How do you know if a guinea pig is the perfect pet? Make your match with the help of this guide. Maybe you don't even know what exactly a guinea pig is? That's nothing to be ashamed about. Read our "guinea pig dictionary" to know what to expect befo...
This chapter may be a bit useless if you already know what a guinea pig is. Please skip it if you like.
⚠️If you're wondering why there are little Chirstmas trees everywhere - this article was used for an event. The event is now over but there might be more to come!
HISTORY
A guinea pig is a species which originated from South America. It is part of the Rodent phyla in the group mammals. The guinea pig has many rodent cousins; rats, mice and hamsters, but it is closest related to the chinchilla and porcupine.🎄 The Latin name for guinea pig is Cavia Porcellus. Even though they may have fooled you with their confusing name, guinea pigs are in fact not at all pigs and do not have much in common with them at all. In some languages guinea pigs are even called 'sea pigs' such as in:
- Swedish: marsvin
mar = means sea in other languages such as Spanish
svin = swine
It is believed that these small animals arrived to Europe and Asia by ships; they were in fact both food and companions aboard many fishing boats.
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In other languages such as in Italian (porcellino d'India) the definition translates into 'Indian piglet'. There is no current explanation for this name. A theory may be that inhabitants in this area didn't know from where these unusual animals came from. 🎄
SCIENCE AND CHARACTERISTICS
Guinea pigs are small animals, they only grow to about 20-40 cm depending on gender, living conditions (wild or captive) and their parents. 🎄They come in many colors and combinations; from plain white or brown, these can have spots, stripes and patches and (usually) up to three colors on their coats at the same time. Their colors of course depend on what colors their parents and grandparents had.
There are generally three kinds of coats on a guinea pig:
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- Straight (image above)
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- Fuzzy (image above)
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- Frizzy (image above)
There is not much difference between guinea pigs with different kinds of coats, it depends on what one is interested in. Long coats (fuzzy) can be harder to handle with as hay, straw and chips can get stuck to it and will be hard to get out. This could be a problem if you want a clean floor after taking out your guinea pigs.
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