03.12.2024

Guinea pig: General characteristics, care, maintenance and breeding

Child psychologists have proved that when dealing and caring for the animals the child is actively developing such qualities as punctuality, responsibility, and respect for other living beings. If the child has never had a pet, the ideal choice would be a Guinea pig.

It is pet friendly and does not require much effort, so is perfect for children. Not to look for information on the Internet when the pet has already appeared, it is necessary to prepare in advance and learn all about Guinea pigs.

General characteristics

The torso of this furry animal resembles a cylinder. Height is 220 mm and can reach up to 280 mm. By weight females and males differ from each other. Weight of females is about 1.2 kg and males 1.8 kg. the Head is quite large, and the teeth are very sharp. Such sharpness of the teeth of the Guinea pig received through the enamel on one side. Length and colour depend on the breed of the animal.

How the Guinea pig got such an interesting name? After all, neither the pigs, nor to the water rodent is irrelevant. The fact that the Guinea pig, this rodent was named for their vocalizations. And the adjective “marine” due to the fact that this pet is considered “overseas”.

Lifestyle

To watch these animals – fun process. In the wild Guinea pigs live with their families. Habitat mostly holes, the surface of the earth, and the gorge cliffs. The chief in each pack is a male. Hearing and sense of smell of rodents is well developed.

Guinea pigs like being clean themselves and wash their coat. Comfortable temperature for living of these animals in the wild is 19-20 degrees in the daytime and about 8 degrees at night. But also Guinea pigs tolerate other extremes of ambient temperature.

How many Guinea pigs live?

Being in the wild, Guinea pigs life expectancy exceeds the existence of other known rodents. The average animal is able to live about 9 years. But there were also cases when some Guinea pig lived to 15 years. In their natural habitat Guinea pig is short-lived. This is due to the presence in the wild a large number of threats and hazards to animal life. From this we can conclude that the more the owner will take care of the pet, the longer the life expectancy.

The life of Guinea pigs depends on:

  • lifestyle;
  • living conditions;
  • the quality and quantity of food;
  • care and maintenance;
  • heredity and other factors.
Types of Guinea pigs

Due to the fact that the Guinea pig is a great pet, it is constantly crossed, getting more and more new species.

The number and length of hair there are:

  • the long-haired. Rodent with a long coat has an attractive appearance. Fur can be of different color and the direction of hair growth. Representatives of this species: sheltie, Peruvian Guinea pig, Alpaca, coronet and many other fun breeds;
  • Shorthair. This rodent species has a different fur lengths and colors. In this kind of release: the self, dalmatino, English crested and other types of rocks;
  • rare. To this species include rodents, which can be distinguished on a variety of indicators. For example, Guinea pig kui is the largest among all breeds. The weight of this rodent is impressive and can reach up to 3000 g. Skinny and Baldwin Guinea pigs are virtually hairless. These species have a smooth body, except for the skinny, which covers only fur brush animal.
To have or not to have?

To choose to have or not to have such a pet are kindly requested to study all advantages and disadvantages of this animal. And you must also learn how to care for a Guinea pig.

Advantages:

  • small size;
  • friendliness;
  • active in the daytime;
  • manual, funny and beautiful animal;
  • long life expectancy.

Disadvantages:

  • demand observance of modes and quality of supply;
  • time-consuming care for breeds with long hair;
  • if time does not clean the cage and it is wrong to care for a pet, it appears an unpleasant odor;
  • you should be aware of possible allergies to pet hair, so before buying a Guinea pig, you need to ensure in the absence of this disease;
  • Guinea pig is a rodent, so while walking it can chew furniture.
How to determine the sex of a Guinea pig?

If the owner is interested in a specific floor or he wants to breed these animals, you should know how to distinguish the female from the male. In adults the sex organs are distinguishable, and the determination of sex is not difficult.

If a person wants to buy a pet very young age, there are 3 ways of sex determination:

  1. sex. For the sex determination according to this method, the animal should turn and press on the area abdominal. If it’s a male, you can find thin veins, which is the penis. If this is a female, the abdomen will appear crease, resembling the letter Y;
  2. definition with of the anal pouch. When looking at this organ, the female it can not be detected, in contrast to males, in which it is visible;
  3. the definition of sex with feces. This method is the most simple and common. It is necessary to observe how the rodent defecates. If it’s a female, she will leave a bowel movements, which resemble smooth Fig. Males stool curved shape with curved edges.

If the future owner of a Guinea pig wants to have a few rodents, but does not want them bred, you can buy same-sex of the animals. For this purpose it is better suited to females, because the males will constantly fight and I just can’t live in the same cage.

Communication of rodents

Between Guinea pigs communicate through funny sounds.

