What does a guinea pig look like: photo, information, description of appearance

Often a small child asks to have a pet – it is better to answer this request with consent. This is how interest in the world around is manifested, the first need to take care of another living being. A common gift for a baby are decorative rodents guinea pigs. These cute, sociable animals, capable of making many sounds, are sure to please children. In addition, pigs are unpretentious and a small child can easily cope with the simple care of the animal.

Information about the guinea pig

Children who have not yet encountered these animals do not always understand what a guinea pig is. They take the unusual name of the animal literally, and this can lead to sad consequences. Therefore, before starting an animal, it is important to explain to the child what a guinea pig looks like, what features it has, how to properly care for it. It is best to give a detailed description of guinea pigs for children and immediately explain the appearance of the mysterious name of the animal so that the child does not try to settle the pet in an aquarium of water.

Origin

Guinea pigs are originally from South America, their main habitat is the territory of Chile and Peru. There, the animals live in forests, rocky areas and wastelands, moving in small flocks of 15 individuals. After the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, an unusual new animal was brought to Europe and then spread throughout the world. Small rodents were first bred as rabbits for tasty meat, which was valued as a delicacy. But soon the cute little animals became very fashionable as pets.

Although these rodents are called guinea pigs, they are wary of water and really dislike swimming. The animals received such a strange name because they were brought “from over the sea.” In fact, these animals live only on land, and if they find themselves in the water, they will get scared and may drown. With pigs, rodents also have little in common in appearance. The reason for this name is probably the strange sounds that these animals use to communicate, express emotions. When the animal is full, is in a good mood, you can hear a contented grunt from it, when scared or hungry – a piercing screech.

Guinea pig family

A wild guinea pig is a small, nimble animal with an elongated, lean body covered with a dense fluffy fur coat. They call it cavia or kui. Modern decorative pets in appearance are very different from their free relatives. The wild pig has a solid color that helps it blend in with the rocks, sandy ground and grass. This disguise makes it invisible to predatory animals and people who still hunt animals for tender meat.

The distant relatives of guinea pigs include hares, rabbits, squirrels and even beavers. The larger relative is the capybara – this animal, very similar to a greatly enlarged pig, can be seen in the zoo. The capybara, unlike its decorative counterparts, loves water very much, and in nature it settles only near water bodies.

Guinea pig – description for children

Guinea pigs look very cute – these animals have a pretty muzzle, and a strong body is covered with fluffy hair. A baby guinea pig is so small that it can fit in the palm of your hand, it can easily be confused with a hamster. But the animals grow very quickly, they only need six months to reach an impressive size. Adult guinea pigs are slightly smaller than decorative rabbits and weigh about a kilogram.

The head of the animal is large, with dark shiny eyes, on the sides there are rather large ears, bare from wool – in some breeds they are lowered down, covering the ear canal. The pet’s body is elongated, rounded and dense, often with a pronounced tummy, there is no tail. The body rests on small short legs with long dense claws.

Four toes on the front paws, three on the hind paws. Despite the frivolous appearance, the paws of the rodents are strong, so the pets run fast and are even able to jump high enough.

The appearance of the guinea pig is very bright, due to the coat color. Most often you can see beautiful red, brown or white and black animals. A common color is variegated, consisting of black, brown and red. Solid colors are also very beautiful – completely black or white. White pets will have red eyes, animals with this color are called albinos.

Some pets have a smooth, straight coat that is pleasant to stroke – they are called short-haired. Others have longer coats and funny bristles in different directions, because of this they are called rosettes. If the coat is long and straight – these are long-haired rodents, which need to be especially carefully looked after. Less often you can meet completely naked animals – they resemble small hippos in appearance. Such pigs are very unusual, you need to be especially careful with them. Deprived of a fur coat, they can easily get sick.

Classification

The taxonomy of these rodents is rather confusing. Although the guinea pig belongs to the family of guinea pigs, it has nothing to do with the true biological family of pigs. The fact is that these animals were described and classified after their random and not entirely accurate name became firmly established in everyday life. Therefore, despite the unusual name, the guinea pig detachment is precisely the rodents.

The classification of decorative pets includes many breeds that differ in appearance of the coat:

• satin – shiny short wool;
• rex – curly dense fur, curly mustache;
• rosette – hard wool, growing in different directions;
• crested – smooth hair on the body and a rosette-tuft on the head;
• crested – a regular round rosette is located on the forehead;
• Abyssinian – double rosettes on wool, the total number of rosettes is higher;
• angora – long, up to 15 cm wool, splitting into a parting;
• Peruvian – long silky hair, two rosettes on the sacrum, directing the growth of wool to the head;
• sheltie – long hair and mane, no parting;
• coronet – long smooth strands growing in the direction from the head, on which the socket is located;
• alpaca – long-haired curly, rosettes of the correct form;
• teddy – wavy, very thick short hair, tightly covering the body;
• texel – long (up to 18 cm), hard, curly hair lying on the body with beautiful curls;
• ridgeback – smooth coat, a short, even comb runs along the back;
• skinny – the complete absence of wool;
• kui – differs in large sizes of individuals (up to 4 kg).

All long-haired rodents are artificially bred, and smooth-haired rodents are direct descendants of wild cavia. In addition to the type of coat, pets are often classified according to the type of color:

• agouti – the coat is clearly divided into zones of different colors;
• piebald – white color is combined with black and red;
• tortoiseshell – a clear division into spots of different colors;
• roan – uniform gray hair appears on the wool;
• self – monochromatic color.

The work on breeding new breeds has made the animals much more striking in appearance than their Cavia ancestors.

Decorative rodents received not only a spectacular appearance, but also a more friendly and calm character.

Video: guinea pig show