I gave my guinea pigs a bath about 40 or so minutes ago and septimius keeps itching himself. I used a baby shampoo, is that bad? I've used it before on Aj (sadly he's been gone a year now, I miss him a lot) and he never had a problem and Tiberius seems fine with it also.
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- Thread starter CharleneN
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helen105281
Senior Guinea Pig
Have you used the same shampoo on him before? It is always best to patch test behind the ear for 48 hours if you have not used it before. Is it rinsed off ok? does his skin look red at all?
Yes I've used it once before on him, he was fine the first time I did so. His skin doesn't look red. I believe its rinsed off okay.
helen105281
Senior Guinea Pig
Is he still scratching now?
Patch test - should you do that with all shampoo products @helen105281 ? I am thinking ahead to when they might need a bath ..
helen105281
Senior Guinea Pig
Ideally yes. 48 hours before and look for any redness or irritation. Is OK generally if they have had it before.
Thanks... they have only had a bath in the imaverol when one had ringworm ! I hear gorgeous guinea shampoo is a good one.. x
biscandmatt
Senior Guinea Pig
baby shampoo is thought to be too harsh for a guinea pigs skin. i was going to say the same about rinsing thoroughly. did you use towels to dry him? have they been washed in anything too harsh maybe?
Yes i use towels to dry them, he seemed to only itch for about an hour afterwards but he's been doing fine. And the only thing I've used is baby shampoo and I wouldn't use anything that could possibly be too harsh
biscandmatt
Senior Guinea Pig
baby shampoo is still quite harsh. have you heard of gorgeous guineas? they do safe and gentle shampoos
Tigermoth
Adult Guinea Pig
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Baby shampoo is marketed as being gentle, but the marketing is deceptive. It isn't brilliant for anyone's skin (I'm talking humans rather than piggies here) and the general guidance from midwives and health visitors is to minimise the use of many of the products marketed for babies, just using plain water instead. What is "gentle" about baby shampoo is the pH for the eyes. If you get it in baby eyes then it will cause much less stinging than an adult shampoo.
It's so tricky though, isn't it? You choose something made for babies because logically thinking it must be the gentlest stuff around. I haven't had to consider bathing my piggies yet, they have only been here a month, but thank you for the thread, it has certainly made me think, I would never have considered a patch test. And I had never considered that there would be an actual guinea pig shampoo either (but then it came as a bit of a shock that you had to bath them at all!)
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