close eye on any that start to curl and perhaps cut those more often, just trimming the tip each time and hopefully the quick will recede allowing you to keep them shorter and perhaps less chance of curl.
 
My girls lick each other ears and eyes! I love seeing my girls bond in this way. Nail cutting usually gets easier the more you do it, however my Montgomery does have very curly nails and it can be a bit difficult, particulary as he usually tries to bite me!
 
Yes Flopsy (the one with 2 really curly nails) was trying to bite me! First time ever. BUT she had just had a bath, groom and hair cut. I was wise with her sister and did nails first.

Okay so grooming is normal - it seemed very sweet but I've not seen it in any of mine before. Sweet!

Thank you Lesa. Do yours look hacked at the end? Mine look lovely and white but a bit rough! Maybe i'll get better in time.
 
Lisajazz said:
Thank you Lesa. Do yours look hacked at the end? Mine look lovely and white but a bit rough! Maybe i'll get better in time.
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They are at the minute as after I carefully gave them a haircut the following week someone started barbering. I've yet to discover the culprit!

I've only had my true long hairs for a few months/weeks but I've had two semi long hairs for a couple of years and whilst they don't need trimmed as often they have needed trims so were good practice for the perus, lunkarya, sheltie and coronet. Rodge and Podge looked really hacked when first started doing it but can manage it reasonably well now. Teasle is the only character. When she gets trimmed you would think from the noises she makes I was using tweezers, not scissors.
 
My peruvians are exactly the same! Major drama queens over the brushing. I tend to use a soft brush and my fingers and they still complain!
 
I still hate hate hate hate cutting lucky's nails, and ive had her 5, nearly 6 years! Her nails are black, so its hard to know where the nerve is. so so SO much easier on Poppy, because you can clearly see where they are, you just have to have one other person holding her still to do it!
 
It's not that bad for me 3/4 of my piggys nails are clear but is my poppys ails that are black (she's only about 4 month old so it's OK for the moment
 
Marvin has 2 paws which are black claws, and 2 clear claws lol... Should be fun I've not tried cutting his yet. Fred is an angel I don't even hold him I position him on lap and move his paw accordingly so I can snip the ends. He just sits there! lol
 
I cut my boys hair as they have such long fur and it drags on the floor! I too use a sharp scissors and just cut the bits away that are long, I'm no expert or hairdressers so sometimes it looks untidy but i would rather that than them be hot or get bits of bedding/hay in there fur. I also brush them when cutting them to see what bits need doing.
Do you mean the nails curl around? If you do Gizmo has one nail that's black that curls around i find this hard to cut (as I'm just a wimp) so i take little bits off at a time.
One of my boys has a rough feel to his fur but i was told this was normal, he too has white fur with ginger bits.

I use a human nail clippers to cut there nails and it is tricky sometimes, as Gizmo hates it and sometimes tries to nip me but I'm wise to it now and he has two black nails that i hate cutting but i cut them the same length as the clear ones.
With time you will get used to cutting the piggys nails. :)
 
I'm so pleased it's not just me! My girls are clear nails that I have had to cut so far BUT there are some guineas that are black nailed eeeeeeeek!

They don't need it right now though so wont worry about that until the time comes.
 
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