Bathing Your Guinea Pig: A Grooming Guide

A Guinea pig is a very clean little Animal. The regularly groom their fur with their teeth but every so often your Guinea pig is going to need a bath. It is recomended that your Guinea pig gets bathed at least once every six months, although many owner choose to bath thier Guinea pigs much more often than that. If a few simple steps are followed your pets bath time will be simple and easy.

Some people have the mistaken belief that giving a Guinea pig a bath will make them sick. So they neglect to give thier pets baths. This can cause them to be unhappy and also to have medical problems. If done correctly a bath can only help your pet not hurt them.

The first step is to fill a small ruber basin with a little bit of lukewarm water. Remember Guinea pigs have very short legs, be sure that thier mouth and nose are well� above water! Most Guinea pigs do not particularly like baths so your pet may squell in protest but don't worry the bath won't hurt them. Just be careful not to leave them unsupervised� as they may try to jump out and hurt themselves.

Next you will need a small pet shampoo, you can get this from any pet store or most gorcery stores. Just be sure to use only a small pet shampoo, not a human shampoo, and be sure to keep the shampoo out of it's eye's and ear's. Get your Guinea pig's fur wet before applying the shampoo. Once thier fur is wet it's time to shampoo your Guniea pig. Be sure to follow the instructions on the shampoo bottle. Put a dime sized amount of shampoo in your hand. Now scrub your pet but be sure to be careful not to scrub to hard.

When you are satisfied that your Guinea pig is clean, remove him from the basin and empty the water. Now again put fresh water in the basin in the same manner as before. Fill a small cup of water and rinse your guinea pig untill all of the soap is out of his fur. Once you are sure that your pet is rinsed properly remove him from the water basin. Using a small hand towel dry your Guinea pig off. Be sure that your pet is vey dry before puting them back in thier cage.� Never use a hair dryer bacause you may burn there skin. Also be sure to keep them away from any drafts.

If you follow these steps you will have a clean and happy Guinea pig!