GP grooming

[phantomnamechanger]

how often do you brush, nail clip, or bath your GPs? what age would they first need their nails cut? they are sharp little things!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Depends on your pigs coat type WRT brushing - long haired do need daily brushing/combing, smooths just need the odd once over.
GP3 is a Rex (coarse wiry fur) he likes to store hay seeds in his fur

Nails - when they look longish, if theres a bit of the opaque nail showing, usually there's a ridge , then the point. The opaque bit is the 'dead' bit. Easier with pink claws.
Baby pigs have needlesharp nails

Check their eyes , ears and teeth too.

We bath them about 6 months, maybe more if they are going to the vet/on holiday

I use Xeno 450 (just treated GP3 yesterday)

If you do Spot Treat then wait a while before you bath them.
We dry them then put them in a box of hay to dry completely (though my DD has a really nice quiet hairdrier that they were ok with on the cooler setting. Keep your hand between the nozzle and the fur and keep it moving)

Check them all over when you cuddle them, they do get lumps and bumps, the quicker you find them the better. Might be a fatty nodule, might be a tick, might be an abscess.

[phantomnamechanger]

thanks 70

we got smooth haired for easy maintenance
one dark clawed and one pink

I will read up some more/watch vids of bathing etc

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Gorgeous Guineas have some lovely shampoos and melts - good website too for identifying skin problems.
They do some sample bottles, you can buy a selection to try (they do have a use by date on them)

We bathe ours in the bath - get it all sorted before they go in, they don't like to hear running water. I put a towel in the bath to grip.
Have a couple of towels per pig.
Dissolve some shampoo in a plastic jug to pour over and another to scoop water over them.
GP1 used to add "extras" to the water. A bath bomb and a cloud of white.
Have a helper (DD) and be prepared to get as much water on yourself

Last time I washed our boars was Bank Holiday - they were hot, they were grumpy.
DD and I washed them (Gorgeous Guineas 'Just For Boars' ) so they smelled the same and hated us more than each other

[FernieB]

Little and often with claws to stop the quick growing. I use parsley to bribe them.

Bathing - every couple of months. It's great for their bonding as they unite in a shared hatred of the evil bath woman