Guinea pig bathing

D

Deleted member 149339

Hi everyone,
About two weeks ago I adopted a neutered male guinea pig (his name is Teddy Bear🐻) and he has now bonded with my 3 girls. My 3 females have never been bathed and their coats are healthy, but I read that males need bathing to clean their grease glands. Please could you let me know if this is true, and if so how often to bath him, he is around 7 months old😊
 
I use a gorgeous guinea shampoo to wash all my piggy bottoms, I also trim their bottom hair too as I have long haired. I bought a tub of swarfeger hand soap from a hardware shop and work that onto my boys grease gland with a cotton bud first before his bum wash to remove the grease x
 
Ali-bongo said:
I use a gorgeous guinea shampoo to wash all my piggy bottoms, I also trim their bottom hair too as I have long haired. I bought a tub of swarfeger hand soap from a hardware shop and work that onto my boys grease gland with a cotton bud first before his bum wash to remove the grease x
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He has shorter hair but it’s longer near his bottom area so I will trim it when he needs it and get some shampoo for him, thank you for the advice x
 
Piggies of either sex do not need to be bathed as routine - only bathe if absolutely necessary ie if the grease gland or their bottom is actually dirty or if there is a medical need to do so. Over bathing when not needed can cause skin problems and make a grease gland worse. Swarfega can be too harsh to use on their skin and is not recommended for use now. Coconut oil is the advised method of clearing a dirty grease gland.
Boars don’t need to be bathed just because they are boars though, only do so if he gets a build up of grease around the gland. I’ve never bathed any of my boys (the oldest pair being 5 years old)
 
oh really?
Ok that’s new , I’ve always been told swarfega for years by many people.
I only ever use it when needed on the greasiest boar bottom with a cotton bud into the greasy area before a bum wash and hair cut.
I have long haired light coloured pigs so they need regular maintenance👩‍🔧 my short hair is Much less maintenance 🥰
 
Ali-bongo said:
I have long haired light coloured pigs so they need regular maintenance👩‍🔧
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The Ever Beautiful Betsy was a long haired piggy. She needed a regular fashionable wedge cut around her bum every 6 weeks or so and a complete haircut in the summer.
 
One of my boys is a long hair. I do the same as Betsy - hair around back end cut short all year round so it doesn’t get soiled, and then a full cut in summer to keep him cool.
 
if you have a boar that has a stubborn dirty grease glad,in my experience coconut oil did not shift the greasy mess.i had to use swarfga,a small amount worked into the area and stayed in place for 10 mins,placed on dry skin and hair.Then wash there bum end with guinea pig shampoo.ive had to bath long haired piggies every 3 months if dirty.also for medical reasons fungal infections.you need to do whats best for you and your guinea pigs.
 
Priscilla is long furred so she gets a regular bum trim and I use water based, unscented baby wipes to clean her.
She gets one, maybe 2 bum baths a year in the warmer weather.
I have an almost 4 year old boar who has never needed cleaning.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Piggies of either sex do not need to be bathed as routine - only bathe if absolutely necessary ie if the grease gland or their bottom is actually dirty or if there is a medical need to do so. Over bathing when not needed can cause skin problems and make a grease gland worse. Swarfega can be too harsh to use on their skin and is not recommended for use now. Coconut oil is the advised method of clearing a dirty grease gland.
Boars don’t need to be bathed just because they are boars though, only do so if he gets a build up of grease around the gland. I’ve never bathed any of my boys (the oldest pair being 5 years old)
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Ok I will just keep an eye on him and only clean him if necessary, thank you for letting me know😊
 
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