All About Guinea Pigs

Guinea pigs are the most gentlest kind of rodents and have no mean bone in their entire body. Rodents are actually a kind of placental mammals that have large incisor teeth. Guinea pigs have a very compact body. They have short legs, tiny ears, blunt nose and no tail at all. They are quite hairy, the hair maybe either rough or smooth and they have sharp claws. A full grown adult guinea pig is 15 to 25 cm long and weighs about 900 gm (2 lbs)! Young Guinea pigs are called as 'pups'! You get guinea pigs in a variety of colors, ranging from tan, white, brown, solid black or a mixture of all these colors with white spots on it! Let's get to know all about guinea pigs.

Taxonomy of Guinea Pigs

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Rodentia
Suborder	Hystricomorpha
Family	Caviidae
Subfamily	Caviinae
Genus	Cavia
Species	C.porcellus

Facts about Guinea Pigs
It was as early as 5000 BC that the guinea pigs were first domesticated in the Andean region of South America. The Peruvian Moche people worshiped the animal guinea pigs and also depicted the same in many of their artworks. The Spanish and the English traders introduced guinea pigs to Europe. Even though they are called guinea pigs, they do not belong to Guinea and have the least possible connections with the good old pigs. They are called guinea pigs as they were sold for a currency called 'Guinea' which was equivalent to around 21 shillings. Not all the breeds of guinea pigs are domesticated. One of the most interesting guinea pig fact is that they do not bite, so if you want a pet guinea pig, just get on with it!

Guinea Pig Breeds
Some selective guinea pig breeds were domesticated by the native South American people from a very long time that later on resulted into more than ten guinea pig breeds that can be found in different parts of the world. Guinea pig breeds vary according to their color combination and type of body hair. There are various types of guinea pigs that can be kept as pets. There are numerous organizations that are solely dedicated for guinea pigs. Australian Cavy Council, British Cavy Council and the New Zealand Cavy Council are a few to name that are solely dedicated for the cause of creating more attractive guinea pigs.

As said earlier, not all guinea pig breeds are popular as domesticated pets. Supposedly the most commonly domesticated guinea pig breed is the English short hair which is also known by other popular names like American guinea pig, Abyssinian guinea pig, Silkie (Sheltie) and the Peruvian guinea pig. Guinea pig breeds are developed by the three main guinea pig breeds which are American, Peruvian and the Abyssinian guinea pigs. Some popular guinea pig names are Rex, Texel, Teddy, Coronet, Hairless, Crested. Apart from the above mentioned popular guinea pig breeds, other breeds like Alpaca, Abbyruvian, English Merino, Ridgeback and Brindle, Himalayan, Tortoiseshell, Agouti and Dalmatian etc. are also known for the variety of their color combination.

Guinea pigs are vegetarian and can be domesticated easily without too much efforts. Fresh vegetables like spinach, lettuce, broccoli, fresh fruits, fresh hay and green leaves can be included in the guinea pig's diet. Like us, guinea pigs also cannot produce vitamin C on their own, hence, they need to be fed an ample amount of vitamin C rich food.

If you have a pet guinea pig, feed it with the above mentioned food once in a day or small meals from time to time. If you are planning to have one guinea pig of your own, then select the right kind of guinea pig and domesticate it with proper TLC. Well, this was all about guinea pigs. Hope you liked the article all about guinea pigs!