Taking care of lengthy haired guinea pigs – half 2
Article by Laura Humphreys, RHA, Assistant Editor & Knowledgeable, with the type co-operation of Felicity!
As that is Half 2 of a sequence, please be sure that earlier than trimming your guinea pig, you learn Half 1 in Situation 30 as this incorporates some key info and recommendation which is able to a) provide help to trim your pet guinea pig’s hair with loads much less problem and mess, and b) guarantee the security of your guinea pig.
That is much less of an tutorial and academic piece; somewhat an illustration of another trimming technique that follows on from Felicity’s piece, which did include the related, helpful and important info that we are able to’t match on these pages once more!
1.
First issues first, be sure that all essential and doubtlessly required tools is at hand. A towel to gather the hair clippings, a comb, round-ended scissors, wipes and a brush to wash the clippers after use, and eventually the clippers and their guard.
2.
As per Felicity, Miranda receives a comb-through to make sure there aren’t any knots or matts, and to straighten the crimped hair out somewhat to make it simpler to glide the clippers via her hair.
3.
..And out come the clippers! Right here I’m utilizing common Remington clippers stolen from my dad (oops) however there are numerous manufacturers on the market, for people and for pets. The essential factor is to make sure the clippers include a guard to maintain the blades away from the pores and skin.
4.
Because the clippers glide so easily via her combed hair, it takes no time to trim Miranda’s high and sides. As you possibly can see, she sits fairly comfortably in my hand.
5.
With regards to trimming the hair round her rear finish, bringing it as much as above floor degree, I solely must carry her up barely, supporting her physique alongside the size of my hand and forearm and holding her in opposition to my physique.
6.
I assist her declared tidy as soon as extra! rear finish and hold her legs nonetheless and out of the way in which whereas trimming her ‘skirt’. Sadly my fingers ended up a bit misplaced amongst her hair.
7.
As soon as her ‘skirt’ had been trimmed, Miranda had her stomach hair, and any of the edges that had been tucked underneath, trimmed. I laid her at a forty five diploma angle on my knees, however please notice that sure guinea pigs (i.e. these with respiratory or coronary heart circumstances) ought to NOT be laid on their backs, and will as an alternative be held upright by one other individual whereas having their underside trimmed.
8.
Lastly it was time to make sure the hair round her internal legs and genitals was brief to take care of good hygiene. Clippers are usually too massive for this delicate job (until it’s an emergency e.g. you’re treating flystrike), so the miniature round-ended scissors had been used to trim this space, the identical as we did with Felicity.
