Long haired guinea pigs

[fromwesttoeast]

Friends of ours moved abroad and we took on their pair of long haired guinea pigs. I would never have chosen long haired myself- but this is what we have. They are generally very friendly and easy going but...
How do you keep them neat and clean? They hate having their hair cut! They don't like having it brushed either. The back end is the worst - one of them has a mat there but she shrieks and kicks so much even when I'm try to trim the side bits that I have no idea how I'm going to sort that mat out.

And what about the summer heat? All this thick long hair may be good for winter but won't they suffer if I can't get it shorter by summertime?
Any advice would be gratefully received!

I have a long haired one.. We cut his hair..He doesn't like it but gets poo in his fir if we don'e ..WE wrap him in a tea towel he has got calmer the older he has got with hair cuts.

I've had a few long haired g pigs in the past - I just used to shave them three times a year, especially over the back end. It looked rather unsightly for the first few weeks but better once it started to grow a bit. They were free range g pigs so matted up easily with twigs/leaves/occasional baby slug.....

Yep - we give ours a hair cut too - otherwise they get matted and smelly, even when groomed daily. Also helps when hot and mine seem happier once done in terms of running around.

One of mine is long haired, I adore her but yes keeping them clean is a pain.

I groom, cut out the matted bits and give her regular bum dunks and baths - all of which she hates but I bribe her through it all with food

Gorgeous Guineas do a good shampoo for long haired pigs called posh and go, really helps keep their coats nice.

Thanks for all the advice. Do you just hold them firmly and ignore the squeals? Shaving makes great sense - but how do you keep them still to do it??

I've had a Peruvian (years ago) who I kept at floor level fur (shorter round her bum)

GP4 (now gone to The Bridge) and GP7 both have longer hair in places, if they did her a knotty bit we towel wrapped them , held the clumpy bit between forefinger/middle finger (so that your fingers are next to the skin) and trim , then you don't risk catching them.

For Summer they'd appreciate less fur I'm sure.

Gorgeous Guineas do pre-shampoo melts , but we have used neat shampoo (Piggie Shampoo) rubbed in them well rinsed.

BTW, they don't bloody learn you'll be doing the same in a matter of weeks

We shave ours. He hates it but he gets so matted if we don't. We just give him something to munch on, hold him firmly and try to be as gentle as possible

Ok, looks like we are going to have to towel wrap and deal with it. It will probably sound like we are murdering them!
I think they are Peruvian pigs.
Thank you all for the tips and advice

I used to just hold firmly and get on with it - they did indeed squeal as if I were murdering them slowly and painfully but you just have to get on with it! It helps that I'm a vet nurse so I can harden myself to the squealing somewhat..... Good luck

Update: I bought clippers and I have shaved the mat from the back end. There were protests but we got it done. Will given them both an overall shorter haircut when the weather warms up.
Clippers were definitely the way to go.