Saturday, March 16, 2024

How To Clean Guinea Pig Ears

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How To Clean A Guinea Pigs Eyes And Ears

How To Clean Your Guinea Pig’s Ears in 1 Minute – Guinea Pig Health

The eyes and ears of a guinea pig are very sensitive. You need to take extreme care when cleaning. Never use shampoo to clean a guinea pigs eyes. It will sting their eyes and they will become very distressed.

Sometimes the eyes and ears of your guinea pig will have gunk in or around them. You need to gently wipe this gunk away. It is possible to clean the eyes of your guinea pig using gauze and a saline solution. Using a soft ear stick will help here too.

If you find that the ears of your guinea pig have general dirt on them then you can use a little guinea pig shampoo to wash them. Add the shampoo to your hands and lather it and then just gently apply to the ears as well as underneath. You do not want to get any shampoo into the ear canal so be extremely careful here. Dry with a soft ear stick.

Guinea Pig Dry Ear Treatment

Sometimes, your guinea pig will naturally have dry ears, and cleaning wont be able to solve the problem. One easy way to treat dry ear in guinea pigs is to use Dr. Golds Ear Therapy.

These ear drops cleans and disinfects your guinea pigs ears. It can help fight against both fungal and bacterial infections. It does not contain alcohol, so it will not sting your guinea pig when you apply it to their ear. You should apply Dr. Golds to your guinea pigs ear once a day until the dry skin goes away. You can buy Dr. Golds here for under $10.

It is important that you do not confuse dry ear with parasites. It is very common for ringworm and mites to infect your guinea pigs face, including their ears. When this happens, your guinea pig will likely develop a rash that resembles dry skin.

If you suspect your guinea pig has ringworm or mites, you should check out my article on Guinea Pig Skin Issues.

What Other Things Should I Consider When Cleaning Guinea Pig Ears

Sometimes, their ear canals could contain reddish or brownish material or any form of pus or discharge.

When you see something abnormal other than excessive ear wax or dirt, immediately consult a veterinarian.

Moreover, if their ears become inflamed or reddish before, during, and/or after the cleaning process, seek medical help immediately since complications could have happened.

Try to calm down, and be very patient and still when cleaning your cavys ears. This would greatly reduce any pain or accidents that could happen when doing the entire process.

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Why Guinea Pigs Ears Need To Be Cleaned

Cleaning the ears of your guinea pigs is an essential part of ownership. That is not only believed as grooming behaviors in guinea pigs but, a signal of love as well. It also secures their ears from developing any unpleasant infections.

A build-up of earwax can increase the risk of bacteria and yeast to grow uncontrollably, resulting in more ear infections.

Ear infections are mainly divided into 2 types: outer ear infections, middle and inner ear infections.

Hard Ear Wax In Guinea Pigs

How To Clean a Guinea Pig

Often, the build-up of earwax can turn into hard solid masses of wax. This wax can create a stopper that can affect hearing and give pain in response.

Substantial chunks of earwax will need a vet to take out the stopper or advised treatment to loosen and flush the stopper out.

Guinea pigs with their ears sealed with wax may struggle in hearing. Do some hearing tests and check your guinea pigs ears if you feel that they are losing their ability to hear.

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How To Trim Guinea Pig Nails

First things first, grab a towel and your nail clippers.

One of the biggest difficulties of nail clipping is getting your guinea pig to stay still. If you can, get someone to help you hold your pet the first few times you do do a nail trim.

Over time, your cavy will start to get used to nail trimming and wriggle less.

Thats why you should make it a part of your grooming routine on a regular basis your guinea pig will grow more accustomed to it and is likely to be less stressed when this time comes around.

How To Take Care Of Guinea Pigs

If youre like most pet owners, you want to take good careof your pet, whether you have a dog, cat or guinea pig.

With that said, it can be quite challenging to determine thebest ways to take care of your pet.

When it comes to guineapigs, we will be covering 8 easy tips that will ensure your guineapig is happy and healthy. Each one of the tips are ranked in order showing themost important guidelines first.

1. The Cage

It is important that your guinea pig has enough space tolive in and you should purchase a large guinea pig cage. You can see moreinformation on this on our Guinea pig cage post.

2. Location of theCage

You should always have the cage inside of your house and inparticular, you should choose a high traffic spot in your home that is between20 22°C. You should also choose a spot that is not too dark or flooded withsunlight.

3. Exercise

Your guinea pig will need a lot of exercise on adaily basis in order to be healthy. You should take them out every day for lotsof free floor time within a larger but enclosed space. This will help them tobe more active and healthier. You should not get them exercise wheels sincethese are not meant for cavies and could actually cause them to become injured.

