Guinea pig pees to protest bath time
Like 4 Dislike 0 Published on 27 Feb 2020
"Guinea pig spa day" featured the guinea pigs that liked bathing. Now it's time for the guinea pigs who hated the bath! Spaghett was particularly unhappy. Pumpkin staged a creative protest. She backed her butt up to the edge of the kitchen counter and peed all over the cabinets and floor! But we still love her!
I felt bad about how squirmy Spaghett was. He is usually so calm about everything! We noticed a little hair loss on his back recently, and upon inspecting his fur saw his skin has some dandruff. So we think he may have some ringworm or other fungal issue going on already. We'll follow up with more treatment baths and give him ivermectin in case of skin parasites like mange mites too.
Some people say guinea pigs should never be bathed because they are self cleaning. While they do groom themselves, Saskia from Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue still recommends a bath with anti fungal shampoo every 3 months to prevent skin issues, particularly ringworm (a fungal skin infection). Spaghett does have minor flare ups of ringworm occasionally so we believe this is beneficial for our pigs. We are very careful not to get water in their noses or soap in their eyes. And we blow dry them with a hair dryer so they don't get cold.
HOW WE BATHE PIGS
0. Use a sink strainer so you don't clog your sink with hair.
1. Fill up a tray in the sink with warm water (a comfortable bath temperature).
2. Add a generous amount of dollar store anti dandruff shampoo.
3. Add a pig and scrub thoroughly by hand. Use a toothbrush for extra scrubbing if needed. Focus on the parts they can't reach very well themselves. Be careful to not get soap in their eyes or water in their nose.
4. Repeat with clean water for a rinse cycle.
5. Towel dry the pig.
6. Blow dry the pig on low until fluffy. Make sure the air is not too hot for your hand. They must be dry before going back in the cage or they will get cold.
7. Take your pig home and watch everyone check out their fresh clean scent!
THE PIGS HAVE AN AMAZON STORE!
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THE PIGS HAVE A TEESPRING STORE!
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WHAT’S PIGS?
We publish daily highlights of the adorable antics of our guinea pig herd. Subscribe to see what they do tomorrow!
In June 2019 we adopted five pigs from Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue. They are cute herbivorous pets with funny interactions. We film all their behaviors, from cute guinea pig noises to eating sounds, playing with their food to sleeping with their eyes open, and occasional fighting. So far they have been most popular for their loud wheeking and rumblestrutting and their ridiculous guinea pig fights!
MEET THE PIG FAMILY
Spaghett is the boar of the herd. The rest of the pigs are female, but he’s a neutered male so they won’t be breeding. Sorry, no pregnant or baby guinea pigs! Spaghett has ginger fur with a white crest and cute red eyes. He goes on romps with popcorning and zoomies. He does hilarious rumblestrutting while purring. He enjoys petting, especially ear rubs.
Acorn is the youngest. She has white, black, and gold fur with a cute mousy face. She’s inquisitive, always wants food, and talks to herself while exploring. Little Acorn’s special talent is jumping on houses to go on rooftop adventures.
Butternut appears either confused or deep in thought. She has white and gold fur. Her hobbies include sleeping and yawning with her feet sprawled out. She continues wheeking, squeaking, and squealing at us after we give her food.
Pumpkin has black fur except for white toes. She looks like a cow, a non-guinea pig, and a rabbit. She has noisy standoffs with Acorn.
Zucchin is oldest and grumpiest. She has white and gray fur with cute red eyes. At first Zucchin fought with Spaghett. There were teeth chattering and hair puffing battles. Now they get along, but Zucchin is still a grouch. But she looks like a cute rat!
THEIR HOME
The pigs live in a custom 4 by 6 foot cage made by merging 3 Midwest Guinea Habitat cages. Now we have a triple size MidWest cage! They first lived in the 3 cages connected by ramps.
The bedding is soft paper bedding from Small Pet Select. We spot clean wet spots daily and do a full cage clean when the bedding starts to smell. They used to live on fleece blankets with towels and newspaper underneath. Back then we washed fleece by hand in the sink.
The pigs prefer free stuff to actual toys. They love to hide under packing paper. A DIY house made from a cardboard box is a favorite hidey. They are not interested in most chew toys.
THEIR DIET
Their favorite hay is 3rd cutting timothy hay from Small Pet Select. They gobble up guinea pig pellets.
They eat nearly any vegetable. The only reject so far was zucchini. Their favorites are dandelion leaves, fennel, cilantro, parsley, banana leaves, kale, collard greens, kohlrabi, carrot tops and roots, beets, bell peppers, corn with the husk, cucumbers, and pumpkin.