Grooming trouble with alpaca

[Whispa5]

Hello
I have an alpaca guinea pig and she absolutely hates being groomed! She is so lovely any other time but the moment I get a brush on her she starts biting and scratching me, even if I do it really really gently with some thing like a tooth brush. Any suggestions to help me groom her without me getting t in the process?

 

[Whispa5]

Oops the t near the end is supposed to say hurt! Sorry!

 

[Squidge]

Don't use a tooth brush!

Trim her right down and then groom her with a wide toothed comb, like the ones you can get for dogs. She will get used to it, but you really do have to groom alpacas daily, unlike some of the other longhairs who can be done every other day.

 

[Sodapops]

Ive got a texel girl who has really tight curls in her hair - so brushing is a bit of a drama. What i found works best is a soft pet hair brush that losens the curls - similar to this one:

pet brush

I then use a wide tooth comb to finish off - what also helps is if you keep the hair really short at their back end - you'll find this is the place that tangles the most - i normally brush the back end with a soft brush - if i feel any tangles, rather than trying to brush them out (which is near impossible without causing pain to the pig) i just go ahead and cut them out.

Since using the above method - all my long haired pigs dont mind being brushed - it's all about making it an enjoyable experience for the pig, if they feel pain when you groom them, they are not going to be happy to sit there (some brushes really do tug/pull at the hair and this can be quite painful for the piggie).

Have you tried having a few pieces of her favourite food available when you groom her? If she associates it with good things she'll be more willing to sit still to be brushed........

 

[Whispa5]

Dont worry I don't usually use a tooth brush! I usually only use it to get to bits that arnt easy to get to and to get little bits of hay put her coat! Mostly I use a brush with soft bristles to begin with and then a metal comb once I have gotten rid of the tangles. Thanks for your comments will try what you have suggested. Would it also help if I groomed her with one of her friends so she doesn't feel imtimidated?