How to bathe a guinea pig

The guinea pigs or whose are some of the most popular pets in recent years and, for this reason, if we decide to host one in our house we must know everything you need and learn several aspects of their care and maintenance to offer a good quality of life. One of these aspects to take into account in the care of a guinea pig is the bathroom. Although we must bear in mind that it is not advisable to wash them frequently, it is necessary to do it from time to time or when they really need it. If you keep your cage well clean it will take much longer to need to wash.

If you have a guinea pig as a companion and you want to learn to offer the best day by day, keep reading this article and discover how to bathe a guinea pig in the best possible way.

The hygiene of guinea pigs

Many people wonder if they can bathe a guinea pig or whose because they may look like delicate animals and also wonder how often the guinea pigs bathe . Therefore, it is good to know that those whose animals are very clean but, especially those with long hair, get dirty quickly if their environment is not clean enough. For this reason, it is vital to clean the cage of a guinea pig often and thus be able to more space the toilets that we provide.

It is also important to know that it is not advisable to bathe them very often and if possible we should let more than a couple of months go by between washes, since every time we do so we weaken the natural protection of the skin, favoring the appearance of skin problems.

In addition, if we have material suitable for dry cleaning, it is a much better option than wetting them, since they can easily catch a cold or if they do not dry out well otitis or other diseases can appear. These products for dry baths can be found in pet stores and veterinary centers. To clean your little dry rodent you should follow the instructions in the product and the recommendations of your specialist veterinarian.

To start learning how to wash a guinea pig with water, you should keep in mind that if you have more than one, it is better to wash them separately, because if they are not used they can hurt each other by being scared or stressed. If they are very calm or have become accustomed to the bathroom, you can wash more than one at a time.

Material to bathe one whose

If you wonder how to bathe a Peruvian and knowing what was previously said about their hygiene, if you decide to choose to bathe your guinea pig with water pay attention to the following materials that you will need to gather in order to do it correctly:

  • Stopper to retain water in the sink or a bowl
  • Warm water
  • Shampoo for small rodents, if you find shampoo for whose best
  • A couple of towels
  • A hair dryer
  • Brush for guinea pigs

One of the most frequent questions about the washing of these pets is if you can bathe one with white soap or our own shampoo, but we must be clear that NO since your skin is not like ours and we can cause health problems to our little rodent.

How to bathe my guinea pig

If you wonder how to bathe a long-haired guinea pig you should know that you have to follow the same procedure as a short-haired one and one without hair, although the latter should not be dried with a hairdryer. With the material already at hand, follow these simple instructions to wash a guinea pig with water correctly:

  1. The first thing you should do is to reassure your girl, especially if you have never cleaned her before, since the fact that she is calm is vital so she gets used to the water more easily and does not involve trauma. You can let him first run around inside the basin, the sink or pike before adding the water so that he gets used to the place where he is.
  2. Once you see it quiet you can open the tap a little, letting out just a trickle of water, so that little by little the animal feels the water without being scared. Add just a couple of fingers of water to just cover the legs and little else.
  3. It is very important that the temperature of the water is warm, the closest thing to the body of the small animal, because if it is too hot we can burn it and if it is too cold the contrast can be very harmful to your health. Start to wet it little by little avoiding wetting your face. Massage the hair a little so that the water reaches well to the skin.
  4. Put some special soap for small mammals in the palm of your hand, if you find a better guinea pig shampoo, and gently massage the hair. It is important that you do massage with care not to hurt but that these are with circular movements to help the soap to reach all the skin of the animal.
  5. Avoid the soap going to the face and especially to the eyes of the animal, otherwise you may be irritated. If this happens, rinse the soap quickly from your face with plenty of warm water.

Obviously, bathe with short hair and skinny is much faster than doing with long or curly hair, but you should also take your time to make sure it is clean.

Rinse and dry a guinea pig

After wetting and lathering well your pet is only a good rinse and dry your hair properly, follow these steps to finish bathing your guinea pig:

  1. When your pet is well soaped begins to rinse the soap with warm water, making sure there are no remains in any skin fold or lock of hair.
  2. Remove the guinea pig from the water and dry it with towels, thus eliminating most of the water remaining in your coat.
  3. Use a hair dryer with little power and with the average temperature, neither cold nor hot air since both ends will be detrimental to the health of the guinea pig. In addition, you must place the dryer at a good distance from the animal, more or less half a meter. In this way you ensure that the air reaches you well and without being hard or hot.
  4. Shake the hair of which to dry it well and before you finish make sure you do not have any wet area, including the ears, so you will avoid colds, otitis and other health problems.
  5. In the case of the ears, it is better to use only the towels or a sterile gauze to dry them well, it is not recommended that you use the air from the dryer directly on the ears.
  6. Brush the hair of your little pet, especially if it is a long curly hair.

When it is already well cleaned, dry and combed, you can let your guinea pig run around to make it relax and relax.

How to clean my guinea pig without water

If you do not have products for dry bathing small mammals and you do not want to wet your pet, we recommend that you give a damp cotton cloth or wipes only for the areas you think are necessary. This will keep your pet clean and without using water or stress it more than necessary.

If you do not want to use water with it, you can look for special products to dry bathe these little animals.