Do you like guinea pigs? Adorable fluffies chew hay and gnaw carrots. This is a completely peaceful creature that can be picked up and played without fear of causing harm, as is the case with hamsters. Very often, it is after small rodents or rats have finished their lives that a person decides to get someone else. If that someone is a guinea pig, owner reviews will help you.
However, today we want to invite our reader to talk about one of the most interesting representatives of this species. If you want to have a completely unusual creature at home, unlike anyone else, then the ideal option is a hairless guinea pig. Feedback from owners suggests that we still have relatively few such animals, but interest is growing every day.
Breeding history
How did such a creature even appear? After all, we are used to seeing fluffy lumps in pet stores, but here is a completely naked guinea pig. Reviews from owners who have already had experience communicating with them say that this is not at all as fragile and delicate a creature as it might seem at first glance. They appeared as a result of a natural mutation, but people fell in love with them in this funny form. These are strong and very hardy, that is, completely viable individuals.
They appeared a long time ago, back in 1987. The first bald offspring interested specialists, but so far the phenomenon has only been examined. But when hairless albinos were born in 1984, breeders decided to perfect this breed.
This path was long and quite difficult. The animals had a weak immune system, and their life expectancy was very short. As a result of lengthy work, almost naked animals were obtained, with remnants of hair on the muzzle. The first female was named Skinny, which is how the hairless guinea pig later began to be called. Reviews from owners indicate that this animal is simply ideal for allergy sufferers. By the way, regarding the name, this is only one of the versions. But, most likely, the answer lies elsewhere. The literal translation of skinny is “skin and bones,” that is, it emphasizes the absence of hair.
Appearance
Only after seeing a little miracle, you will understand how different it is from all the pets that lived with you before. Reviews from owners about the skinny guinea pig claim that it is the most charming creature in the world. It’s very pleasant to touch his body, it’s like velvet. At the same time, pigs are quite sociable and make contact with great pleasure.
Whatever characteristics their loving owners endow them with. Some say they look like miniature hippos. Others argue that their face is like that of a tapir. Still others disagree, seeing the slowly chewing creature as a donkey. In a word, everyone has their own opinion. But everyone agrees that this is the most charming decorative rodent.
Behavior
These are very cute and affectionate animals, absolutely non-conflicting. Emotionally sensitive, if there are puppies or kittens in the house, rest assured that they will become best friends, guinea pigs will snuggle up to them. They also become very attached to their owners, seek affection from them, and can simply sit in their owner’s arms for a long time.
They are inquisitive and active, so they will want to explore the apartment and all the nooks and crannies. They are sociable and highly socialized pets, for this reason they are often chosen as gifts for children.
Natural color
What can your guinea pigs be like? There aren't many variations here. Usually the color is brownish-gray, the belly is slightly lighter. And the fur is completely absent on the entire body, except for the head, shoulders and paws of the animal. There may even be curls there. The body length is quite large - 35 cm. Weight will depend on feeding. Usually animals do not complain about lack of appetite. Well-fed and muscular – that’s exactly what skinny guinea pigs are. Reviews from the owners fully confirm that it is necessary to buy special food and fresh vegetables.
Features of character and lifestyle
Photo: Skinny guinea pig
Like any other guinea pig variety, the Skinny is very social. They are happier when they have at least one other guinea pig for company. These creatures will chat with each other and with you. You can happily keep skinnies with your hairy friends and it won't affect their relationship in any way. But you will need to keep them under the same high level of care that hairless pigs require.
Fun fact: Skinnies have teeth, so of course they bite sometimes. But they are generally safe pets and are rarely aggressive. Sometimes skinnies will bite you when they want to bite themselves. This may indicate the presence of ticks or fleas. If you are concerned about your pet, contact your veterinarian immediately for an evaluation. Other times, however, if your Skinny is gnawing or biting while you hold her, she may need to come down to pee.
