How do you....?

Question

how do you bathe a guinea pig ? very confused im not sure how he will react to water i havent tried it and how often should you bathe it any info on baths i appreciated ( water temp, length of bath, type of soap) and is baby soap ok or should i get a certain brand of shampoo please help

Answer 1

As long as you keep your cage clean at all times, there is no reason for you to bathe your guinea pig....ever....

Answer 2

If it's a longhair piggy you should do it more often.
So... water temperature: lukewarm. Not too hot, not too cold, and not too loud - they will freak out.
The length of bath doesn't matter as long as they aren't in it for say a few hours!
The soap type varies. We used to use suave but we found out that's bad for them. Now we use Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo from the 99 cent store :P. If your piggy is itchy, has bald spots, or a v down their back, use Selsun Blue to get rid of the itchies. Just remember to rinse it all out and don't let them bite any.
The water depth should be just deep enough for them to stand without getting their head underwater. If you are using a bathtub you can fill it a little deeper and let them swim around, just make sure to give them an "island" to swim to and catch their breath.
So here are some steps:
Fill sink with lukewarm water
Put piggy in sink
Put about 1 tbsp of desired shampoo onto palm of hand
Scrub into coat all except for head and face and lather it up
You can wait a while for it to soak in or just go to next step
Empty sink
Turn on water and put piggy's BODY under the flow to rid it of soap - do not put their head in the water!!!
When fully rinsed wrap piggy in towel
If neccessary, blow dry, keeping blowdryer at least a foot away always so your don't burn them
Give piece of carrot
Give kiss on nose
The end!

Hope this will help you, although usually guinea pigs don't need a bath unless they are longhaired, really really dirty, or have bugs. even then, an occasional wash up won't hurt! :)

Answer 3

You don't need to bathe your guinea pig unless he's actually dirty, has parasites or it's hot & you'd like to help him cool off. We use herbal baby shampoo on our guy but there are shampoos made for small animals. The water should be warm, not hot & I actually give our piggie more of a 'shower'-- I hold him securely in one hand & nestled against me, soap him up & rinse until I'm positive all the shampoo is out & once more to be sure after that (I check water temp constantly). I need to carefully shift him around once of twice during this process.
Our guinea pig actually enjoys this & it only takes a few minutes. Then I sit him in my lap with a towel & gently blot him dry (this takes awhile b/c he's a longhair) & brush him out a bit. Obviously I need to change clothes afterwards, lol.

Answer 4

If you go to a pet store they may have a special shampoo. You should make the water warm, but not too hot. You should make the bath short especially on the first try. 5-10 minutes I would say. Make sure you wet him, put shampoo on him( it will act as a soap to put it on his whole body), wash all the soap off and then dry him well. Your guinea pig may be scared, but it is ok. Once you bath him a couple times he will get used to it. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 5

I wouldn't bathe my gp unless recommended by the vet or if hes REALLY stinky...

You should get a small tub and fill it about 2 inches with a little bit warmer than luke warm water...

Get like 2 jugs full of water (same temp)

Get guinea pig shampoo, human shampoos usually have chemicals that aren't good for them...

I used Johnson's Small Animal Shampoo and it did work pretty good...

Your pig will try a escape attempt!! So stand her up in the tub with one hand under her chest and legs... MAKE SURE NOT TO GET WATER IN HER EARS OR HEAD!

I would use a hair drier on him and then I would put him in a animal carrier with a heating pad... just make sure he doesn't chew it!

Heres the link to a really good site!
http://www.diddly-di.fsnet.co.uk/Shampooing.htm

I hope the best of luck with u and ur piggy!

Answer 6

piggies rarelly need baths but of you have to do it then fill the container that u are going to use to bath it in and fill it with water only about to get it stomach wet that will be enough and bat h it with a shampoo for guinea pigs i have hard time finding it so i used a bunny shampoo they were fine but eventuallyi have ot give away my 2 piggies because i develop an allergy to their fur

Answer 7

Be careful with him! you can do it in the sink, thats what my friend does. they use dog shampoo

Tips:
*Put a little water in the sink first, put him in and poor the rest over his body. Avoid the head!
*Lukewarm (however you spell that) water.