Sheltie Guinea Pig Help!

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Ellbell

Ellbell

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Hello,
I'm looking for some advice. I have adopted a long haired sheltie guinea pig who's hair wasn't very well looked after. She needs a good wash and clean up. I have no idea what guinea pig shampoo is best and will I need to buy special shampoo to help condition it? (It's very fizzed and dead)
Can I blow dry her? Using a very low setting of course.
Will I ever need to cut her hair?
Over all, what's the steps I need to take to look after her hair.?
Ta!
 
"Gorgeous Guineas.com" do lots of shampoos and stuff for bathing guineas, both long and short-haired. A lot of them are also very good for the skin as well. Shampoo for humans would be too strong and harsh. With a long-haired Sheltie (of which I have 2) the coat will need regular brushing to keep it knot-free. You can use a small slicker brush with metal bristles and/or a brush with soft bristles, a comb is useful too. If you plan to show the piggie, then you will have to let the hair grow long. If not, you can cut it quite short. I like to give mine a bob cut all round so I can see their legs! When the weather is hot in summer, I give mine a layered cut to help them keep cool. At all times I keep the hair on the bums very short to help keep them clean. You can use a hair dryer to dry the hair if she's kept outside. If she's kept indoors, it is best to let it dry naturally.
Hope this helps.
 
If her hair is not well looked after I would cut the lot back as much as possible and use any standard small pet shampoo. Anti bacterial might be a good idea as well. Always keep the hair as short as possible around her bum and be aware if they live on fleece they can be a bit more prone to 'wee bum' (wee staining around the bum which can clump and matt the hair as well as irritating their skin a lot). Brush 2 or 3 times a week and cut out any knots or matting, dont try to brush them out. Blow drying depends on the pig! If it frightens them a lot, avoid it. If they dont mind it go for it, but keep it a good distance from them on a low setting. Mind her ears when cutting back her fur, and dont worry too much about cutting short around the face.
 
That was really awesome advice, I have cut her hair back as it was REALLY long and matted. She didn't like her bum being touched but was very well behaved considering :)
 
Aw bless her. Mine are always little grumps about having haircuts, baths or brushing! With poor condition hair cutting back is always best as then it will grow out well groomed as you maintain it for her. Another bath in a weeks time might do good for her too, thick matted hair can lead to build ups of dry skin flakes too so another bath scrubbing the skin with your fingers should make sure shes got rid of any remaining bits. Mine have very fine and dense hair so they've had a problem with dry skin build up when their hair grew out long again, so it was time for serious cutback and bathing again! Normally you shouldnt need to bath her often unless she has a grubby bum or anything. An occasional bum bath can be good for her.
 
I have cut all around her bum as short as I can as it was very sticky and smelly. I noticed dry skin flakes when I was drying her. Her hair is very thick in some places. I had to wash her twice! Which she didn't mind. I will consider doing it again once her good shampoo is delivered from online. :) she will be smell/sticky free in no time :)
 
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