Bath time for Spaghett the guinea pig! He isn't thrilled but he looks extremely cute, and it's for his own good! Some people say to never bathe a guinea pig, but we trust Saskia from Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue who recommends baths with dandruff shampoo every 3 months to prevent fungal skin infections like ringworm which are common in guinea pigs.

Spaghett recently had some minor problems with ringworm on his toes that caused red skin and hair loss, but we were able to quickly treat it with athlete's foot cream thanks to the great guinea pig care information from LA Guinea Pig Rescue, thanks Saskia! His bath should prevent it from returning.

To bathe Spaghett we first washed him with dollar store dandruff shampoo, gave him a rinse with plain water, towel dried him very thoroughly, gave him a parsley treat, then took him out in the sun to dry. We're careful to make sure he doesn't get soap in his eyes or water in his nose or ears. We also make sure that he is fully dry before he goes back home so he doesn't get cold. If it wasn't a warm sunny day we would blow dry him with a hair dryer.

Fun fact - when Spaghett is grooming after his bath you can see he is producing a white milky fluid in the corner of his eye and spreading it around his face. This is a normal part of the guinea pig grooming process.


WHAT’S PIGS?

In June 2019 we adopted five pigs from our local guinea pig rescue. They are cute herbivorous pets with funny social interactions. We film all their behaviors, from cute guinea pig noises to eating sounds, playing with their food to sleeping with their eyes open, and occasional fighting.

MEET THE PIG FAMILY

Spaghett is the boar of the herd. The rest of the pigs are females, but he’s a neutered male so they won’t be breeding. Sorry, no pregnant or baby guinea pigs! Spaghett has orange-brown fur with a white crest on his head and cute red eyes. He goes on morning romps with entertaining popcorning and zoomies. He does a hilarious rumblestrutting dance for the ladies while purring. When other pigs argue he trots over to comfort them. He likes burrowing through hay and standing on his back feet like a goofy dinosaur. He’s a very good pig! Spaghett enjoys petting the most of the pigs, especially scratching behind the ears.

Acorn has white, black, and gold fur with a cute mousy face. She’s inquisitive, always wants food, and talks to herself while exploring hay piles. She’s the last one eating while the others nap. Little Acorn’s special talent is jumping on houses to go on rooftop adventures.

Butternut appears either confused or deep in thought. She has white and gold fur. Her hobbies include sleeping and yawning while flopped over with her feet sprawled out. She continues wheeking, squeaking, and squealing at us after we have already given her food.

Pumpkin has black fur except for white back toes. She looks like a cow, a non-guinea pig, and a rabbit. She has noisy standoffs with little Acorn when Acorn gets too feisty.

Zucchin is the oldest and grumpiest. She has white and gray fur with cute red eyes. At first Zucchin fought with Spaghett. There were teeth chattering, nose raising, and hair puffing battles. Now they get along, but Zucchin is still a grouch to the others. Her main hobby is being an eel and lunging at anyone who comes near. She likes to chase other pigs out of their homes, then follow them to another home and chase them out of that one too. But she looks like a cute rat!

THEIR HOME

The pigs live in a custom 4 by 6 foot cage we made by merging 3 MidWest Guinea Habitat cages. We cut the seams of the cage bottoms and joined them into one large cage liner with duct tape and super glue. Now we have a MidWest cage of triple the size! The pigs first lived in the same 3 cages connected by ramps with DIY ramp covers we made by sewing blankets.

Their bedding is fleece blankets with towels underneath and newspaper on the bottom. Each day we change one third of the bedding and spot clean several times. Their cage is on cheap folding tables so we can easily clean and watch the pigs.

The pigs prefer free stuff to actual guinea pig toys. They love to hide under packing paper. A DIY guinea pig house made from a cardboard box is a favorite hidey. They are not interested in most chew toys.

THEIR DIET

Their favorite hay is 3rd cutting timothy hay from Small Pet Select. They also nibble timothy hay cubes. They gobble up guinea pig pellets.

Their water bottle is a 26 ounce Living World Eco+ glass bottle. They drink most of it in a day.

They eat nearly any vegetable. The only thing rejected so far was zucchini. Their favorites are parsley, kale, collard greens, kohlrabi, carrot tops and roots, beets, bell peppers, corn with the husk, and cucumbers. They go wild for homemade wheatgrass sprouts.

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