Skinny is quite easy to tame. Although they may be nervous at first, you shouldn't worry about them too much. When you are consistently gentle with them, they will trust you. Make sure you handle them with care and supervise them like children. Once they feel safe, they become quite tame and are unlikely to bite or hurt anyone. Essentially, they can be tamed just like any other guinea pig. Like other guinea pigs, skinnies need space to roam. You shouldn't buy fancy exercise equipment. Instead, stick to letting them roam in crates or go outside every now and then.
Skinny pigs are fairly easy to care for, but these pigs do have some health concerns. Since their skin is exposed, you'll need to apply sunscreen to your skinny if it's going to be in direct sunlight for long periods of time. Skinnies also tend to have dry skin, but you can apply baby-scented lotion to the affected areas. These animals can also become infected with ticks, and if you notice ticks on your pig, you should take them to the vet immediately. The skinny's lifespan is 7 to 8 years.
Breed standards
The first thing we see is a massive relief body. The head is medium in size and oval in shape. Moreover, a gender characteristic is clearly visible here. Males have a massive, large head, while females have a more neat head. The animal's nose is very interesting. It is large, with rounded outlines and soft curves.
Overall, the skinny guinea pig is a very pleasant sight. Real reviews from owners emphasize that they are very decorated with large and expressive eyes, as well as neat ears. The animal's neck is difficult to distinguish from the general contour. The back is very even, straight, and does not bend anywhere. Pigs have short limbs. Clubfoot and curvature are not typical for them. Due to the fact that they have fingers, animals can easily hold food. Some people are reluctant to purchase these animals because they seem to be unpleasant to the touch. But this is just a prejudice. They are very velvety, you want to touch them more often.
What does skinny eat?
Photo: Skinny pig
Skinnies are herbivores. This means they eat plants. Like their hairy brothers, these pigs will be happy to eat only hay and greens. They are also coprotrophs - they eat their own excrement.
However, you should feed them a daily vitamin C supplement, whether in tablets or liquid. This is because guinea pigs do not produce vitamin C on their own. The young, however, require their mother's milk for the first few days of their lives. If your Skinny has been rejected by her mother, you will have to hand feed her.
Use a teaspoon rather than a syringe because this can cause the little skinnies to choke. You can either use full-fat goat's milk or make formula. It is recommended to use half water and half evaporated milk. After a few days, they can begin to eat like adult skinnies.
The most common food for skinnies is hay. Skinnies are very sensitive animals and their diet consists mainly of vegetables and fruits. The diet should consist of foods rich in vitamin C. This is achieved, for example, by feeding a quarter of a whole pepper per day. Peppers can be red or green. Red bell peppers should not be given to skinnies daily due to their high sugar content, so green bell peppers are an ideal substitute. To increase the amount of vitamin C, two to three leaves of kale are recommended, given to skinny twice a week. In addition, broccoli, basil and mint can be fed to skinnies in a few sprigs on a rotating basis each week.
To increase your supply of vitamins, your diet should include:
- salads;
- cucumbers;
- parsley leaves;
- tomatoes;
- apples;
- pears;
- seedless grapes;
- citrus;
- green bean;
- spinach;
- bananas.
Other foods you can feed your Skinny include hay, oat grass and pellets, which are high in vitamins and a good addition to vegetables and fruits. However, there are some foods that should not be fed to skinnies whole. These are chocolate, meat, potatoes and dairy products.
Nutrition
Each animal requires special treatment. Let's look at how to care for hairless pigs. First of all, they will require good feeding. These cuties can crunch on something all day long. Practice shows that the skinny's diet was three times higher than that of the average, shaggy pig. This is directly related to the maintenance of trunk temperature. In this regard, the skinny guinea pig is truly unique. Customer reviews fully confirm that they have to go to the store quite often for a new portion of food.
Be sure to consult your veterinarian or pet store about what your skinny guinea pig should eat. Write down the list of necessary food products in a special notebook, this will be useful to you more than once.
- The diet should include 60% dry grass, 20% juicy greens and 20% grains.
- Hay is an essential component of the diet, and grain feed is a source of carbohydrates and fats, protein and amino acids. Corn and sunflowers, oats and barley, as well as wheat are especially useful for guinea pigs.
- As a treat, you can give your pet dry cookies, crackers and nuts, dried fruits.
