So, if you breed two skinny pigs together, then all the babies will be hairless. But if you breed a haired with a hairless guinea pig, then the babies could be haired or hairless. Then again, when you breed two haired guinea pigs together that both carry the gene, there is a chance of skinny pig babies. However, most haired guinea pigs do not carry this gene, unless they are a part of a skinny pig breeding program.
Guinea pigs are large for rodents; the common pet breeds weigh between 700 and 1,200 g (1.5 and 2.6 lb) when fully grown and measure between 20 and 25 cm in length. Some livestock breeds weigh 3 kilograms (6.6 lb) when full grown. Pet breeds live an average of four to five years, but may live as long as eight years.
According to Guinness World Records, as of 2006, the longest-lived guinea pig was 14 years, 10 months, and 2 weeks old. Most guinea pigs have fur, but one laboratory breed adopted by some pet owners, the skinny pig, is a mostly furless breed. Some breeds are long-fur breeds such as the Peruvian, the Silkie, and the Texel. Even though this rarely happens, your guinea pig might eat the pieces of paper bedding.
This can lead to serious health issues or even death if wet balls form in their tummy. That's why it is important to monitor your guinea pigs when you introduce paper bedding to make sure they are not eating the bedding. If you notice they love to nibble the bedding, switch to another, safer type of bedding such as fleece or aspen bedding. Though today's hairless guinea pigs are healthier now, they still require special care. Because they lack a fur coat, they get cold easily so they must be an indoor pet.
If they are permitted some outdoor time on warm days, they need sunscreen to protect their sensitive skin. As a pet parent, you're likely looking for the best kind of bedding for your furry friends, something that also keeps odors to a minimum and poses no health hazard to your rodent buddies. Believe it or not, not every bedding on the market is created equal – nor are they all safe for guinea pigs and other small animals. But, don't worry, we're about to give you the run-down on the best – and worst – products for guinea pig bedding. With this great information, you'll have no problem choosing the perfect bedding material for your cavy condo. Guinea pigs eat vegetation and do not require water to drink if supplied with sufficiently moist food, but they must have water if fed dry commercial food.
Females bear up to 13 young per litter ; gestation takes 68 days. Although the young can scamper about and eat solid food the day they are born, they are not fully weaned for about three weeks. Females mature in two months, males in three, and captive guinea pigs live up to eight years, although three to five is typical.
Lots of guinea pig owners use Yesterdays News cat litter, including Lindsay who wrote this post, and guinea pigs didn't seem to mind. There is a softer version of Yesterday's News cat litter so you might want to check that out if you're worried or if your guinea pigs don't seem to like the original version. You can also mix the cat litter with paper bedding such as Carefresh to make it more comfortable. I am also expecting more litters of skinny pigs and baldwins born in August. They are available at reduced prices during our summer special.
We have 4 Skinny pig sows, 6 skinny pig boars, 3 Baldwin sows, 1 Baldwin boar, 6 skinny carrier sows, 16 Baldwin carrier sows, and 5 Baldwin carrier boars available. The carriers can be used in a breeding program to produce hairless ones. In this article we are going to dig into all the details of the skinny pig. We will look at why they have no hair, how they are bred, and what else sets them apart from other guinea pigs.
Skinny pigs need some special care, and are not suited to many pet homes. We will help you to decide whether you are the right owner for a skinny pigs, and how to take the best possible care of them. I don't think it uses that much more litter than if we were spot cleaning on daily basis. The other end with we lay down fleece we got from fabric store folded in half for extra padding/comfort and give it a good shake outside as needed and change out every few days. Since we got from fabric store the fleece Was relatively cheap so we have 6-7 we cut to size. Since they don't really pee on the fleece we don't put anything underneath.
We haven't had issues with hair in our machine but could always go to laundry mat as we do wash their fleece separate from our clothes. We wash fleece with regular detergent and vinegar to reduce odor. And the midwest cage liner we wipe down weekly or as needed with 50/50vinegar/water solution and full wash once a month in machine. The whole cage routine including feeding and getting them fresh water takes about 5 minutes a day. They're happy and clean and we're happy with little time spent on cage cleaning and odor free pet room.
