Should I give my guinea pigs a bath?

Question

I have owned my guinea pigs for 1 year now and I never gave them a bath. I know you should only give them if its nessacery or if they have lice or mites. But I hear you should give them a bath atleast once a year. But I also hear that its very stressful for the guinea pig. I was thinking of putting a towel in the sink and put 2 inches of warm water, then put one guinea pig in the sink and get a little bowl and dump water on the body (not face, ears,nose, or eyes), then put rabbit or guinea pig shampoo on its fur and gently rub it in, then rince water out and make sure all the shampoo is out, then put my guinea pig in a towel and dry her completly and wait for a couple mintues until I put her back in the cage. But I hear that guinea pigs dont have to be bathed.. I'm really confused. Should I give them a bath every year or just wet a towel and wet it on there fur. Also if I should what would be the risk... could my guinea pig die? Please answer correctly and give me all info

Answer 1

Don't give them a bath unless they're seriously dirty or they have something in their furr. They CAN go itno shock. Some of them like baths though. Just make sure the water is lukewarm and die them COMPLETELY before putting them in the cage.

Answer 2

yes you should be giving your guinea pigs a bath and i guess they could die from shock if your being stupid with them, but not very likely at all. here a few website about it with photos of exactly how to bath a guinea pig.

http://jackiesguineapiggies.com/bathingy...

http://www.guineapigsclub.com/gp_site/gr...

http://exoticpets.about.com/od/guineapig...

Answer 3

Yes U should do that but dont use human shampoo.....go to a pet  store a buy some^^ make sure it has a guinea pig in the front of it =-D

Answer 4

You shouldn't bathe them they clean themselves.

Answer 5

Yes. Most guinea pigs love to bathe.

If he starts to squeal, get him out. He could die of shock. But if he llikes it-- give him one!

Answer 6

I used to bathe my guinea pigs like once or twice a month. I did it more when they were younger. They got to like it after awhile. I even used the blow dryer on their hair!I found it to make them more tame. I think I just used people shampoo.

Answer 7

You should about twice a year. (They waddle around waist-deep in their own p**p.)

My guinea pigs have never died after/because of a bath

Answer 8

Yes, you should. Here are some instructions, don't make the water deep and WARM water not hot or cold. Put  It in,rub it with the water,put on guinea pig or baby shampoo rub it;s back with it (nowhere else!), rinse it off untill it is just wet and not soapy. TakeIt out. If you feel if is reallycold and shivering (or long coated) Use a hairdryer, but don't put it at too hight a power, too warm a power or too close to the guinea pig. Once it is dry put lots of Hayor straw into it's cage andput it in to gain heat :)

Hope I helped

Answer 9

I give my two male guinea pigs baths once every 3- 6 months. Its not really necessary to do it too often so I usually only do it when they get really dirty or their fur is really oily. I get a large bowl, fill it with about 2 inches of water and wash them. Then I take them out and put some small animal shampoo in and scrub them a little bit. I then tip out the soapy water and rinse them with normal water. Afterwards I rub them dry with a towel. I then brush them. What you are thinking of doing is really similar to what I do and I think that it should be fine. Both of my guinea pigs and healthy and happy and I think that giving yours a bath once or twice a year is a good idea. I don't think there is any risk as long as you don't get any water in her ears and dry her off properly. Otherwise it should be fine.

Answer 10

they could develop shock and die if you do make sure the water is lukewarm don't get any by their face and make sure they are 100% dry before you put them in their hutch. they should be clean enough to not need a bath anyhow.

Answer 11

Well i have a guinea pig too and i have given her a bath before but i didn't use human soap or anything. But if you want to really clean her, make sure you buy it from like petco or pet smart. Just to be sure that it won't hurt you guinea's.

Just so you know when i gave mine a bath she was just fine and i gave her a carrot to make it more injoyable. I have never heard of it being a risk and i did search it and so did my best friend that has guinea pigs too. So in conclusion it wouldn't hurt them unless you used stuff meant for humans like our sampoo.

Answer 12

Unless it is completely necessary or you have a long haired guinea pig or something, you shouldnt have to bath your guinea pig at all.

It sounds like a great idea-I mean the way your planning on doing it- but just make sure that you wait until the guinea pig is completly dry before you put her/him back in their cage. Even with a towel its hard to dry the guinea pig completly so make sure they are really dry.

My guinea pig Pipin always gets really dirty. I give her a bath every month or so-shes a rough haired and most of my other guinea pigs are short haired. Because it takes forever for her to dry, I use this really quiet hair dryer that I bought. Its good because shes not scared of the little bit of noise it makes and I know she likes it because she walks around underneath its warm air, drying herself off.

Unless you have a really outgoing guinea pig and a really quiet hairdryer, I wouldnt advise this though.

So overall, you dont really need to bath your guinea pig, but your method sounds really good so it could be ok.

hope this helps

I would recommend not to give your guinea pig a bath in the winter though because she/he could catch a cold and guinea pigs can die from the cold.