Guinea pigs

Pictured: guinea pig

General description of the guinea pig

Guinea pigs are small to medium sized rodents. The body length of a guinea pig, depending on the breed, ranges from 25 to 35 cm. The weight of an adult male guinea pig reaches 1 – 1,5 kg, the weight of a female is from 800 to 1200 grams. The physique can be heavy (with short limbs) or rather light (with long and thin limbs). Guinea pigs have a shortened neck, a large head, large eyes, and a complete upper lip. Ears can be short or quite long. The tail is sometimes barely noticeable, but sometimes it can reach a length of 5 cm. The claws of guinea pigs are sharp and short. There are 4 fingers on the forelimbs, 3 on the hind limbs. As a rule, the hair of guinea pigs is rather coarse. By nature, guinea pigs are brownish-gray in color, the abdomen is lighter. There are many breeds of guinea pigs, so anyone can choose a pet with the length, structure and color of the coat that he likes. The following groups of guinea pigs have been bred: 

• Shorthaired (Smoothhaired, Selfies and Cresteds).
• Longhair (Texels, Peruvian, Sheltie, Angora, Merino, etc.)
• Wirehaired (American Teddy, Abyssinian, Rex and others)
• Hairless or with a small amount of wool (skinny, baldwin).

 Domestic guinea pigs differ significantly from their wild relatives in body structure: they have more rounded shapes.