An ideal pet for any, even inexperienced, owner is a guinea pig. Psychologists have proved that a child, caring for an animal, develops accuracy and care. If you need a friendly pet that does not require special skills, take a mumps. In order not to get confused when the fluffy is in the family, you need to find out everything about guinea pigs before buying.
Appearance and habits
The body of this animal has a cylindrical shape. Average height - 22 cm. The largest guinea pig can grow up to 28 cm. When weighed, females and males show different results. On average, the weight of the females is about 1200 g, while the males are about 1800 g. The head of the animal is large, the teeth of the guinea pig are sharp due to enamel on one side only. The length and color of the coat depends on the breed of the pet.
These rodents have nothing to do with pigs or water open spaces. Why did they get such a name? Well, it was precisely the pigs that they became thanks to the sounds made. But the word “marine” most likely came from “overseas,” since it was brought from overseas. Just further simplified the word.
The lifestyle of the pigs is very interesting for the observer. In nature, they live in families. They can live both in burrows, and on the surface of the earth, or even in rocks. The leader of the pack is a male. Since these rodents have developed sense of smell and hearing, it is very difficult to sneak up on the guarded “sentinel” group. In case of danger, the guard makes special sounds warning others. Animals are very clean: like cats, they wash their fur.
The usual temperature for them is about 20 degrees during the day and 8 at night. However, they tolerate more significant differences.
Life span
Not all specialists even know about guinea pigs, but they are well aware of the life expectancy of these animals. In captivity, the pig spends time exceeding the life of most rodents. Life expectancy is 9 years. However, there were individuals living for 15 years. In nature, animals die a little earlier, because their life is full of dangers, and food is not always abundant. Thus, the better the care, the longer the animal will live.
The life span of a pig depends on the conditions of detention, lifestyle, diet, heredity, care and so on.
Varieties
As guinea pigs are one of the easiest animals to care for and are also friendly in nature, they have become the most popular pets. Due to the demand for “piglets”, animals were actively crossed, getting new species.
Depending on the length of the coat, guinea pigs are divided into long-haired, short-haired and rare.
Longhair animals are very beautiful. Their fur differs not only in length and color, but also in the direction of growth of each individual wool. Among the long-haired, Sheltie, coronet, Peruvian pigs, Texel, Merino, Alpaca and other similar interesting breeds are especially common.
Shorthair can have a coat of different texture and color. Breeds belonging to this species: selfie, Dalmatian, satin, agutin, English baptist and others.
Rare - these are animals, united not by the type of wool, but by other unique indicators. For example, kui is the largest guinea pig: the weight of an adult animal can reach 3 kg. Skinny and baldwin are animals with smooth bodies (skinny hair remains on the skin).
Paul gilts
Most new owners are interested in how to determine the sex of a guinea pig. However, when acquiring only one individual, this is not so important - the behavior of females and males is almost identical. However, if it is necessary to purchase two animals, the issue of gender must be resolved. Adult mumps have well-developed sexual characteristics, so distinguishing them is not difficult. When buying kids, you will have to be careful:
- The first method is the genitals. To do this, turn the animal in the palm of your hand and press the bottom of the abdomen. At the same time, a thin vein can be felt in the male - this is the penis. The female will show a fold of skin that forms beech Y.
- The second is the anal sac. In females, it is simply absent, while in males it is quite distinct.
- The third method is feces. Perhaps the easiest way. You must carefully watch how the animals defecate. The male guinea pig leaves behind feces, bent at the edges, having an arcuate shape. Whereas in females, it has the shape of an even pattern.
If there is no desire to engage in reproduction, but you do not want to leave the animal bored alone, you can purchase two (or more) individuals of the same sex. It is desirable - female, because the males will constantly fight.
Communication
Despite the fact that animals are not able to speak words, they communicate with each other using sounds. Guinea pigs, like many other animals, are quite easy to learn to understand. And they themselves quickly learn how to make it clear to the “breadwinner” about their needs.
