The ideal pet for anyone, even inexperienced,owner - guinea pig. Psychologists have proven that the child, taking care of the animal, develops accuracy and care. If you need a friendly pet that does not require special skills, take a pig. In order not to get lost, when the fluffy will be in the family, you need to find out everything about the guinea pigs before you buy.
Appearance and habits
The torso of this animal has a cylindricalform. The average height is 22 cm. The largest guinea pig can grow up to 28 cm. When weighed, the females and males show different results. On average, the weight of females is about 1,200 g, whereas males are about 1800 g. The length and color of wool depends on the breed of pet.
These rodents have nothing to do withpigs, nor to the expanses of water. Why did they get that name? Well, it was the pigs they became thanks to the sounds being made. But the word "sea" came most likely from "overseas", because it was brought from overseas. Just further simplified the word.
Lifestyles of pigs are very interesting forthe 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 the male. Since these rodents have developed sense of smell and hearing, it is very difficult to sneak up on the guarded “watch” group. In case of danger, the guard makes special sounds that warn others. The animals are very clean: like cats, they wash their fur themselves.
The usual temperature for them is about 20 degrees during the day and 8 at night. However, they are well tolerated and more significant drops.
Lifespan
Not everything about guinea pigs is known evenexperts, however, the life expectancy of these animals, they are quite well aware. In captivity, mumps spends time exceeding the life of most rodents. Average life expectancy is 9 years. However, there were individuals living for 15 years. In nature, animals die a little earlier, because their lives are full of dangers, and there is not always plenty of food. Thus, the better the care, the longer the animal will live.
The lifespan of the mumps depends on the conditions of detention, lifestyle, diet, heredity, care and so on.
Varieties
Since guinea pigs are among the mosteasy-to-care animals that also have a friendly character, 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 hair, guinea pigs are divided into long-haired, short-haired and rare.
Long-haired animals are very beautiful.Their fur differs not only in length and color, but also in the direction of growth of each individual hair. Among the long-haired shelters, coronet, Peruvian pigs, Texel, Merino, Alpaca and other such interesting breeds are especially common.
Short-haired may have wool of different texture and color. Breeds belonging to this species: self, Dalmatian, satin, agutin, English christened and others.
Rare animals are not combined species.wool, and other unique indicators. For example, Kui - the largest guinea pig: the weight of an adult animal can reach 3 kg. Skinny and Baldwin are animals with smooth bodies (skinny has hair on its hands).
Paul Pigs
Most new owners are interested,how to determine the sex of the guinea pig. However, with the acquisition of only one individual it is not so important - the behavior of females and males is almost identical. However, if you need to purchase two animals, the issue of gender must be resolved. Adult pigs have well-developed sexual characteristics, so distinguishing them is not difficult. When buying babies, you have to be careful:
- The first method is the genitals.To do this, turn the animal on the palm and press the lower abdomen. In this case, the male can find a thin vein - this is the penis. The female has a fold of skin that forms a beech Y.
- The second is an anal sac. In females, it is simply absent, whereas in males it is quite distinct.
- The third method is feces.Perhaps the easiest way. It is necessary to carefully watch how animals defecate. The guinea pig-male leaves behind him a feces, curved around the edges, having an arched shape. Whereas, in females, it has the form of flat rice.
If there is no desire to reproduce, but notI want to leave the animal alone and bored, you can buy two (or more) individuals of the same sex. It is desirable - female, because the males will constantly fight.
Communication
Although animals are not capableto talk in words, they communicate with each other using sounds. Guinea pigs, like many other animals, are quite simple to learn to understand. And they themselves quickly learn how to make the breadwinner aware of his needs.
For example, whelp pups means they are anxious or waiting. If this sound is punctuated by a whistle, most likely, the pet asks for food.
Rumbling has many meanings, for its moreaccurate interpretation is necessary to consider posture. A contented, relaxed pig hums from happiness. If the tone is higher and the movements are strained or the animal is trembling, this indicates irritation. Jerky rumble emit animals that are scary. Angry animals gnash their teeth and open their mouth like lions during a growl.
With tighter contact, the sounds of guinea pigs, their movements become clear to the owner, so do not regret the time spent with the pet.
Cell
A rodent is very easy to care for, even a child can cope with this, because most often such animals are acquired for children.
The main point - the purchase of "housing".The most popular are terrariums and cells with a deep pan. The main requirement for enclosures for rodents - the difficulty of ejection and rash litter. Guinea pigs, whose care and maintenance in domestic conditions are not labor, are very clean animals. Therefore, litter (better - sawdust) must be changed several times a day so that the animal does not hurt. With some effort, this rodent can be taught to relieve the need of a particular place, this will simplify care.
Food
Being generally unpretentious, due to improper feeding, guinea pigs sometimes die. Care and maintenance at home should include a serious approach to the diet of the rodent.
It is necessary to introduce new food gradually. Most of the diet is hay. The remaining share comes from special foods from various grains, which are sold at the pet store, fresh vegetables and grass.
Water and hay should be kept open at all times, while cereals and vegetables should be given twice a day.
In order not to be mistaken with the choice of fresh grass, it is worth confining to the indicated species: nettle, wheat grass, plantain, dandelion leaf, sedge, clover. Other herbs may be poisonous to the pet.
Diseases
Everything about guinea pigs is impossible to learn, but aboutdiseases need to know a little bit. Most of them are easy to diagnose. With any ailments, the rodent becomes sluggish, loses its appetite, its eyes are watering. In order not to play “Russian roulette” with a pet’s health, it’s best to go with him to the specialist who will prescribe the treatment.
Breeding
Before breeding must be wellto think whether you are really ready for this amount of work, because rodents breed often and steadily. Not every pet shop will be happy with such a flow of live goods, even if he is offered a white guinea pig. Therefore, even before acquiring a pair of animals of different sexes, it is worth considering what to put offspring.
How to determine the sex of the guinea pig is already known. Now it is necessary to equip housing for the future family. It is better to keep a pregnant female separately until the calf is weaned.
Do not forget that pregnant animals consume more food, so you need to harvest more hay and feed.
It is recommended to allow only healthy animals that have reached the age of 8-10 months to mate. Usually 1-5 babies are born. If childbirth lasts more than an hour, it is better not to hesitate and take the animal to the doctor.
Games
For proper development animals needmove more and play. Therefore, the cage must be equipped with various devices for climbing, jumping, running. If there are many animals, they need to be given a place for joint games, one animal needs more equipment so that it does not get bored.
Training
Although everyone thinks about guinea pigslittle good: they are boring, stupid, just sleep and eat, it's all a lie. By showing patience, you can teach the animal some tricks. And just to watch 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 the training, it is necessary to establish friendly contact with the pet so that he is completely calm and is not afraid of either the voice or the movements of the owner.
Basic commands that can perform allpigs: "place", "ask", "paw", "turn around". Often the owners teach the pet to sleep in a hammock, jump over the hoop, swim, sit on the shoulder and many other fun things. Teach any team should be leisurely, repeating learned daily. A savvy pet should be encouraged with a treat, but you should never scold.
Show quite a bit of hard work, patience and love, and your pig will be your faithful and funny friend.
