Interesting Facts About Guinea Pigs

Guinea pigs are one of the sweetest animals in both nature and captivity. In nature it is by nature to hide if they are ill, as a means of protection. This shows how enduring they are. In captivity, they unfortunately follow their wild instincts and often times cover their illness until later stages when the illness is in the advanced stages. For this reason, it is important to know about the various guinea pig facts, to ensure its health.

Guinea Pig Facts:

• The average lifespan of these pets are five and a half years. However, they can live up to twelve years of age. Of those longer living cavies they have been feed a highly nutritious diet and have received an abundance of love and attention.
• At four to six weeks of life, the cavy is sexually mature.
• For 14 to 17 days of the month, the female cavy has its estrous cycle during this time; the cavy will be interested in mating for about eight hours of the time.
• The cavies gestation period last for about 67 to 69 days.
• The average size liter of this pet is from one to eight pups.
• This animal should be weaned between three to four weeks of age.
• The female cavies should be separated once it is sexually mature from male cavies to avoid unwanted and unhealthy pregnancy. At three months these animals can be reunited if you wish to breed.
• These animals are a vegetarian.
• The cavy must have a highly nutritious diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, soft foods, high quality guinea pig pellets, and plenty of water.
• The cavy cannot produce vitamin C and must not only have ample amounts in their diet, but should be given a vitamin supplement each day; this will prevent scurvy for this pet.
• These animal needs at least fifteen minutes each day to run freely- supervised, of course.
• This pet needs daily attention and affections.
• The cavy will need its hair brushed at least once a week daily is preferred.
• The cavy needs toys to play with and his cage should be large enough to include tunnels for crawling through, bricks for climbing and an old shoebox for hiding.
• The teeth of the cavy grow continuously throughout its life and they will need to be kept filed. This can be done by feeding your cavies such foods as carrots. If you notice that that is not doing the trick, it will be necessary to take your cavy to the vet to have them filed.
• The nails of this animal will constantly grow and also will need trimming.
• The cavy can suffer from loneliness and it is vital to interact with your cavy a few times through the day. If you notice this animal hunched in the side of its cage looking sad and depressed, it is likely depressed. However, it can also be ill, and a trip to the vet should be considered, especially if your cavy has had no reason for depression, as this too is a sign of illness and the cavies do go down quickly.