- Juicy feed mixtures include dandelion and nettle, plantain and clover.
- Vitamin supplements - fresh melon and pumpkin, tomatoes and peppers, carrots and apples, beets.
Guinea pig of the Skinny breed - reviews
- + Leave a review
Leave a review Reset
Chieffa
https://conf.7ya.ru/fulltext-thread.aspx?cnf=Animal&trd=11353
From a communication point of view, this is, of course, not a cat or even a rabbit. When taken in your arms, it sits quietly, allows you to pet it, and allows you to trim your nails without resisting. Skinnies are extremely pleasant to the touch - they, like all naked animals, are warm and velvety. In general, the money they ask for is not worth it, IMHO. But in everyday life it is unpretentious, only a little noisy.
Author
https://www.kakprosto.ru/otzyvy/review-10824
Family favorite
My daughter-in-law and son got themselves a Skinny guinea pig. I must say, she is quite nice and friendly. Sometimes when I come to visit them, they let her out of her cage for a walk. There is no fur on it at all; if the apartment is cool, the pig begins to shiver from the cold.
Actually, she is always hot, probably because of her metabolism. She gets along well with the cat; sometimes, after playing enough, they fall asleep together, cuddled up to each other.
It is unpretentious in its maintenance, you just need to carefully choose the bedding so that the pig does not freeze. It is clear that my children are very attached to their pet.
Breadwinner
https://conf.7ya.ru/fulltext-thread.aspx?cnf=Animal&trd=11353
DISADVANTAGES OF GUINEA PIGS Completely uninteresting animals. You can admire them, but they have no intelligence at all.
They whistle when the refrigerator opens. From morning to evening she just chews. She makes a lot of dirt, she smells, she tramples all her waste with her paws. She is a completely stupid creature, she scratches very much and does not like hands.
The skin of the naked ones is kind of oily and sticky, it stains the hands when they are black. If you let them out, they will gnaw on the wires unnoticeably
Vedenets;)
https://otvet.mail.ru/answer/439579832
The smell is noticeable for the first time (a week). We decided that this was a reaction to stress - a change of place of residence. I only have allergies and only when a pig crawls under my neck. There is almost no smell from the cage, although my daughter cleans it less often than once every three days. Our cage, in my opinion, is very comfortable - with high sides and a plastic top with a lattice door in the ceiling: pebbles are afraid of drafts. And our little pig is simply adorable and leaves no one indifferent. It feels dry and very warm to the touch.) ) sometimes I wash it with soap.
inyla
Advantages: unfriendly food
Disadvantages: the smell still appears sometimes
Good afternoon, the animal is generally quite interesting. When you approach the apartment, you feel it and start beeping loudly. When he walks around the apartment, he tries to climb into the far corner and announce something from his hiding place. It is very easy to care for - eats grass, vegetables, fruits. Mine especially loves dandelion stems. He loves compote, but almost never drinks plain water. Due to eating a large number of urgent meals, hair may lose, but this can be easily restored if calcix is introduced into the diet. A very cute animal perfect for teaching responsibility in children. Life expectancy is from three to six years, mine lived for 8 years. I still don’t want to talk about him in the past tense. Unfortunately, there is no photo, my Jacqueline’s fur grew in rosettes, the color was white and black. I recommend it to anyone who accepts rodents.
ukrconcent
Pros: plump
Disadvantages: dirty
Our children left the war, and left the animals to us, one of the animals was a guinea pig - I thought it was cute and beautiful, but during my stay my opinion changed - it is completely unclean and requires a lot of care. She is not very picky about food, eats everything that is given, and does not suffer from lack of appetite. You can immediately see from the animal that it is being fed, and it gains weight instantly. You put fresh grass for bedding, and she lies on it and eats it. It turned out that it was not very expensive in terms of maintenance, but it was a hassle to take care of and we were glad that we gave it away.
Famingolfin
https://otzyv.expert/oni-deystvitelno-chudesni-laskovi-i-dobri-788980
Advantages:
Kind, affectionate, gentle, active, playful, eat well, look wonderful.
Flaws:
Needs careful care, weak intestines.