For example, wheezing pigs means that they are anxious or waiting. If this sound is interspersed with a whistle, most likely, the pet asks for food.
The rumbling has many meanings, for a more accurate interpretation it is necessary to take into account the pose. A satisfied, relaxed mumps rumbles with happiness. If the tone is higher, and the movements are tense or the animal is trembling, this indicates irritation. Jerky rumbling is made by animals that are scared. Angry animals grit their teeth and open their mouths like lions during a growl.
With closer contact, the sounds of guinea pigs, their movements become understandable to the owner, so do not regret the time spent with the pet.
Cell
The rodent is very easy to care for, even a child will cope with it, because most often it is for children that such animals are acquired.
The highlight is the purchase of “housing”. The most popular are terrariums and cells with a deep pan. The main requirement for enclosures for rodents is the difficulty of throwing and spilling out the litter. Guinea pigs, the care and maintenance of which are not difficult at home, are very clean animals. Therefore, the litter (preferably sawdust) needs to be changed several times a day so that the animal does not hurt. With some effort, you can train this rodent to relieve need in a certain place, this will simplify care.
Nutrition
Being generally unpretentious, guinea pigs sometimes die due to malnutrition. Care and maintenance at home should include a serious approach to the diet of a rodent.
Introducing new food is necessary gradually. Most of the diet is hay. The rest is accounted for by special feeds from various grains that are sold at the pet store, fresh vegetables and grass.
Water and hay should be in the public domain at all times, while cereals and vegetables should be given twice a day.
In order not to make a mistake with the choice of fresh grass, you should limit yourself to the indicated types: nettle, wheat grass, plantain, dandelion leaf, sedge, clover. Other herbs can be poisonous to the pet.
Disease
It’s impossible to learn all about guinea pigs, but one needs to know a little about diseases. Most of them are easy to diagnose. With any ailments, the rodent becomes lethargic, loses its appetite, its eyes watery. In order not to play "Russian roulette" with the health of the pet, it is best to immediately go with him to a specialist who will prescribe treatment.
Breeding
Before breeding, you need to carefully think about whether you are really ready for this amount of work, because rodents often and stably breed. Not every pet store will be happy with such a flow of live goods, even if they are offered a white guinea pig. Therefore, even before you get a pair of animals of different sex, it is worth considering where to put offspring.
How to determine the sex of a guinea pig is already known. Now you need to equip housing for the future family. It is better to keep the pregnant female separately until the weaning weaned.
Do not forget that pregnant animals consume more food, so you need to prepare more hay and feed.
It is recommended that only healthy animals that have reached the age of 8-10 months are allowed to mate. Usually 1-5 babies are born. If the birth lasts more than an hour, it is better not to hesitate and take the animal to the doctor.
Games
For proper development, animals need to move and play more. Therefore, the cage should be equipped with various devices for climbing, jumping, running. If there are a lot of animals, they need to be given a place for joint games, one animal needs more equipment so that he does not get bored.
Training
Despite the fact that everyone thinks little about guinea pigs: they are boring, stupid, just sleeping and eating, it's all a lie. By showing patience, you can teach the animal some tricks. And just watching a healthy moving animal is very interesting.
These animals are very friendly, sociable, so they will be happy to spend time with the owner, who, in turn, can conduct training in a playful way.
Before starting training, it is necessary to establish friendly contact with the pet so that it is completely calm and not afraid of either the voice or the movements of the owner.
The main teams that are able to perform all the pigs: “place”, “ask”, “paw”, “spin”. Often the owners teach the pet to sleep in a hammock, jump over a hoop, swim, sit on his shoulder and many other funny things. Any team should be taught slowly, repeating what they have learned daily. A savvy pet should be encouraged by a treat, but you should never scold it.
Show a little hard work, patience and love, and your pig will become your faithful and funny friend.