The Baldwin guinea pig was discovered by Carol Miller, a breeder in California, the result of a spontaneous, recessive mutation in her White Crested guinea pigs. Because this is a recessive gene, if a Baldwin is bred with any other guinea pig, including hairless varieties other than Baldwins, the progeny will have hair. In order to be hairless, they must get the recessive gene resulting in the Baldwin type of hairlessness from each parent. If you breed two Baldwins, all of their babies will be Baldwins. Guinea pigs thrive in groups of two or more; groups of sows, or groups of one or more sows and a neutered boar are common combinations, but boars can sometimes live together.
Groups of boars may also get along, provided their cage has enough space, they are introduced at an early age, and no females are present. In Switzerland, where keeping a guinea pig without a companion is illegal, a service to rent guinea pigs (to temporarily replace a dead cage-mate) is available. Sweden has similar laws against keeping a guinea pig by itself. They also said they couldn't be kept with haired guinea pigs because they will bite the hairless guinea pig. We have had 4 guinea pigs before so we wanted to get a few more, but we didn't want anyone getting hurt.
Despite being a higher maintenance pet than traditional guinea pigs, hairless guinea pigs have some benefits. Because they lack hair, they are ideal for animal lovers with allergies. For those folks who want a pet but can't be around pet hair, these gregarious, social animals are a great option. Another thing that varies differently between paper bedding brands is the amount of dust. That creates big problems for the health of your guinea pigs, in particular as it can cause allergies or respiratory difficulties.
Secondly, it makes cleaning their habitat an absolute nightmare. Nowadays, most responsible guinea pig owners use paper-based bedding, aspen bedding or fleece. These three choices are the most common bedding types for a good reason – they are safe to use and have a lot of pros. But, like any other product out there, these bedding types all have pros and cons for use as a bedding material. Any more than two or three boars to a hutch can also result in the guinea pigs fighting.
An adult boar that's been left alone – perhaps because his bonded brother has died – often accepts a baby boar more readily as a companion although the introduction needs to be done carefully. Take a look at our veterinary recommended guinea pig food here. It's not uncommon to have two or three boars in the same hutch and for them to get along as long as there is lots of space and there are no females in close vicinity. It's recommended to have a hutch of at least 7.5 square feet for a single guinea pig, increasing to 10.5 square feet for two guinea pigs and 13 square feet for three guinea pigs.
It's easier to house guinea pigs that have grown up together. There are actually two varieties of hairless guinea pigs. The Skinny Pig, which does actually have a bit of hair, and the Baldwin guinea pig.
While some people find their unique appearance unappealing, others find them quite irresistible. Hairless skinny pig size tends to be smaller than the average guinea pig. You are just as likely to find a male skinny pig as a female skinny pig. Skinny pigs are often close in size to the average guinea pig — if a tad smaller due to hairlessness. They should weigh between 1-2 lbs and measure between 9 and 12 inches from head to rear. A fur coat usually protects an animal's skin from injury, but the hairless guinea pigs lack this soft armor.
So, owners need to be extra careful to protect their pets from harm. Looking for an adorable pet guinea pig or hopefully two? Hairless Guinea Pigs are available for sale now at reduced prices from Margarets Hairless Pigs Caviary!! We specialize in both breeds of Hairless Guinea Pigs called the Skinny Pigs and Baldwins. I have healthy hairless guinea pigs in many colors to choose from.
They make great pets for people with allergies as featured on the TV show "The Doctors". Domesticated guinea pigs occur in many breeds, which have been developed since their introduction to Europe and North America. The most common varieties found in pet stores are the English shorthair , which have a short, smooth coat, and the Abyssinian, whose coat is ruffled with cowlicks, or rosettes. Also popular among breeders are the Peruvian and the Sheltie , both straight longhair breeds, and the Texel, a curly longhair. Grooming of guinea pigs is primarily accomplished using combs or brushes.