Details:
Quite recently we acquired a new pet, the fourth in a row - Skinny. My mother, sister and I liked it as soon as we saw it! These guinea pigs are really very cute and cute in appearance. And how funny they chew grass or lettuce leaves. You can watch them all day long, all these pets do is delight the eye! They, of course, need to be carefully looked after, like any other guinea pigs. Feed with food, carrots and apples. Very rarely you can give greens and cucumbers. Unfortunately, their stomach is weak. If something is wrong, you immediately have an intestinal upset, and you have to limit your food intake. As I noticed from my guinea pig, he drinks a lot, a lot, we pour water into the drinking bowl twice, sometimes even three. He eats a lot, our little swallow. In general, these pets are simply wonderful!
Snowboarders' Daughter
https://otvet.mail.ru/answer/439584041
I had 2 skinnies and 2 wool pigs.
Skinnies eat DOUBLE as much hair and waste from 2 skinnies as from 4 hairies. Therefore, cleaning has to be done twice as often. Keep in mind that pigs eat almost without a break :))
I had an allergy to naked skin, which manifested itself in the form of urticaria upon contact with skin and rhinoconjunctivitis. Exactly on the naked! Allergy tests showed a minimal reaction to mumps, but that's where they check for fur.
So I had to part with the skinny ones, now I have 2 hairy ones. Think.
Irina-Polina
Pros: Doesn't bite, fun to watch
Disadvantages: Eats a lot and often needs to change the contents of the cage tray because there is an unpleasant odor
After my son turned 1.5 years old, my husband and I decided to get a pet. Having thought through all the options, we settled on a guinea pig: they are not aggressive, not small in size (so that my son would not run over them) and do not squeak (so I thought to myself). At first I wanted to take a small animal so that it would adapt easier and get used to being held in my arms, but there were no small ones left, so I had to take an adult one. Moreover, this is an adult animal, previously lived with rabbits in the same cage and was very rarely handled.
I bought a cage for rodents and brought the fluffy animal, a girl (at least that's what I was told, that it was a girl) home. When my son saw it, he immediately demanded to play, but I was afraid to give the pig to him, because she already had a lot of stress for 1 day.
At first the pig was afraid of every rustle and sudden movements, but 2 months passed and she got used to it, even began to demand food. Every time the bag rustles, she starts screaming, because I bring her the grass in the rustling bag. Its main food is grass (hay in winter). He also loves apples, watermelons, pumpkins, carrots, and cabbage.
It seems easy to care for, but I didn’t think that she eats so much and that she needs to change the toilet so often. I wouldn’t call her clean, although she washes herself like a cat.
Externally, the pig comes in three colors: white, red and brown. She has a few curls on her head and sides, but she is probably not a purebred Abyssinian, because there should be more curls.
There are pros and cons to keeping this animal, but if you need a non-aggressive animal for a child, this guinea pig is not a bad option.
Werdiga
https://irecommend.ru/content/lysaya-morskaya-svinka
Very cute, warm, bald, with a hairy nose, pigs) They come in a wide variety of colors, spotted, solid.. You will definitely like this pig if you are a lover of exotic animals. However, they may have problems with their skin and paws due to their hairlessness. You should carefully select bedding for your pet and take action at the slightest sign of allergy. Don't forget about a hammock for her and of course a lot of fresh greenery and hay :) In the warm season, if possible, you should remember to walk her with careful supervision. They love company and recognize their owners. Mine loved listening to music and sang along! I’ve never seen anything like this) although I’ve never had pigs before :) And don’t forget to pet them often, they really like it)
Elena Babanina
https://vk.com/topic-16110503_28624285?post=434
better than another breed. Skinnies get cold quickly. You need to maintain a certain temperature. Avoid drafts. They live better in terrariums. Or large cages with a high bottom. Travel is contraindicated for them)))
Degaev
https://www.lynix.biz/comment/63561#comment-63561
They are truly hairless, without fur. This breed was bred specifically for laboratory research and experiments. But then, apparently, they took pity... Now these pigs are bred by animal lovers. Skinnies need to be kept in warm terrariums, they are afraid of drafts and cold. They love affection, but they don’t really give into the hands of a stranger.
