Come discover hairless guinea pigs of Windham, NH!
Skinny pigs are very clean animals. They groom themselves regularly and are not prone to getting messy unless housed in substandard conditions. Skinny pigs can get oily, just like hairless cats and dogs. You do not need to bath them often but sometimes the oil can build up and some people prefer to clean it off.
You can bathe them once a month if necessary. Remember that they are hairless and can catch cold if you are not careful. Start by filling a sink or shallow basin with Luke warm water. About 75-80 degrees. Only fill the bowl with about 1 inch of water. Test the water temperature on the inside of your elbow. If it is too warm it can burn their delicate skin. If it is too cool they can catch a chill. Then fill a 2 quart pitcher with the same clean water. I personally like to use infant Aveeno oatmeal body wash. It is non sting and not harmful but the oatmeal will sooth the skin and it won’t dry them out. Place several warm dry fluffy towels next to the basin.
Fill the basin ahead of time and assemble everything you will need before starting. Much like with a child you should never leave an animal in a bath unattended. I like to gently place the skinny in the water and use my hands to get them throughly wet. The water should not be deeper than the tops of the skinny pigs legs. We are looking for a shallow bath water that they can stand in comfortably and still have their head above water. Once wet I like to put the soap first in my hands and lather it before rubbing it on the pig, be careful to avoid getting it near their ears and face. Now you can rinse the skinny pig. I do not use a sprayer or turn on the tap for this. I have found that some animals react very badly to either the sight or sound of running water. So I use that prefilled 2 quart container of warm fresh clean water to gently pour over them.
Take the skinny pig out of the bath once it has been throughly rinsed and place it in the warm dry towels. Gently dry your skinny pig. Once towel dried, I like to place their cage in a warm location for the next couple of hours until I am sure they are completely dry.