Guinea pig grooming

[Buggerbrexit]

Does such a thing exist? I have two long haired pigs who alternate between crying and biting when I trim their hair myself. I’ve tried an electric razor but it didn’t end well (Let’s just say it was a close shave!).

Would a cat groomer do it?

[brizzledrizzle]

Aww, poor piggies. We just gently comb ours if it needs it, which is rarely. He's very hairy but has lovely soft silky hair.

[Buggerbrexit]

Oh they hate even having their hair combed, they can be very grumpy! My biggest issue is round their backsides - it gets quite wet and horrible. Keeping the hair short there makes it a bit better, but they don’t like bum baths either. I can’t win!

I love their hair but it also drives me up the wall! If I had someone who could do it quickly and without them looking like it’s been done by someone’s Mum with a pudding bowl and kitchen scissors I think we’d all be happier!

[Agnesf]

I feel your pain. We had a long haired one once and haircuts did involve a lot of indignant wheeking, wriggling and generally looking fed up followed by the unstylish pudding bowl look. But it was that or lumps of hair stuck together with poo and other unmentionables related to her husband's amorous activities.

However this all changed when her husband died and we got two new girl GPs, one of whom enjoyed eating long haired GPs hair (apparently its an actual guinea pig thing called "barbering". From then on she always looked perfectly coiffed with a neat GP style bob.

Probably no help to you whatsoever .

[GoodHeavensNoImAChicken]

Our long haired one had to have a haircut at the vets. It sounds silly but he hated it and for about £15 every few months we just ended up paying. They layered it beautifully around his nether regions and it never caused any problems after that. They also trimmed his nails at the same time as he had black fur and nails and we couldn’t see the end of the nail bed clearly enough to not cut his paws.

[Buggerbrexit]

none at all, but glad it’s not just me/them. Mine don’t barber, I’m now imagining them in a wee hairdressers, one giving the other a “Rachel” while asking about her holiday to the small pet boarding house 😂

[GoodHeavensNoImAChicken]

We also have a rabbit and guinea pig rescue centre who trim nails as possible do grooming too so have a look - would be nice to give the money to charity etc

[Buggerbrexit]

Ooooh interesting goodheavens, I didn’t know that might be an option. I cut their nails, but it’s more traumatic than the haircuts to be honest. I’ll look into that, or open my own business...

[GoodHeavensNoImAChicken]

yeah nail cutting is another big issue, I just felt awful doing it! When we did nip the skin and it’d bleed, a little cotton wool ball with savlon on it didn’t seem to bother them but god I felt bad. It’s a fiver for the shelter to do it near us and if we still had pigs now, I’d 100% do it. Good luck! Beautiful pig btw

[Buggerbrexit]

shes gorgeous, her sister is just as lovely.

The nearest rescue to me is a good 45 mins away, I’ve had a wee look so that’s out but good shout!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Ahh she's gorgeous with her swirly fur and her little blunt nose . No hint of Judgey there


One of my DD piggies has long hair ( I didn't choose long haired piggy , she was in Rescue with her cagemate - sensible smooth coat)
DD decided she wanted the long haired girl when she saw them.

If we do trim the fur round her bum, I take a piece of fur between index/middle finger so my skin is next to the scissors not hers.

I use a bit of warmed up coconut oil on GP6 (he's a Teddy so short hair but his skin gets dry) before we bath him

TBH, the long fur is more for the benefit of the owner , not the guinea pig. As long as they have enough to cover them, the fancy long hair must be a hinderance?
Those photos of the angora fur , all brushed round them like a skirt. Are they thinking "Oh how pretty am I?" or "I would love to get out of here and run through hay and grass and come home with a green mouth "

I had a Himalayan sow - the main "Don't think so, matey" tactics she used to keep the (neutered) boars paws to themselves was to pee. Sows can pee straight out behind them !
So her bum had a yellowy tone a lot of the time .

[Buggerbrexit]

Haha yes, totally. I didn’t set out for long haired but these two were available (on gumtree, not ideal but no rescues near me). Their hair annoys me but it’s so pretty.

Coconut oil is interesting - I think their skin is mainly ok though, I just hate the yellow, yucky fur on her behind!

This is her sister, she’s not as soft but still has loads of hair!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I stole the coconut oil idea from a pre-shampoo melt on the Gorgeous Guinea site .
The tiny jars from H&B of the food grade coconut oil, just warmed on our palms and massaged into his skin.
I don't know how much grooming our boar does but even if he does ingest it , it's edible .

Gorgeous Guineas do some really nice shampoos , I bought Posh'n'Go to soften their fur . ( I think yellow bottom fur is just part and parcel of having mucky little animals with low slung bums )


At least you haven't got to contend with un-castrated boars and their "Boar Glue" mwah ha ha

[Buggerbrexit]

Yuck, I was really pleased to get girls 😂

[EastMidsGPs]

Sadie always had a lovely fringe, until Ness took up level 1 hairdressing, now it is always wonky, uneven and has bits missing.

We've had 1 long haired piggie - Princess Caramel Barbie (her original name before she went into rescue) - Nevie to us. Her bum used to get rank, so we generally trimmed it short. It looked unsightly mainly as she wouldn't sit still whilst we did it.
And we paid mightily for each trim, as boy could that gp sulk for England!!!
'Disgusted of EastMids' didn't come close😂😂

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

When I went to pick up my sows (GP7 and GP8) , they were all in the bonding pen .
GP8 hoiked a piece of GP7 fur out and ate it , like spaghetti (GP7 and GP8 were together as a pair when I got them)

GP8 gave me a Yeah, pick the bones out of that^ " look.

We bonded them (I thought succesfully) a couple of weeks later then found a clump of GP7 fur with blood on the floor.

Poor soul.

Guinea-pigs can be the gentlest animals or they can be right barbering little weirdoes

[Buggerbrexit]

Oh no my two are hilarious. One bites me constantly and the other just snaps at her sister when I’m annoying them too much. They’re currently sneezing on my lap having been in sawdust at a boarding place for the week. They popcorned in their cage when I put them in, it was adorable.

[Buggerbrexit]

(And by annoy I mean stroking them, they have a low tolerance level for me at times)

[IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere]

No helpful advice but your guinea pigs are stunning. Really beautiful.

We have two Alpaca guinea pigs. Although they are combed every day they still need trimming most weeks.

[Buggerbrexit]

I’d never seen alpaca ones and just googled, they’re so cute and fluffy!

Thank you, they’re my first ever pets (I erm, dont have kids) and I adore them

[HeAteAFatball]

Bugger yours looks like one of mine- she is part abyssinian, part peruvian and mostly just using a wire brush works for her (gently). She hates if i go near her butt hairs though. Yet she insists on weeing and sitting in it sometimes if she too pancaked or sleepy to get up. So fur gets matted. Then I have to get the scissors to trim her botty hairs. Then the battle begins. Squeak squeak, whimper, squeak., Even if I bribe her with treats. Every. single. time. Mind you, she very good at nail trimming time. Unlike the other one, who is a champion wriggler. aaaaaw, I love the little fuzzballs. Yours is gorgeous btw

[HeAteAFatball]

I did have Teddy guinea pigs before- they like Rex, but softer. Hair still very short and fuzzy. Easy to take care of, but very dense and they did get hot in summer. I would also have to rub coconut oil on their skin (which was hard as fur so thick) because their skin did dry very easily. They a lovely breed though, with curly whiskers!