Your guinea pig will mostly take care of it's own cleanliness - you will see it do the following:

• Licking his paws and then rubbing them behind his ears on his eyes/face - he will be sitting up on his hind legs and will look very cute !
• Licking his sides and also running his teeth through his hair and nails [to clean them]
• He will also do a little general scratching around - in his ears or just anywhere !
• You may also see your pigs groom each other - for example, Trixie was 'chief eye-washer' ! Mouse was great at cleaning ears !

Oh what nice clean piggies you are...... [though not very ladylike Trixie !!]

Short (smooth)-haired	Basic grooming for short haired pigs requires little more than a gentle brush with a soft-bristled pet brush. Regular stroking, you can also include a light massage motion once in a while, will remove most loose hair - (a good tip is to slightly dampen your hands first then the loose hairs will attach to your hands, this works very well!). Check nose, eyes, ears, bottoms are clean - free of discharge / scabbing etc - and wipe gently with a damp cloth as necessary - if any of these areas are noticably crusty/scabby or damp/dischargey then it may indicate a problem [refer to healthchecks] so regular grooming is a very valuable thing to do.	Keep your brushes nice and clean !
Rough (abyssinian/rex)-haired	Rough haired piggies also require little grooming and a soft-bristled brush will also suffice -and checks as above.
Long (sheltie/peruvian etc)-haired	Long haired piggies require regular combing with a wide-tooth comb to gently tease out knots. Trimming and shampoo'ing also comes into it's own with these types [see above links] ! (Don't go trimming their hair though if you are planning to show them !) - and other checks as above.

Next >>

Meet The Pigs

Buying a New Piggy

Piggy Care

A Cavy Miscellany

Health & Happiness

Creative / Crafty Pigs

Links

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Page Last Updated:10/03/06