Care Of Guinea Pigs - Guinea Pig Teeth, Brushing and Bathing

The Teeth

Teeth are very in important for the care of guinea pigs. Pretty much all rodents have two incisors that are constantly growing. You guinea pig is no different and has them. When the teeth grow to long they must be cut off or else your guinea pig will be unable to eat. A vet will be able to trim them down for you.

When a guinea big eats hard foods this helps to keep his teeth in check. You should always provide harder materials for you guinea pig to chew.
Things like toilet paper rolls, for example.

Another item that guinea pig owners give their pets to chew on hay cubes or old, stale bread. These things will help to keep your guinea pigs teeth shorter but you will still need to keep and eye on them and get them trimmed if necessary.

When you are checking your guinea pig pets teeth look at their teeth carefully to make sure that none are chipped or broken. This is not a good thing if there is something missing and you should speak to your vet about it.

Brushing

One job that you should do regularly for the care of your guinea pigs is brush your guinea pig. This will help to keep their lovely coats shining and healthy. If you own a long haired guinea pig, daily brushing will be necessary. – If you have a short haired guinea pig, a few times a week will be enough.

When brushing your guinea pig pet use a soft baby’s brush, with gentle bristles. You guinea pig will love it. If your guinea pig has longer fur that may get tangled, try using a metal greyhound comb - this will ensure all excess hair gets removed and will prevent your guinea pig from shedding so much.

Bathing

First things first. Guinea pigs DO NOT like to be bathed. When you decide to give them a bath in water they get highly stressed out which is bad for their immune system.

Most guinea pigs will live their whole lives without ever having a bath. This is fine. The only time you should bath your pet guinea pig is if you are instructed to do so by a vet. The other thing would be if they get into something extremely dirty and smelly. You should of cause try to prevent this from happening so your pet does not need to be unneedfully stressed out.

If you unfortunately have to bathe your pet guinea pig you should choose a shampoo that is gentle on his skin – This could be something formulated for kittens (Not cats) or a baby shampoo. You should only use a medicated shampoo if it’s recommended or given to you buy the vet.