Cleaning piggy's ears

[Zorro1]

Hi,
I'm wondering, should I clean my guinea pig's ears as part of frequent maintenance?
If so, how often should I clean the ears? And how?
-Thanks

 

[My Piggies]

I've never had to clean any of my piggies ears as they have never been dirty. However, I have heard that some breeds such as teddies are very prone to wax build up in their ears, and therefore need their ears cleaned out. If their ears are dirty, it's probably best to have them checked out by a vet.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Mostly piggies will keep themselves clean But If you do ever notice a problem then it’s safest to see a vet before doing anything to the ears yourself

 

[Zorro1]

Thanks for you help.
I've never noticed anything suspicious looking in his ears, they look pretty clean so I don't think I'll have to clean them.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,
I'm wondering, should I clean my guinea pig's ears as part of frequent maintenance?
If so, how often should I clean the ears? And how?
-Thanks

Hi!

Please leave your guinea pigs' ears well alone and see a vet if there are problems with them. You can eaily do major and permanent harm. Thankfully, most well kept piggies don't have any problems with their ears.

You do a weekly weight check and a body once-over. In boars, you also check their genitalia and clean them at need every 1-4 weeks (most boars do get away with a monthly check and clean but some teenagers and scatty boys need more maintenance).
Please just give a bum with baby warm water at need and do not give full baths with shampoo. Regular over-bathing can actually lead to skin problems because they destroy the microbiome on the skin each time you bathe, which is an important defence mechanism of the body. We recommend full baths only ever if your piggies are REALLY mud caked and messy or if they are a prescribed medicated bath.
You can find some helpful information for life-long health checks and learning what is normal and not in these links here:
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Guinea pig body quirks - What is normal and what not?
Boar Care: Bits, Bums & Baths

These guides are all part of our much wider practical New Owners tips and information collection, which reflects our experiences with tens of thousands enquiries over the course of 15 years of forum existence as well as our own knowledge as long term owners. You may want to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read at need as you often get different things out of the guides at different levels of experience:
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides



Do you have two or just one piggy?

 

[Freela]

I've never had to clean my pigs' ears... unless there's an issue, they really should stay clean on the inside all on their own.

 

[VickiA]

Please don’t mess with piggies’ ears. They are far too delicate for us to be meddling with them. Only a vet should be looking in there or cleaning them if needed.

 

[Zorro1]

Thank you all for your help. Fortunately, I don't think I need to clean his ears.