NoxBlade
https://irecommend.ru/content/velyurovoe-chudo
In my city there is only one nursery, and, unfortunately, it has collapsed; only two six-month-old girls were put up for sale. Before this, I heard purely by chance from friends that there is a miracle animal for allergy sufferers. I doubted for a long time whether it was worth “taking on a new concern” and decided to go on a visit to the nursery to see what a skinny guinea pig is like. In general, I left there not alone, but with a hippopotamus :)
I just couldn't resist! So, as of today, I have had it for 2 months. In terms of care, she is quite unpretentious - she lives in a terrarium, quietly crunches hay and grains, I give her juice twice a day. This is, for example, a carrot or a piece of apple.
Skinnies are very affectionate, warm and funny.
As soon as they get used to you, they will chat with you, sing and beg you for food :) Each of their sounds, like those of ordinary guinea pigs, means something. Also, they have a wonderful character, they don’t bite, they only get angry (vibrate and whistle) when you touch their butt. They show aggression only towards their own species, so they can safely be taken as a pet for children.
Buka
https://www.babyblog.ru/community/post/petsandcats/1709415
Pigs are animals more for observation. Communication with young children is strictly under adult supervision. A fall from your hands can lead to the death of the animal and stress for the child. They don't smell if you clean them up. Depends on the size of the cell. For skinny, cleaning is done more often, because... more intense metabolism. Accordingly, they eat more, and everything else, too, more))) Gender makes no difference, there is no sexual desire. Males are more sociable, in my opinion. Aesthetically, not everyone likes masculine assets, which are clearly visible in bald ones))) The price depends on the quality of the pig, color, and origin. From 1000 to 3500 rub.
villou
https://otzovik.com/review_280935.html
Advantages:
beautiful, cute, emotional and amorous pigs)))
Flaws:
cost and a loud statement about your person)))
Small, cute creatures. Good-natured and cheerful. We fell in love with them at first sight, and therefore bought this “piggy” instead of the planned parrot. He eats a lot for his size, is a very emotional creature and expresses bouts of joy just as loudly. Before this, I didn’t know why they were called “pigs.” Now I understand. They cost a little more than their mongrel counterparts, but are incredibly beautiful and neat. So they are definitely worth it. By the way, they reproduce without problems. And if you evaluate their cost, then you can pay for your pet)))
Turn
https://otzyv.expert/rasstroystva-i-razocharovanie-1820454
Advantages:
good, does not cause allergies
Flaws:
He eats a lot, poops and pees a lot, doesn’t sleep at night, but runs around the cage like crazy and, despite the presence of 3 rooms, prevents everyone from sleeping!
Details:
We bought our beauty 2 months ago. I REALLY dreamed of just such a pig and waited a long time for the moment when we found her in the nursery. I read a lot of reviews and I was satisfied with everything I learned about this breed: unpretentiousness, general cleaning once a week, and once every three days, kindness, does not cause allergies. In fact, everything turned out to be quite the opposite, as for cleanliness and infrequent cleaning, THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT TRUE!!!!! The pig is actually very kind (never bit us), but my 2 months are cleaning in the morning (after the night everything is covered in poop and urine)!!!!! Cleaning up poop in the afternoon and in the evening, if you don’t do this, then there’s an unpleasant smell, just a terrible aesthetic appearance, mountains of this stuff!!!! I wash the cage every 2 days, the filler flies away 7 kg in a week. granules and sawdust 4 kg, + I mix with paper filler so that there are no calluses... It began to seem to me that all I do all day is clean, pour food, because she eats a LOT and accordingly... I don’t want to offend skinny lovers , I also love mine very much and I have it in perfect cleanliness, but if I received reliable information, and not reviews from breeders (who want to sell an animal for big money), I would think about dooming myself
for 8 years of such life. Think many times before you take such an animal!!!!! Maybe this review will help someone come to their senses...
Marianik777
https://otzovik.com/review_4974478.html
Advantages:
Hypoallergenic, little odor, do not bite, smart, good with children, unusual.