Shorthair breeds are typically brushed weekly, while longhair breeds may require daily grooming. The guinea pig's natural diet is grass; their molars are particularly suited for grinding plant matter and grow continuously throughout their life. Most mammals that graze are large and have a long digestive tract; guinea pigs have much longer colons than most rodents, but they must also supplement their diet by eating their feces .
However, they do not consume all their feces indiscriminately, but produce special soft pellets, called cecotropes , which recycle B vitamins, fiber, and bacteria required for proper digestion. The cecotropes are eaten directly from the anus, unless the guinea pig is pregnant or obese. In geriatric boars or sows , the muscles which allow the softer pellets to be expelled from the anus can become weak. This creates a condition known as fecal impaction, which prevents the animal from redigesting cecotropes even though harder pellets may pass through the impacted mass. The condition may be temporarily alleviated by a human carefully removing the impacted feces from the anus. Red cedar and pine, both softwoods, were commonly used as bedding, but now these materials are believed to contain harmful phenols and oils.
Bedding materials made from hardwoods , paper products, and corn cobs are alternatives. Guinea pigs tend to be messy; they often jump into their food bowls or kick bedding and feces into them, and their urine sometimes crystallizes on cage surfaces, making it difficult to remove. After its cage has been cleaned, a guinea pig typically urinates and drags its lower body across the floor of the cage to mark its territory. Male guinea pigs may mark their territory in this way when they are put back into their cages after being taken out. But it doesn't mean that they are entirely as healthy as a haired guinea pig. But they have a few specific health issues due to their hairless nature.
As we've seen, early hairless guinea pigs had numerous health problems. However, skinny pigs today are what is known as immunocompetent. This means that they have a normal immune response to antigens.
Their bodies now usually react properly to things that could make them sick. So they do not have the same immune issues their predecessors did. Despite what you might think, skinny pig is not the name for a skinny guinea pig. A skinny pig is actually the name for a type of hairless guinea pig! They aren't actually any skinnier, or slimmer than a regular guinea pig. But their lack of hair certainly gives that impression.
The hairless guinea pigs were originally inbred to keep the strain going, with new haired guinea pigs added into the breeding program later on. This meant that the first generations of hairless guinea pigs were prone to illnesses and immune problems. A female guinea pig can become pregnant very quickly from about three to four weeks of age so they should be kept separate from males . They should not be bred from after 8 months of age if they haven't previously had young as this can result in severe difficulties with birth.
If you have bought a pair of guinea pigs, it's always worth making sure you have the right combination . A series of photos of hairless guinea pigs, known as "skinny pigs," went viral after being shared by the Facebook page Awkward Animals. Congratulations, you've just pictured a Skinny Pig, which is what many people call hairless guinea pigs.
These are just like regular guinea pigs, except they have very little hair . Guinea pigs do not generally thrive when housed with other species. Larger animals may regard guinea pigs as prey, though some dogs and cats can be trained to accept them.
Opinion is divided over the cohousing of guinea pigs and rabbits. Some published sources say that guinea pigs and rabbits complement each other well when sharing a cage. However, rabbits have different nutritional requirements; as lagomorphs, they synthesize their own Vitamin C, so the two species will not thrive if fed the same food when housed together.
Rabbits may also harbor diseases , to which guinea pigs are susceptible. Housing guinea pigs with other rodents such as gerbils and hamsters may increase instances of respiratory and other infections, and such rodents may act aggressively toward guinea pigs. Biological experimentation on domestic guinea pigs has been carried out since the 17th century. The animals were used so frequently as model organisms in the 19th and 20th centuries that the epithet guinea pig came into use to describe a human test subject.
Since that time, they have been largely replaced by other rodents, such as mice and rats. However, they are still used in research, primarily as models to study such human medical conditions as juvenile diabetes, tuberculosis, scurvy , and pregnancy complications. He's black with black eyes and a skiddish nature as we have cats and dogs who are both curious. After holding him I couldn't put him down, so $600 later we had a piggie with all of the accessories and food. I have him sheltered where the other animals can see but not touch and thanks to Amazon, lots more stuff coming. The skinny pig is an almost hairless breed of guinea pig.