Surprisingly, even without words, using sounds and other actions to understand what he wants or what the animal feels:

  • when the rodent sniffs, this means that the pet is afraid of something or is waiting;
  • if snoring is combined with a whistle, most likely, the pet should be feed;
  • the rumbling of the animal can have many meanings. In this case, to understand the animal you can use poses. If a Guinea pig is relaxed and purrs, it means she’s happy. If the tone of the rumbling takes over a high note, and the body is cracking, it means irritation. If the animal is afraid of something, it produces an intermittent rumbling sounds;
  • when a Guinea pig is angry, she opens her mouth, like a tiger, grinding his teeth.

If the animals spend sufficient amount of time, you can understand all what she wants in a pet.

The content of Guinea pigs
Cell

This pet does not require much effort to care, so is suitable for both adults and children. An ideal habitat for Guinea pigs will be a large cage or a terrarium with a deep pan. The main point, which requires cell – the impossibility of throwing litter. As mentioned above, this kind of rodents loves cleanliness, so the litter should be changed several times a day. Such simple actions will prevent illness of the animal. For bedding it is best to use fresh sawdust. If you learn to communicate with animals, you can train him to defecate only in a certain place, which will greatly simplify the cleaning of the cell.

Once a day the cage should be aired, and once a week to carry out General cleaning. During General cleaning perform a complete cleaning of the cells, and wash the drinking bowl and a feeder.

Equipment for cell

That the animal was healthy and active, it is necessary to equip the cell with various devices. Guinea pigs love to play, run and climb on various obstacles. If the cell is living is not one animal, they are likely to play cooperative games with each other. If the Guinea pig lives in a cage alone, it is necessary to organize its activities and to place as many devices for games.

How eat Guinea pigs

A very important item in the maintenance of Guinea pigs is good quality food. If the animal is eating poorly, it will soon die.

If the owner plans to introduce new products in the animal’s diet, do so very carefully and gradually. The majority of the diet is hay. A smaller part of the diet are different foods that are sold in specialty stores, as well as fresh grass and vegetables.

Be sure hay and water rodent, you must ensure constantly. Grain and veggies should be given only 2 times per day. Some herbs can be poisonous for Guinea pigs, so you need to remember allowed on the greens. This grass include: clover, sedge, nettle, dandelion and plantain.

Caring for Guinea pigs

Every owner should know how to carry out proper maintenance and care of Guinea pigs. This rodent does not like to swim, so the procedure must be performed as needed. For that, pour the bowl with water temperature of 31-37 degrees and immerse the animal. Wash is only the body, avoiding the head, then the animal is dried with a towel or hair dryer on low mode. Wet pet should be protected from drafts and cold, otherwise he might get sick.

It is periodically necessary to clean ears with a tissue wrapped around a finger. If when cleaning the ears you notice an unpleasant smell may have been infected by the mites, and should visit the vet. Eyes the extent of contamination must be cleaned from crusts using tissue paper soaked in water.

Every six months Guinea pigs in need of a manicure. For trimming nails, you can contact the clinic to perform the procedure independently. This takes a special kogterezki with a hole, into which enter the nail of the animal and cut. When you perform this procedure, you need to watch out not to cut living tissue. To define it simply in translucent vessels.

If the Guinea pig has long hair, it should be brushed. Every 4 days the pet must be inspected for the presence of parasites or symptoms of the disease.

Disease

Unfortunately, Pets can at some point get sick. If a Guinea pig is behaving sluggish and lethargic, refuses to eat and his eyes are constantly watering, it is a sign that the pet should be immediately seen by a specialist for further consultation and treatment.

Breeding Pets

Before buying a pair of opposite-sex Guinea pigs, you should think, where then will determine the offspring. Rodents reproduce frequently. Born from 1 to 5 cubs.

To grow healthy and strong offspring, it is necessary to equip a place for the family. When the female is pregnant, it is better to settle out, and you should also care about nutrition, because in this position the animal is in need of large amounts of food.

Mating can be allowed only healthy and strong individuals when they are 9-10 months. If the female can not give birth, and her labor lasted more than 60 minutes, it is better to show it to a specialist.

Games and training

When you first look at a Guinea pig the feeling that the animal is lethargic and does not like active movement. But this is not so. With these friendly Pets can play. The manifestation of some effort and patience a Guinea pig can be house trained and train some fun tricks. These animals will not get bored. Even just watching the way of life of a rodent, you can have fun and get pleasure.

These rodents belong to the friendly animals, so they like the human interaction. If the owner wants to teach their pet tricks, this should be done in the form of a game. It is not necessary to train your pet immediately after purchase, because the animal has to get used to and not afraid of the owner. As soon as contact with a Guinea pig you have, you can begin training.

Teams that are able to perform a Guinea pig:

  • “ask”;
  • “give me a paw”;
  • “cool”;
  • “the place”.

Many pet owners teach fun tricks such as: to swim, to sit on my shoulder and even jump through a ring or Hoop. To favorite secured the material covered, the training must be repeated every day, not forgetting be encouraged to treat. In any case when training not to yell at the pet or scold him. From all the above it can be concluded that the Guinea pig is a very funny and interesting animal that should have to at least briefly escape from everyday problems and enjoy life.

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