Guinea Pig Is Terrified Of Hair Trims

[RosieMaia]

My one-year old Peruvian cross sow, Maia, is absolutely terrified of having her hair trimmed. In this 1 year, I've never been able to fully trim her hair. I try to maintain her butt hair short and clear the hair from her eyes, but that's about it. The hair on her sides and belly can get quite dirty and tangled.

As soon as I start trimming, she starts shrieking loudly (I had no idea such a tiny crature could produce these sounds). She tries to bite and wiggles constantly. At some point, she becomes too terrified to move, her breathing becomes noisy and fast, and she becomes limp in my arms. At this point, I always stop and put her back to her cage, where she recovers in seconds and can be seen eating veggies the moment she's back. I know pigs can literally get scared to death, and I don't want to push her too much. However, I'm really worried that her wet and unkempt hair will cause some kind of infection. Her belly and rear are frequently soggy and dirty, the hair gets tangled and matted.

She also dislikes me combing her hair. Strangely, she doesn't mind a bath too much, nor does she notice nail trims, as long as I keep her occupied with a small treat.

It seems her hair and skin are very sensitive to even the mildest of pulling. I try to be careful and pinch her hair between my fingers before cutting, and I've tried 3 different pairs of pet scissors. I even purchased an animal trimmer. I really don't know what to do any more...

There's just one pet groomer in the city that caters to guinea pigs, but I worry she'd be even more afraid in the unfamiliar environment. Besides, I know the pet groomer only had experience with cats, dogs and a few rabbits, and she'd be the first guinea pig there.

Her hair grows so fast, and I see the train at her back is getting long, so she's due to have a trim, but I don't know what to do.

 

[Tiamolly123]

There are people that trim guinea pigs fur. They are very quick so your piggy shouldn't get to stressed. Also as someone else is doing the cutting, she might react differently. Could you not find anything in the daily care, travel & climate the only other place I can think of is guinea pig chat.

 

[RosieMaia]

Guinea pigs are not a very popular pet where I live, so I'm fairly certain there's no one that specializes in pig grooming, unfortunately. The only pet groomer that is willing to groom guinea pigs has zero experience with guinea pigs, Maia would be her first. She has, however, worked on a few rabbits.

 

[Tiamolly123]

If she enjoys a bath can you not cut her hair in their. It will be awkward, but may solve the problem.
A lot of piggies don't like being brushed because of tangles again just brush the un tangled bits, very lightly till she gets used to it. For now try & cut out the tangles. Or get someone to hold her while to clip.

 

[Merrypigs Sanctuary]

Our sheltie Hero is the same! He throws a tantrum like no toddler ever could!
I've found sitting him on the settee facing me, whilst I kneel on the floor and tuck his face under my arm helps a bit!

 

[acapae]

Perran isn't keen on it, but I've discovered the part of it that makes her most stressed is when at the end of the cut the scissors make the metallic snip sound. So I try to not ever do a full scissor cut, and instead mostly use the part of the blades nearest the hinge. It doesn't rule out all the stress, but it considerably helps.

As soon as I start trimming, she starts shrieking loudly (I had no idea such a tiny crature could produce these sounds). She tries to bite and wiggles constantly. At some point, she becomes too terrified to move, her breathing becomes noisy and fast, and she becomes limp in my arms. At this point, I always stop and put her back to her cage, where she recovers in seconds and can be seen eating veggies the moment she's back.

I would advise stopping each session or part of session and giving her a break before she becomes that stressed. If you stop before an animal is flooded/ shut down from stress levels, then slowly over time, the length of being happy with a stressful stimulus will increase. This is a much better method for the animal and the animal learning about the situation than not giving a break until you've passes the threshold.

 

[flowerfairy]

I would just give one or two snips each time you give her lap time. It will take ages to fully trim her but will be a lot less stressful for her. Best of luck. It is amazing how much noise they can make.

 

[Jojessgaz]

I do find one of my long haired... some times she's okish. .but others she isn't at all so its let's not today or see later. She is a very stroppy madam sometimes. The other hates it every time. Won't eat or anything and just squeals so I cut what I can very quick. It could only be one lug or all her bum but I also have to do it one handed on my own so it's always short n not very sweet! ! Even 2 snips every few days help . Good luck