My Guinea pigs keep themselves very clean and are short haired so I have never had to bathe them before (also is this bad? Should I be bathing them?) but one thing I have noticed is the fact their feet are very dirty from when they step in their poo and the spaces in between their little toes are clogged with it. I’ve tried to wipe them with a cloth but it didn’t work, does anyone have any suggestions? If so I’d be very grateful as I’m quite stuck.
How to clean my piggies dirty feet?
- Thread starter Erin_56
- Start date
No you shouldn’t be bathing them, it isn’t good for them. A bath is only ever needed where there is a medical need for it - ie piggies who can’t keep themselves clean due to arthritis.
Any poops which is stuck will need to be carefully soaked off. You could try to stand your piggies in a very shallow bowl of water to try to soften the poop and then wipe it off. You may need to try several times.
How many times a day do you spot clean their cage? I would aim for twice a day if poop getting stuck is becoming an issue. Also check their poops aren’t too soft ie their isn’t too much veg in their diet
Any poops which is stuck will need to be carefully soaked off. You could try to stand your piggies in a very shallow bowl of water to try to soften the poop and then wipe it off. You may need to try several times.
How many times a day do you spot clean their cage? I would aim for twice a day if poop getting stuck is becoming an issue. Also check their poops aren’t too soft ie their isn’t too much veg in their diet
I spot clean them every 2 days, but they live outside on the grass all day on warm days (most days as it’s summer) so it’s rarely dirty. I never knew too much veg made their poo soft so I’ll try feeding them less veggies and see if that helps. I’ll try your cleaning suggestion, thank you!
Spot cleaning ie removal of poop and wet areas of hay in the cage should be done every day, and even twice a day if things are getting messy.
Yes too much veg or too much grass on unprepared tummies can affect their digestion and disrupt the microbiome. Hay is their main food intake with anything else merely supplementary. Make sure you are weighing them as routine each week to ensure they are eating enough hay to keep their weight stable.
Any access to fresh grass needs to be built up slowly each year to prepare their tummies and not risk causing even a mild upset but, at worst, bloat. You can’t just put them straight on the lawn and leave them for hours.
Preparation is done by only allowing 5-10 minutes of grass per day for the first week, then building it up by 15 mins in the second week, a further 30 mins in the third etc etc until they’ve built up to all day after many weeks.
I actually start by offering handpicked grass to them in their cages from around February and only then if it isn’t frozen.
Vegetable intake may need to be lowered in spring to allow any grass intake into the ratio - particularly fresh, fast growing spring grass which counts as veg.
Ordinarily they can have one cup of veg per pig per day. The four safe daily veggies are lettuce, coriander, bell pepper and cucumber.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
I wouldn’t necessarily let them on grass less, but rather give them a bit less veg if they’ve been on lush grass all day.
Mine are out in grass all day every day in warm weather. I always make sure they have plenty of hay when out on grass to help balance the intake.
When the grass is brown and dry, so doesn’t count as veg, during a hot summer then they get the same veg intake as normal (a slice of pepper, several sprigs of herb, lettuce leaf and cucumber chunk). But in a summer like this one where the grass is still quite lush I give a bit less veg. They’ll perhaps get just some herbs and a slice of pepper or a lettuce leaf and a slice of pepper.
If you see signs of a gut disturbance ie very soft poops, then they need all veg and grass completely removed from the diet to allow the gut to settle again