The Dreaded Grease Gland

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Louise Herbert

Louise Herbert

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone, I'm just wondering how often is the norm to clean a boars grease gland?

I have two very greasy boys, and although I bath them regularly (every couple of months) and clean their grease gland with Swarfega inbetween, within a few days of doing do it is as if I never did! I am afraid of hurting their delicate skin (especially as they are both pure bred teddies which are prone to dry skin) but the grease glands are quite smelly and I also think the release of hormones is contributing to the reason they are constantly fighting (mentioned on a previous post)

When I do clean the grease glands, it is thick with grease and the fur around the area is clumped together. It takes a good half an hour of gently rub with the Swarfega and warm water to remove it. I've noticed though that this also removes the surrounding fur, which although grows back, I'm not sure if I'm doing it correctly?

If anyone could give me any advise/tips it would be most appreciated!
 
Hi,

I think as with people, piggies are individuals and therefore produce more or less. I'm pretty blessed that none of my males have been particularly bad and I've never had to get to the point of using swarfega. I keep long haired piggies or those with feathers short for this reason, just around that area. I find that whilst there is hardening, it doesn't cause them any issues. I'm not sure if anyone else has a severe reaction.
 
Hi @Louise Herbert -my boar has a quite an active grease gland which release quite an odour with or without a bath. I will admit that before when I had only my sow,Vinny,I never even knew of a grease gland as hers never caused any problems. I bath Mo's bottom shall we say at least once a week in warm water- so I don't damage skin and to just declump the gland. Once a month or twice if it's really bad I'll use fairy liquid to get rid of excess grease which my vet said was alright so long as I did it sensibly so it doesn't irritate or dry skin. She does it to her 4 piggies also. So far my routine has made it much better- both the odour and the actual state of the gland itself. Hope this helps. Btw when I do 'bath' him cos of his grease gland I do not wash his whole body only his rump area. He gets a whole bath with guinea pig shampoo once a month near the end.
 
Thank you both for your advice. I tried the regular guinea pig shampoo concentrated on the area to begin with, then tried fairy liquid, but unfortunately neither of them did much good!

It seems that both my boys have particularly active grease glands!

Nonetheless, we will persevere and I will perhaps try again with the fairy liquid inbetween the Swarfega! I am hoping that once they have finished their teenage months it will improve. Fingers crossed!
 
Haha yes I hope my piggies dies down a bit too because it's stinky work lol. But yeah the fairy liquid works so long as it's not too much of a build up and my vet said that if that happens and it cakes the skin then do a saltwater bath-havent had to myself yet but don't know if that'd help.
 
Is your boy unneutered Jesse? I had one boar in the past who never suffered from this problem, although he was neutered as he had a harem of three beautiful ladies!

That's not to say that I intend to have the boys neutered as I dont, there's only the two of them so no babies for us, but just wondering out of curiosity!
 
Yeah he's not been neutered- couldn't bring myself to put him through the op incase anything went wrong. Trying to find him a brother. This is my first boar. :)
 
one of my boars grease glands was very greasy,i used swarga,leave it on for half an hour and then wash off,fairy washing up liquid works well,again work it into the area leave for half an hour .then wash off.i did Jerries gland every week,and cut the hair short around the gland.i found little and often worked well.:)
 
Jesse's pigs said:
Yeah he's not been neutered- couldn't bring myself to put him through the op incase anything went wrong. Trying to find him a brother. This is my first boar. :)
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I love my boars Jesse, I think a lot of people favour sows as they tend to be less work in most cases but my boys are so full of character - I wouldn't swap them for the world. It's just a same they hate each other!

And thank you Eileen, I'll try leaving the fairy liquid/Swarfega on the area before washing off and also try doing it every week.
 
I had a sow before who got me hooked into piggies and started the whole obsession. Can't thank her enough haha. My boar is very similar to her personality wise except not as trustworthy- She could run free on the lawn. Both very big too. Sadly she passed away in January 2015 after turning 3. The vet didn't know why but I believe it was meningitis. He is a lot dirtier and stinky but still has a heart of gold- I can see why you love your boars!

Blue one was my sow Vinny the gingery one is Mo. ♡

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Aww your piggies are cuties, I'm sorry that Vinny has crossed the rainbow bridge. Good luck with finding Mo a friend.

Here are my beauties, the black one is Leo & the cream one is Mickey. This is a rare photo of them not fighting, as we speak they are loudly teeth clattering to each other from opposite ends of the sofa!

My piggie obsession started along time ago, when I got two gorgeous girls for my tenth birthday. This soon turned into four (three girls and a boy) as we soon discovered one of my lovely ladies was pregnant when we got her. My last girl died around the age of 7 and I didn't have any pets for about ten years after she died because I was so heartbroken!

I'm so glad I got my boys though, they bring so much happiness to my life!

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Awww they're beautiful! And it sounds as though they have a very loving mummy!! Both look very fuzzy- are they teddies? They sound very much like trouble makers but they're the best ones aren't they? And thank you I miss her terribly but Mo sometimes does something that she used to do and it's so cute. Right now he's stuffing his face haha
 
Thank you! Yes, I am a crazy guinea pig lady! And yes they are teddies Although all piglets are beautiful, teddies are my favourite! They are naughty though, and very mischievous! Mickey is always hyper and never sits still, whereas Leo is a bit more lazy.

I know how you feel missing your Vinny, it's horrible losing a pet, especially when you have a special bond. I've loved all my pets, but sometimes you do come across that special one
 
eileen said:
one of my boars grease glands was very greasy,i used swarga,leave it on for half an hour and then wash off,fairy washing up liquid works well,again work it into the area leave for half an hour .then wash off.i did Jerries gland every week,and cut the hair short around the gland.i found little and often worked well.:)
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That's very helpful advice :).My Georgie is very matted at the back from his grease gland and I used something similar to swarfega the other day but it didn't help much and I wasn't sure if I was doing it right.
 
My 3 boys all get quite smelly and dirty grease glands :xd: I have found that once a month is enough. I use coconut oil on them and massage it in and then leave it on for a little while then comb the area gently through followed by a bath. I find cleaning their anal sacs at the same time- although they hate it!
 
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