Our long-haired guinea pig, Rolo, sometimes needs to have a bath. His fur is so long (6 inches or more) that it trails on the ground, and since he isn't all that particular about where he goes to the bathroom, his fur can sometimes trail in the litter in his cage and he gets a bit grubby. Guinea pigs shouldn't be bathed too often because it can irritate their skin - once every couple of months for long haired piggies is fine. It's not that difficult to give a guinea pig a bath, so here's the process.
First, I set up a "bathtub" in the shower stall. I am using a corner litter pan here, but any kind of container of this type will do. I also have a large water jug handy. I use warm water in both, and have them prepared before I get Rolo out. I recommend wearing an apron - it can get a bit splashy!
And here he is, in the tub. He really doesn't seem to mind the warm water. It's spa day! The important thing is to make sure the water is not too deep - a guinea pig should be able to stand comfortably and not feel like it is about to drown. As you can see, his head is well above the water line.
Here you can see how long his fur is! I make sure there are no tangles and ensure all the fur gets wet.
Once he's wet all over (except for his face), I use special pet shampoo to get him lathered up. A bit hard to tell here, but he's all covered in shampoo. I wash all over, including his belly and underside. Just gentle lathering and rubbing to ensure he gets all cleaned up.
Then it's back into fresh water - he looks sort of like a mop! I use the jug to pour fresh warm water over him to rinse out all of the shampoo. I do 2 or 3 rinses to make sure he's all clean.
Then he's wrapped up in a towel for the initial pat-down drying phase. Piggie burrito.
I use a blow dryer at this time of year to ensure he doesn't get a chill. He doesn't seem to mind the blow dryer either, although mine is not especially loud and I use a low heat level because they have sensitive skin.
It takes a while to get the drying done. It's convenient to put him in the (dry) sink on the towel so he doesn't run around too much. Only thing is, sometimes I'm not sure which end is which! He looks like a toupée now!
Nearly finished! I dry underneath his belly too, but it's too difficult to take a picture with one hand, hold the guinea pig up with the other hand, and take a picture all at the same time!
And that's a wrap for spa day! Just a little bit of brushing to ensure there are no tangles.
What a handsome piggie!
4 comments:
And what a beautiful piggy he is!! You take such good care of your little friends!!
Well, THAT was a tutorial I didn't expect! Fun to see; surprising that he accepts it so well!
Aw, I love guinea pigs! What a great series :-D.
He's beautiful!! (And he smells better too, I imagine!) I used to give our hamsters a bath for the same reason. While they are clean animals, we keep them in cages that is literally miles smaller than their natural habitat. Hard for them to keep clean in that situation...so bathing is sometimes necessary.
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