Over the past century, the guinea pig has become a popular pet in the United States. While we are all familiar with this common animal, there are many facts about it that are not necessarily common knowledge. Read on as we discover and discuss some interesting facts about this common and lovable pet.
The guinea pig has a very delicate bone structure. Because of this, their bones break quite easily. For this reason, these small animals must be handled carefully and loosely. Never squeeze or hug your pig tightly. In addition, great care must be taken to ensure that these pets do not fall from excessive heights or are allowed to jump from high surfaces such as tables, chairs, or sofas.
Guinea pigs have a total of 14 toes. Each front leg has four toes and the hind legs have three toes. When guinea pigs walk or run, they do so only on these toes. The entire foot rests on the ground only when the pigs are standing.
Unlike squirrels, mice, or many other rodents; When eating, guinea pigs do not squat or grab food between their front legs. His style is to feed more like a horse or dog, simply standing on all fours and grazing on a plate, a bowl, or from the ground.
In general, cavies are friendly, personable, and peaceful animals. Two females can easily live with each other with little to no conflict. A male and female almost always get along very well (although it is obvious that one of the two must be neutered to avoid a population explosion in the cage). Two males, if raised together, also usually make a good pair. However, if a new male is introduced into another male’s home, there will most likely be some hostile behavior, at least initially.
Two males in the presence of one or more females is a bad idea. They can become quite aggressive and adversarial to each other while competing for females. In the wild, cavies used to live in herds. The dominant male of the herd was the only male allowed to mate with any of the females. This increased the offspring’s chances of survival because it ensured that all children descended from the strongest and available male. Although guinea pigs no longer exist in the wild, this remnant behavior can still be observed in our domestic pigs.
These animals have a very keen sense of hearing. Like dogs, they can hear frequencies or tones above the human hearing range. Humans can only hear frequencies up to 20 kHz (vibrations at 20,000 times per second), while cavies can hear frequencies up to 33 kHz.
The guinea pig relies heavily on its keen sense of smell. The cavy’s sense of smell is a thousand times more sensitive and insightful than a human’s.
The guinea pig is a very common animal for most of us in the western world. And while he is quite familiar to us as a family pet and as a laboratory animal, there is a lot of information about this little rodent that is not commonly known. I hope the newfound knowledge from this discussion helps you better understand the actions and behaviors of your own domestic guinea pigs as you interact with them on a daily basis.