4. Trim Their Nails

5. Trim Their Fur

Next, you should always trim their fur since it can grow toolong and become dirty and wet. There arent any specific guidelines for doingso and you will need to use your own judgement.

6. Brushing

7. Bathing

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Tip : Frequent But Not Too Frequent

For most aspects of grooming, a weekly check should be enough. Long-haired guinea pigs might require daily brushing, depending on the length and thickness of their coat.

Also, we recommend just giving your guinea pig a quick once-over whenever they have spent time outside.

Youll want to check for two things. First, make sure nothing is caught in their coat. Next, make sure their paws are in good shape.

Once You Have Completed The Outer Ear You Can Now Get To The Inner Part

How to Clean your Guinea Pig Ears – Step by Step
  • Dip an earbud in the solution and being careful not to prod inside the ear too far wipe the ear with outward strokes.

If you encounter a sticky buildup wax, this is where you need an effective and yet safe ear cleaning solution.

Since you are using New All Natural Pet Ear Cleaner which contains eucalyptus extracts, it will loosen the wax for easy removal. It also removes the black gunk in guinea pigs ears, grease, and other debris if any.

  • Until you are satisfied that the ear is clean, that is when you can move to the other ear. Otherwise, continue cleaning using clean swabs and earbuds each time until you are sure the ear as a whole is clean.
  • If the ear wax buildup is extreme and beyond your ability to clean it, you may call in your vet who can remove it in a more professional way without causing harm to the ear.
  • Continue to the next ear using the same method and steps.
  • Since it is not a pleasant exercise for you and also for your cavy pet, you will need to reward your pet when the exercise is over.

Give your pet the best treatment of its favorite treat or toy or even both. Next ear-cleaning time might not be such an ordeal as the first time.

As you continue rewarding, the exercise will keep getting better and better.

Try out Kaytee Timothy Biscuits Baked Apple Treat or Ware Manufacturing Rice Pops for a treat or even Kaytee Nut Knot Nibble for a toy. It can never be any better.

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Can You Give Guinea Pigs A Haircut

If your guinea pig has long hair or a persistent tangle that wont unknot, you can give them a trim to make their coat more manageable.

Breeds like the Silkie or Peruvian guinea pig are very long haired, so cutting their hair short can help you reduce the amount of time you spend grooming them.

When cutting your guinea pigs hair, use round edged scissors and be extremely careful.

NOTE

Make sure you dont cut too close to the skin and use caution when snipping around your piggys ears or face.

You Might Prefer Having Your Pet On Your Lap In That Case Then Spread The Towel Or Blanket On Your Lap

If you prefer working on your lap, then you should get your guinea pig from the cage first before you spread the towel. Otherwise, you can ask somebody to assist you to spread the towel on your lap.

One thing you need to remember before you begin this exercise is that all ears, in general, are susceptible. In this case, you need to be extra careful when cleaning the ears and therefore in a comfortable position.

  • You have already placed the towel on the best place of your choice.

Some pets cannot hold still because of fretting, or its their nature. If your pet is that kind then you need to wrap it with the towel or the blanket whichever you are working on.

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Why Should You Clean Guinea Pig Ears

Commonly, guinea pig ears arent clean all the time. Though your cavy could have no exposure to dirty environments, this doesnt guarantee zero dirt, microbial, and discharge buildup within your pets ear canal.

These materials could be found within their ears, and it doesnt affect their auditory system in common amounts.

However, if these increase in concentration, it could lead to ear infections and diseases.

Cleaning your cavys ears wont just reduce the blockage or any discomfort within their ears.

Doing so would also prevent any further complications that could arise and affect the health of your pet as a whole

Towels And Blow Dryer

How Do You Clean A Guinea Pig

There are two facts to consider here. First, as we mentioned above, guinea pigs dont like water. Second, they overheat quickly.

Our task is to get our guinea pig dry as quickly as possible, without them feeling too toasty. The trick is a towel and COOL AIR blow dryer combo.

Towel drying will come first, and then the low-setting cool air blow dryer. Well go into more detail in the step-by-step process below.

KEY TIP: Have at least two towels ready for your guinea pig. If one gets damp, just switch to the other.

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Know Your Guinea Pig Head To Tail

Its time to get to know your guinea pig head to tail. Bringing home a new pet can be exciting and scary at the same time! Weve all been there.

I remember bringing home our little piggy bundles and just watching them in their new homehoping they would be ok.

Our guinea pig friends have been kept as companions in households since the 16th Century. They were introduced by European traders.

Dealing With Long Haired Breeds

Peruvian guinea pigs have very long hair, so they are unable to groom themselves properly without assistance.

Youll need to make sure you brush this breeds hair meticulously each day to prevent it from matting.