Flaws:
They do not tolerate temperature changes well, are very sensitive and “talkative”.
Good afternoon to all my friends and readers. We have always had animals in our house, now we have three wonderful dwarf hamsters and two huge cats, but recently, my husband surprised me with an absolutely amazing and interesting animal - a hairless skinny guinea pig. Almost naked (he only had fluff on the tip of his nose), she looked like anyone, but not like a guinea pig: a little like a dog because of her drooping ears and elongated muzzle, her body looked like a small hippopotamus, and her paws with long claws generally looked like he looks like some kind of ancient dinosaur; in general, a very amazing animal has settled with us. Larry, as we called him, is a very active and curious pig. We bought a special plastic terrarium for him with a lattice on top so that he could easily frolic there. I’ll tell you a little about the maintenance of these pigs: they need to be kept away from drafts and preferably in solid terrariums or cages; without fur, they quickly get cold. These pigs eat a lot, since they need a lot of energy to heat their bodies, but you shouldn’t overfeed them either - they are prone to obesity. The food itself should be varied: in the first place there should be hay, they eat it in large quantities, then cereal feed, and then various fruits and vegetables: apple, cucumber, carrots, cabbage, etc. Due to the fact that pigs These eat a lot, and accordingly, cleaning their cages is an almost daily task, but I must say that there is almost no smell from them when they are regularly cleaned, and they themselves are very clean animals and another plus of these animals is that they are hypoallergenic and are suitable for people who have allergy to animals. These pigs are also very sociable and when they see their owner, they begin to whine quite loudly; they also whine if they want to eat or are cold. Our Larik is no exception to this, if he wants to eat, he whines, runs up to the cup and sticks his curly nose into it, showing that he is hungry, a very intelligent and intelligent creature, and he simply amazed us with this! Guinea pigs are great with children, my daughter is 5 years old, and at first she was very afraid to pet him, but he ran up to her and poked his nose into her palm, and since then they have been great friends. If you take a guinea pig in your arms, then its skin will seem very hot to you, this is due to the fact that its body temperature is much higher than ours - 38 -38.5 degrees, so our hands will seem cold to the pig and they usually They flinch when you pick them up and try to run away. We got out of this situation by getting winter woolen gloves for ourselves and our husband; now our pet feels warm and, without twitching, allows itself to be picked up. That's all I wanted to tell you about this very unusual guinea pig. He hasn't been living with us for very long and maybe over time I'll add something else to this review. Thank you all for your attention and love your pets!
marike
https://otzovik.com/review_214346.html
Advantages:
Do not cause allergies, active, cute
Flaws:
They eat a lot (if this bothers anyone), cost
I first came across this amazing creature in the spring, when there was an urgent need to buy my daughter a pet that she could cuddle. We have a cat, but she, like any cat, walks on her own. My daughter always wanted a hamster, but due to her age (she’s 4 years old), I wasn’t really ready to have such a tiny rodent, so we decided to settle on a guinea pig and started looking through ads. And then we saw this miracle: a completely bald guinea pig (the spitting image of a hippopotamus), with fluff only on his nose! Of course, we immediately fell in love with her and bought our Dee Dee! Keeping a skinny pig is similar to keeping a regular guinea pig, with the only difference being that hairless pigs eat a little more (they are hairless, so they have reduced heat exchange, which they make up for through constant gluttony))). They prefer carrots, apples, and cucumbers (when they smell a cucumber, they start squealing funny). These pigs are very active and curious; you should let them out to walk around the apartment with caution - they hide in secluded corners and can sit in their shelter for a sufficient amount of time (enough to shit there en masse). My husband and I built a kind of sandbox for the pig, put a disposable diaper on the bottom - and that’s it, our pig seems to be free (not in a cage), and at the same time he doesn’t shit around. In general, skinnies are very nice, they are ideal for people with allergies and for small children (after all, they only have fur on their nose). The skinny feels velory and hot to the touch. If skinny is dissatisfied with something, she starts jumping up like a horse - absolutely hilarious! Of course, the cost of such a pig is much higher than an ordinary one, but when people spend large sums on dogs and purebred cats, they know that they are acquiring a faithful companion. Moreover, skinnies from nurseries are sold with documentation from the breeder (in the future you can start breeding them). We are very happy with our hippopotamus pig, and our daughter’s happiness has no limits!
