Did you know that small animals can get dirty and can also suffer from matted coats if they are not groomed regularly.

Keeping their rabbit hutches or guinea pig hutches pristine clean can help to prevent this happening and brushing your small pet regularly will also help tremendously.

Guinea pigs can sometimes suffer from mites which are a nuisance and an irritant for your pet. If this happens to your guinea pig we suggest you purchase a special treatment from your vet which will get rid of these quickly. Sometimes the only way to apply this treatment is to give your guinea pig a bath but bathing is not normally recommended as a way of keeping them clean.

However, Guinea pigs love to be brushed using using either a comb or a brush. A soft brush like a babies brush are less likely to cause damage to your guinea pig’s delicate skin. Long haired varieties of guinea pigs will require daily grooming in order to keep them in tip-top condition and prevent matting but the short haired varieties will require much less grooming and weekly brushing should suffice.

Rabbits rarely need bathing but like guinea pigs, they do enjoy being brushed and in particular along their backs. Rabbits are like cats and will spend time grooming themselves as they like to be clean. One thing to check for though is that they do not ingest too much dead hair when licking their fur. This can make them extremely ill as the ingested hair forms a hairball which blocks the stomach. Did you know that unlike other animals, a rabbit cannot vomit so the consequences can be dire. Keep an eye on your rabbit’s grooming habits, especially when he is moulting or nesting.

Moulting generally takes place over a period of a few days or weeks and varies from rabbit to rabbit. To help prevent ingestion of vast amounts of hair, pull the loose hair out gently with your fingers. It will be sitting on top of his coat in small clumps so will not hurt your rabbit when you do this.

If your rabbit’s hair does get matted (which can happen with the long haired breeds) it is not adviseable to use scissors to remove it because your rabbit’s skin is paper thin and can very easily be damaged.

Remember, keeping your rabbit hutch or guinea pig hutch clean will definitely prevent your pet from getting dirty with faeces or stale food and a clean rabbit hutch is also much more hygienic for your pet and for you.