Bathing time!

Hi fellow slaves,
I am writing this post as my girlz and boar refuse to write it, as most of them (and I guess most piggies out there) are not fond of baths...

Some time ago my boar Chico was having diarrhea :( With some extra hay and fibre in the form of fibreplex (protexin in a paste form, carrot flavoured), little veggies and I believe the bath helped as well, he got better. After that the poor guy somehow managed to break his front teeth, so eating was a bit harder and we had to feed him strips of veggies... Then now his teeth have grown back, he's got diarrhea again... So it's back to the fibreplex and additional hay, and not so much veggies for him.

I had recieved my Panacur (for worming) and Vet Sect repel shampoo only a few days before Chico got his first bout of diarrhea. As he did not seem to get rid of his diarrhea soon and that his skin was very flaky I thought is was a good idea to give him and the girlz a bath. I also started them all on their first round of panacur to eliminate any bugs or worms that might affect Chico's gut function.

I thought I'd give you some basic steps on what to take care of and what to do when you feel your pigs need a bath. Firstly, guinea pigs do not need baths as regularly as humans do! I guess (but have no proof) that very occasional baths are not good for piggies.
So the steps for bathing your piggies:
1. Fill 2 tubs/buckets/sinks (whatever is convenient for you and your pig with some luke warm to warmish water. Do not make the water too deep, your pigs should be able to stand in the tub without feeling they are drowning. This will help them to not panic, though some of mine panic eitherway...
I fill up my sink and a tub that fits in the sink (which we used for doing the dishes, before we had a dishwasher), and put them next to each other. I also have a rubber mat (kind of like a bath mat) which I put at the bottom of the sink, this prevents the piggies from slipping away, and gives the a more secure feeling to the ground.

2. Get your supplies ready (maybe you should even do this before step 1, as you don't want to water to become cold). I usually have 1 towel per pig, one (or two) towels to put them on when taking them out of the bath, and maybe an additional towel per pig to dry them off. I also have my shampoo ready and a plastic cup to pour water over the piggies.

3. Get your pigs ready, as the water will cool down pretty quickly I will put up a run in the kitchen with the pigs in it, so they are close by once I got the water and everything ready...

4. Put one towel next to the tub/sink filled with water, I usually fold a towel once. I put my pig on it, check if I got everything, and then slowly put the pig in one of the tubs. I make sure the pig gets wet, using the cup to pour some water over them. Be sure not to trow the water over their heads as most piggies won't like that and will start to panic. I take my panicking pigs out of the water if they get really stressed out, and put them back in once they seem to have calmed down.

Lily likes the water but not the shampoo,
she lifted up her tummy once shampoo
was put in her fur...

5.  Once the pig is all wet, take him or her out, and put on the now still dry towel.
Put some of the shampoo on your hands, divide over your two hands (usually your hands are wet by now from handling your piggie) maybe let it foam a bit and soap your piggy thoroughly.
<-- Our Lily looked like this after being soaped in with the Vet Sect Repel. Ann (from piggyville.com) says to leave in the shampoo for a couple of minutes, and to make sure you work the lather into the ears.

6. Depending on the shampoo your using either leave it on for some minutes or start rinsing it out (step 7). When it needs to stay on the piggy for a few minutes it's a good idea to wrap your piggy into a towel to keep him or her warm. As you probably all know piggies are not very good with drafts, and being all wet will not help...

7. Gently put the piggie back into one of the tubs and rinse out as much of the shampoo. As I said before if the pig starts to panic take him or her out, and put them on the towel, try to calm them down before putting them back.
My pigs usually feel more secure when I hold them, usually I let their front paws rest on my hand, using the other hand to pour water over them with the cup. For really panicky pigs, you'd better hold them firmly in place, or ask another person to help you, so one can hold and calm them down, and the other can do the washing and rinsing.

8. Once most of the shampoo has been washed out, your water will be full of shampoo so not very effective in getting the last bits of shampoo out. So I transfer them to the other tub/sink with shampoo-free warm water and use my cup or hands to get the last bits out of their furs.

9. Then you take them out again, put them on the towel and get a dry towel. I rub them sort of dry with the towel. You could also do this then use a blow dryer of maybe only use the blowdryer. I tend not to use the blowdryer as the noise would freak my pigs out.

10. Now comes the good part for the pigs and my boyfriend: I will wrap the pig up in the 'dry' towel, and give them to my boyfriend. He will take them upstairs (where their cage is) and lie on the couch with pig (or pigs) wrapped in towels and a nice warm fleece blanket. I guess this is not really necessary, but both boyfriend and pigs enjoy this! Also they need to be kept warm after having a bath as we don't want them to catch a cold or anything, and this a good way to keep them warmer while they dry.
In the pictures on the right you can see Lily and Chico wrapped in towels and a fleece blanket sharing a piece of chicory. On the picture on the left you might be able to spot 2 piggies, you can see my Boyfriends' head, and the cage in the background...

Woopy hiding in the hay

11. After that I put them back in the cage, and usually give them some extra hay to eat and snuggle in (hay provides more warmth).

12. Repeat for other piggies, and hand piggies to boyfriend for warming up and drying....

I really liked the vet sect repel, it smells okay, applies and foams pretty well (though it foamed a lot more on Daisy). In short it works well, and it made my two partly white girls more white, then the sort of yellowy white they were before the bath.

Also when the grease gland of your piggies is dirty and seems a bit hard, put on some dish wash liquid, leave it on a bit, then wash it out. That will usually clear it up, and many of my pigs will start pooing a lot after this gland is cleaned (coincidence?)

Our Lily was born on a sort of farm, where they had a big enclosure with run outside that could be moved around the grass. The run would allow them to be safe outside, and eat as much grass as they wanted. It seems Lily is pretty used to water, and it doesn't freak her out at all. First time we gave her a bath she was standing with her paws in the water and was like, 'hey, water...' and she started to drink it! We think living in the run, and being used to morning dew, helped her not to be afraid of the water.

My others, especially Woopy, are not that fond of the water. Woopy will scream as if we are mishandling her... Toby (Chico's old boar friend) was even worse and would panic so much, he would start turning himself over and almost drowning himself in the process...

So how do you bathe your pigs (do you bathe them)?

Do you have any tips to share?

Slave Mikey of the Guinygirlz and Agent Valentino