Body temperature
The animal has absolutely no fur. Therefore, it is very important that optimal conditions are created in which the amazing skinny guinea pigs will feel comfortable. The maintenance is simple, it requires a special house. In addition, constant food intake allows you to maintain body temperature within 38-40 degrees.
However, animals are very sensitive, so you need to make sure that they do not overheat or become hypothermic. Those who have already bought skinnies for themselves know that it is much better to keep them in a terrarium rather than in open cages.
Maintenance and care
It is very important for a pet what kind of housing it will have. It is recommended to purchase a cage made of plastic or metal. It's easy to keep clean. The size should not be small, from 0.6 square meters. meters for one animal.
The bottom should not be lattice, otherwise the rodent will damage its paws. The floor is covered with sawdust with a layer of one and a half centimeters. They are changed regularly. The cage is equipped with a drinking bowl, feeding trough, and accessories for games and relaxation.
An aquarium is not suitable for pigs, as the air there is stagnant. The temperature inside is elevated, gas exchange is weak and the pig is constantly breathing in the vapors of its waste products. This shortens the animal's life.
The only advantage of the aquarium and the “dune” is that naked pigs do not freeze there. For the hairless animal to feel comfortable, it needs 24 degrees of heat.
The pig usually does not climb walls and ladders; the weight gets in the way. The length of the cage is chosen to be at least a meter long.
Be sure to put up a house so that the pig can retire from time to time, with a height of at least 8-10 cm. The house can be stretched from edge to edge of the width of the cage; it should be about 200 mm long. The cage should not be placed in a draft, near heating radiators.
Regularly replacing the bedding, especially in the corners that the animal has chosen for the toilet, will rid the cage of odor.
Invisible dangers
Your pet's strong body is actually very fragile. There are many nuances that a loving owner must take into account. Even when climbing to a small height, these plump pigs can fall and seriously harm themselves. Moreover, even a minor blow can cause the intestines to fail and burst.
Starving animals is also strictly prohibited. In practice, it has been proven that just two days without food can lead to the most serious health consequences. Therefore, if you are planning a long trip, be sure to arrange with friends to feed your pets.
Arrangement of the house
Experienced breeders advise using a large terrarium as a home for rodents. The pet should not only feel comfortable in it, but also be quite spacious, so the minimum size should be at least 0.5 sq.m. Sometimes ordinary aquariums are used as a house.
All side walls must be transparent, the animals need to see what is happening around and observe those around them, in addition, the owners must also observe their pets. A deep tray is installed at the bottom, usually made of plastic.
Of course, the animal needs bedding, which is made from sawdust. But wood filler cannot be used; the fact is that it has quite sharp edges that can injure the delicate skin and paws of a rodent.
The location for installing the house is chosen in such a way that there are no drafts, passages, or direct sunlight. They are very afraid of drafts and hypothermia, which can greatly harm their health.
Arrange the animal's house in such a way that under no circumstances will it be able to get out of it. Injuries sustained from a fall can have permanent consequences and lead to death.
The most dangerous injuries include:
- Limb fractures.
- Spinal fracture.
- Bruises of internal organs.
- Intestinal rupture.
If the sides of the house are not high enough and there is a risk that the animal could get out, you can install a net on top.
In the terrarium you need to install a drinking bowl for water and a feeder for food. In addition, houses made of wood or cardboard, manholes, tunnels, and toys are installed to make the guinea pig interesting, fun and comfortable.
Breeding
There are usually no problems with this. To get little pigs, you only need to get a mixed-sex couple and provide them with normal living and nutritional conditions. At approximately 6-8 months, the female is completely ready to reproduce. Moreover, males are sexually mature at three months. However, they are not allowed to mate so early. The lower limits are 6 months for females and 7 for males. Pregnancy lasts up to 70 days, so you will have to wait quite a long time for the babies to be born. The female must eat well in order for the offspring to be healthy.
