Long Haired Guinea Pig Care

[Vicky2021]

Hi all,

I have 4 guinea pigs, two are long haired (I took them on from someone who couldn’t care for them properly). They’d never been bathed, hair cut etc. I love them to bits but they are SOOOO messy compared to my 2 shorthairs.

Does anyone have any advice on how they keep on top of the chaos that comes with long haired guinea pigs .

I feel like a failure sometimes, I’ve learnt how to shave/cut their hair but they end up looking like a toilet brush! (Tho I’m cautious they need to be cool as it’s hot - don’t care about aesthetics!) They still seem to have some small matting every so often from urine etc. I trim this out when I cut their hair once a month when I do their nails, (it’s small amounts) but I do brush them 4 times a week. They find brushing distressing so I’m trying to get them adjusted for more days but are fine being shaved/haircut.

The urine seems to be attracted to them! They are 3&4, do they find it harder to clean themselves? I give them a small ‘butt Bath’ with a cloth and gentle shampoo once every other week or as/when they need it.

They have fleece bedding, Ive had to use care fresh paper bedding the last 2 weeks as my washing machine broke and they just seem to attract bedding particles on their bum now .

Any good advice? Anything that works for you?

 

[flowerfairy]

I trim my long haired guinea pigs regularly. I dont brush them at all as they loathe it.

Had to give one of my elderly rabbits a bum bath recently. She wasnt impressed but needs must.

Sounds like you are doing all the right things.

 

[Siikibam]

Have a look at the guide below kn cutting hair. I don’t have long haired piggies so have absolutely no experience with it.
An Illustrated Guide to Hair Cutting

 

[Betsy]

Have you read my guide An Illustrated Guide to Hair Cutting It gives all the information you need to keep long haired piggies tidy. Also there is this guide Bathing (including cleaning grease glands) that you might find useful.

 

[Vicky2021]

I trim my long haired guinea pigs regularly. I dont brush them at all as they loathe it.

Had to give one of my elderly rabbits a bum bath recently. She wasnt impressed but needs must.

Sounds like you are doing all the right things.

I’m glad I’m not the only one! They hate brushing full stop. They squeal even when there’s not any tangles and it makes me jump

 

[Vicky2021]

Have a look at the guide below kn cutting hair. I don’t have long haired piggies so have absolutely no experience with it.
An Illustrated Guide to Hair Cutting

Thank you! I’ll have a read

 

[Piggies&buns]

I keep my long haired boy trimmed all the time.
Year round the hair around his sides and bottom is kept short so it doesn’t drag on the ground. They are on disposable bedding as they live in a shed so it’s important to keep bits of megazorb out of his hair! As they are In my shed, in winter I keep the top of his hair long for warmth but in summer that gets cut short too.
I used to try to brush him along with keeping his hair short, but gave that up as a stressful exercise and now just make sure I trim regularly.

 

[Freela]

I trimmed my pigs with long hair (I also had a pig who used to barber her companion when stressed out and she 'helped' with haircuts sometimes.) It didn't always come out looking beautiful (particularly when piggie sister was 'helping') but it's not like pigs really mind about that stuff! Mine were sheltie crosses so I didn't have to worry too much about hair at the top of the pig, I just used to cut the back and sides so that it didn't touch the ground. Kind of like a full-body bowl cut. I would cut it shorter around the back legs and bum area too, which was the hard part because they didn't like hair cuts and they DEFINITELY didn't like the leg/bum cut part.