Guinea Piggy Babies: Bathing the Guinea Pigs

Guinea pigs have a babyish scent :) if you properly take care of them - i.e. cleaning their cage, replacing their bedding, and making sure that they have a proper diet with hay, pellets, and vegetables.

They clean themselves everyday too. But even so, they will feel cleaner when you give them a bath every 4 months like I do.

My guinea pig babies have their bath so that I can maintain their shiny and soft fur. It could also help them feel better from the humid weather. Guinea pigs should also take a bath if you see lice. They are not allowed to take a bath for like a month if you've just used an anti-lice spray on them. So before spraying that on them, give them a nice warm bath.

You should not give your guinea pig a bath every week or monthly. Like dogs, frequent bathing can remove the natural oil of their fur, and make their skin irritated or dry. They might also get cold.

Here's how I give them a bath:

Prepare 5 towels nearby.

I get 2 plastic basins - one where my guinea pigs have their bath, and the other where the water is into. I check the water if it's too cold. I definitely add warm water to the tap water. Then I use a plastic cup to serve as their dipper.

I put the basins on the floor, so as to be sure that my guinea pigs wouldn't fall.

I ask the help of my Mom and my sister Michelle to firmly hold my guinea pigs. They could panic when they feel the water. Milky Way, MM, Kadbury do, and it's only Krunch who feels so relaxed with the water. It could also protect the water from not getting it into their nose.

Then I use a Shampoo for Small Animals that I got from the vet. Only use a small amount of shampoo, just enough to massage them with it. Never get the shampoo near their mouth, eyes, and nose. Shampoo them as quickly as possible, and rinse it right away.

After rinsing the shampoo carefully, I put my guinea pigs on the first towel and it would get wet so fast. I would use the second towel to dry them better. When it's already wet, I place them on the remaining towels, then use a hairdryer on them, in the lowest temperature. Don't put the hairdryer directly on them. The hairdryer must be placed far from them, just enough for the air to flow and reach their fur. If it's too hot for your skin, then surely your guinea pigs feel the same as well, so always check its temperature.

Wrap them for some minutes with the towel, and by then, they are almost completely dry.

Milky Way is the first one who has her bath, because she takes the most time when bathing, with her beautiful long red hair ;)

Milky Way on her towel after bathing

MM is a quiet sweet baby, so she doesn't move much during her bath, but her wheeks sound like soft cries (which she rarely makes) from a baby :)

MM on her towel after bathing

Kadbury likes the water, and she would only move a lot when I put on the shampoo, and then makes her soft whining sound :)

Kadbury on her towel after bathing

Kadbury & Krunch are the most alert on meal time lol On bath time, they still are the most watchful ;) They sure are vigilant when Milky Way & MM have had their bath. As they are waiting for their turn, they won't move much, unlike when they move around on meal time, and instead stay where they are and stay close with each other.