Texel guinea pigs have long curly hair all over their body. Their face and head fur is usually a lot shorter than the rest.

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Give Your Guinea Pigs Fur A Wipe Down

The next step is to use a damp cloth to wipe down the fur of your guinea pig. Do this before placing them in a bath. This will help to get rid of any dirt on the surface of the coat. Just put the cloth in some warm water and then wring the excess water out. Pay particular attention to any soiled patches of fur.

You may have seen dust treatments advertised that are supposed to keep your guinea pig clean. We strongly recommend that you avoid these. Using dust to clean a guinea pig can actually lead them to suffer from respiratory issues especially if they breathe the dust in.

What Vitamins Should My Guinea Pig Take

GUINEA PIGS – Nail cutting, hair brushing and ear cleaning.

This may come as a surprise to you, but guinea pigs actually dont naturally produce vitamin C.

So in their diet, you must include at least 10mg of vitamin C every day and 50mg at most, depending on the age and health of your guinea pig.

Visit your local vet and try to ask how many milligrams of vitamin C a guinea pig should take every day.

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Re: What Is The Proper Way To Clean Guinea Pigs Ears And More

Guinea pigs shouldn’t smell very much at all if they’re housed in proper condition . I’ve not fully bathed my pigs twice in their 4 year life spans, and my long haired Sheltie only needs butt baths every 4 months or so – and they aren’t smelly at all! My guinea pigs are held every day for at least half an hour and are on my chest for the most part , so it’s like a sniff test for a half-hour every day.

Do Guinea Pigs Shed Hair

All guinea pigs shed hair, but long haired breeds tend to shed more than short haired varieties.

Springtime is normally when guinea pigs shed hair the most, so you might notice your pet losing more fur around this period.

NOTE

If your guinea pig is losing an excessive amount of hair, then take them to a veterinarian as it could indicate a skin condition or parasite.

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Time To Dry Your Guinea Pig

Have a clean towel handy so that you can place your guinea pig in it after bathing. Slowly wrap the towel around your pet to absorb as much moisture as possible and to keep your pig warm. Your guinea pig may start to shiver at this point and this is no cause for alarm. It is a natural reaction and will stop when they are totally dry.

You may need more than one towel here. Once a towel is damp from absorbing the moisture from your guinea pig it is time for you to use another dry towel. If you keep your guinea pig wrapped in a damp towel for too long they will start to get cold. Use a dry towel to blot all of the moisture away from their body until they are completely dry.

How Often Should I Clean Guinea Pig Ears

How to Clean Guinea Pig Ears (2020 Tips)

This depends on your type of guinea pig. In my personal experience, long-haired guinea pigs tend to have more ear wax accumulation than short-haired ones.

Commonly, you should combine the ear cleaning process with other grooming practices such as trimming their nails or giving Guinea Pig a warm bathe. This makes everything more efficient.

Do these habits twice a month or once every two weeks.

Doing so would improve their overall hygiene and reduce any illnesses or infections that could affect their well-being.

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Signs Of Ear Infection In Guinea Pigs

As per studies, ear infections are found generally in guinea pigs. They are the noticeable primary forms of ear diseases that a vet can see.

Relatively, it happens because guinea pigs will hide their pain and discomfort. It means when the owner starts observing that something is not correct, the infection has headed forward.

Apart from checking the ears of guinea pigs sharply continuously, there are some other signs to be kept in observation, which will show if something is wrong with your guinea pigs and ear infection is mainly the cause of the mishappening.

Ear Infections In Guinea Pigs

Ear infections are rare in guinea pigs. However, when they do occur, it is usually the result of bacterial infections such as pneumonia or other respiratory diseases. If the ear infections spread from the middle ear to the inner ear, it can become quite serious, even affecting parts of the nervous system. Therefore, if you suspect an ear infection in your guinea pig, seek veterinary care immediately.

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Guinea Pig Grease Gland Cleaning

Guinea pigs have grease glands located just underneath where youd expect their tail to be, which they use to mark territory.

Grease gland checks are a crucial part of grooming your pet, so inspect your cavys glands for signs of soreness, irritation, or dryness.

Males tend to have more active grease glands than females, so they may need additional help keeping them clean.

Guinea Pig Bath Time: Pre

GUINEA PIGS Nail cutting, hair brushing and ear cleaning

Ok, your guinea pig trusts you and is about to experience their first bath. Our first major tip is simply a list of supplies. To maximize the safety of your guinea pig, be sure to buy each of these from a reliable seller. Having the right tools is just as important as knowing how to bathe a guinea pig.

Well make some recommendations, but you are free to choose your own materials so long as the whole list is checked!

  • Shampoo

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