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Bums and Baths

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Nienna

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I'm embarassed to say that I have only just realised that I might be missing something when looking after our piggies.

2 questions:

1. Our boys are 8 months old. They are both short hairs and I am very strict about their cage being clean.They are on sawdust and hay,and every night I feel around for wet patches, remove them and replace the damp sawdust with a layer of clean,dry sawdust.

Most of the hay is replaced daily as well at the same time. Their cage is disinfected and scrubbed once a week. I hate the thought of them being uncomfortable, but I read on a couple of sites recently that they should have a bath every 6 weeks or so.

We've never bathed them as I was always led to believe that only long hairs need a bath. Am I right or should I they be bathed? If so I'll get in the gorgeous guineas lavender shampoo and start beautifing them. :laugh:

2. Biscuit - our white one has what I think is a dirty grease gland in his bum. Because he is white it shows up more than it would on Gizmo who is black. Biiscuit has a black bum which I've looked at tonight and tried to wipe with a wet cotton bud, but it didn't come away. I checked Gizmo and he doesn't have this. I thought it might be impactation but isn't he a bit young for that? How can I clean his bum? I've heard you can use swarfega but I don't want to hurt him. Could I use Vit E oil?

Any help with this greatly appreciated. Anything to keep the piggies happy :D
 
I bath my rescue guineas 6 weekly with Gorgeous Guineas shampoo. It doesn't have the drying effect that other shampoos do (even small animal ones!) and is actually conditioning.

I use Swarfega on grease glands.
 
I bath my piggies every 4-6 weeks. I also use Swarfega on my boys grease glands! I use gorgeousguineas shampoo too, definitely buy this, it's great stuff and smells lovely!
 
Hi Nienna, like you, I thought it was only long haired piggies that needed bathing. My Molly is two and a half years old and has never had a bath, she doesn't smell and feels lovely. Haven't bathed Truffle, Smudge or Rosie yet either, none of them are a year old yet, I might bath them to see if they like it but if they don't then I don't see the need really if it stresses them out. Bella I have bathed once because her hair is growing longer and she sat in a load of wee.

Then again boars might be different. hth x :)
 
Hi Nienna, I haven't ever bathed my boars. Murran is now 4yrs old (Frank would have been too but he died in April) & I had them since they were 4months old & have not had any problems with smelling bad or anything like that so I've not attempted it. Not only that but I somehow don't think my Murran would be too happy about having a bath!
 
i have bathed my boars, only once because they got smelly and a bit grotty looking, neither were too keen on having a bath! lol ive only ever bathed my sows if they got dirty for some reason like i bathed gucci as she had dental probs and dribbled quite a lot which made her smell, but my other sows have never been bethed in their 5 1/2 yrs of life and their fur is lovely..id say boars do tend become more grotty than sows so a bath every now and then is ok, but not every 6 weeks..buit thats just my personal opinion
 
I do bath my boars every couple of months, and always use Gorgeous guineas shampoos -
Chrissy has also launched a new shampoo for boars which we are getting this week so Ill let you know the effects.

I always use swarfega on their grease glands- you have to give it a good rub, so you may wish to wear gloves if you dont like the feel of it!

Good Luck!
 
Hello!
I dont like to bath my guinea pigs since i am convinced that one past away due to shock of being bathed :( ... i imagine every guinea pig is different and its nice to read about people that bath their pigs - its reassuring to know that they can enjoy it! I do,however clean their grease glands on their bums every other day...i just use a damp piece of cotton wool.
I think its entirely personal preference! I hope your pigs enjoy themselves if you choose to bath them- lavender bath gel, lucky pigs!
 
Nienna, I note that you use sawdust for bedding,afraid this is not recommended.It can cause allergic respitory problems and c an make the eyes sore.

The best bedding is newspaper(shredded or flat)with a thick layer of hay on top.As long as you change this at least once a day,it will be fine.If you have a poorly pig you can put a vetbed on top of the newspaper in place of the hay.
 
I bath my short and long hairs when then need it eg if the grease glands have got bad (I use swarfega but always use gloves otherwise I have a nasty reaction to it), if they smell at all, if they are showing signs of dandruff, etc. I also routinely do them all about once every six months anyway just to make sure. I have used Gorgeous Guineas in the past but now just use a baby shampoo, which seems to suit us all fine (I use it on the dogs, too!).

Since I started keeping my pigs on megazorb, they smell less and seem to keep themselves a lot cleaner. It also helps my long haired sows to keep their bottoms drier. Love the stuff!
 
Thanks for your help everyone.

Its nice to know that not everyone bathes their pigs and I think that I'm going to give them a go but not carry on if they flip out on me about it. lol!

My fiance got some swarfega wipes on his motorbike magazine last night - just normal swarfega on a wipe so am going to get Biscuit out now and give it a go. I shall let you know the results!
 
Well that was revolting! :D

I've managed to get the grease on his fur off and he now has a lovely pink bottom! (not sore - just perfect piggy pink)

I wiped the swarfega off with plain water on cotton wool (was that ok? I'm paranoid about it poisoning him when he licks there or making him sore!) and then dried his bum with my hairdyer on the lowest heat and speed setting keeping a decent distance.

I don't think he was impressed but he didn't seem to be in any pain or distress so that was the most important thing.

The swarfega wipes aren't great if anyone wants to know- I'd stick to the proper stuff.Now I'm going to get some gg shampoo and give them a bath when it arrives as Biscuit was greaser than I thought he was and I think a good wash will do him good.For the moment though, he looks much more comfortable without a dirty, greasy bum!
 
Just ordered 1 trial size coconut melt, a bottle of Just For Boars shampoo (so they smell all manly) and a bottle of lavender and lemon tea tree conditioner (so they only smell manly for a few minutes! lol!)

They're either going to love me or hate me! I love the GG site! Its like Lush for piggies!
 
Swarfega should always be washed off thoroughly. I only use it if I'm about to bath them - I've never tried the way you describe.

As for the GG range ;D ;D ;D The smells are delicious! You'll just want to snuggle your piggies and not put them back in their cage afterwards!

My pigs always hate hairdryers. I try to avoid using them if I have a nice safe warm spot where they can lurk for a few hours. But if I have to dry them, I put the pig in a box, on a towel, then just gently blow the air in at the top, while rubbing the coat gently with my hand. That seems to take some of the fear out of it.
 
I use swarfega on the bums rinse it off then shampoo them ;) I bath them every few months :)
 
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