What is it like when a guinea pig eats its own poop? It has something to say
I like birds, have only a passing interest in mammals, and an even more passing interest in rodents, so as a child I did not pay much attention to animals like hamsters and guinea pigs.
It was not until university, when the animal physiology course required a lot ofguinea pigsfor experiments. My classmates all found it quite novel, so my dormmate Xiaozhao went to the lab to "rescue" a few guinea pigs and brought them back to keep in the dorm - one for Xiaozhao himself, one for me, and one for the tall and stout classmate in the bed next to mine. Every evening we would put the three guinea pigs together to interact. Each time, my guinea pig would be chased round and round by Xiaozhao's guinea pig trying to mate with it, while the tall and stout classmate's guinea pig stood nearby watching with a totally bewildered look.
Gradually I came to feel that keeping guinea pigs was quite interesting, and that once I had a place of my own I would definitely keep them properly.
A guinea pig carried out of the lab. Image: Red-billed Blue Magpie
The guinea pig with a long history
Perhaps quite a few friends pause when they hear the name "guinea pig," because we are usually more familiar with its other names - Dutch pig, Tianzhu rat, Guinea pig. "Guinea pig" (tunshu) is its more formal name (sothe Dutch pig is a rat, not a pig), and this name also reflects its classification well: Rodentia, Caviidae, Cavia.
The guinea pig, like the rats, squirrels and hamsters we know well, is a rodent, and all of them have the signature large front teeth. Image: pixabay
The guinea pig family (genus Cavia) includes several species of wild guinea pigs, found only inthe mountain regions of South America. After the Spanish reached South America in the 13th century, they began crossing, domesticating and artificially selecting several local wild guinea pigs; after the 16th century the bloodlines of these crossed guinea pigs gradually stabilised, and they were brought back to Europe, where they quickly became very popular pets.
In the 18th century, peoplerecognised this domesticated guinea pig as a separate speciesand gave it the scientific name Cavia porcellus. From then on, the guinea pig was formally distinguished from its wild ancestors - the South American grassland guinea pig (C. tschudii) and several other relatives.
The guinea pig has two commonly used English names: Guinea pig and Cavy (the former corresponding to the Chinese name "Guinea pig"). In European and American pet circles, guinea pigs are often called "piggy," very similar to the nickname used in China (many people call their own guinea pigpiggy). As for why the completely unrelated word "Guinea" was used to name the piggy, opinions still differ and there is no clear answer.
Guinea pig: "My original home is South America." Image: pixabay
Guinea pigs and humans
Over the past few hundred years, guinea pigs have been very closely associated with humans. Besides being kept long-term as pets, as just mentioned, guinea pigs are also important medical and biologicallaboratory animals。
From an experimental point of view, guinea pigs have countless advantages, such as low rearing cost, easy breeding, great sensitivity to many pathogens, and certain physiological structures similar to those of humans. Guinea pigs, like humans, areunable to synthesise vitamin C on their ownand need to obtain it from external food, so when conducting experiments related to vitamin C, guinea pigs are the ideal laboratory animal. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the guinea pigs I first encountered were carried out of the lab.
Yet in their original home of Peru, guinea pigs are neither pets nor laboratory animals, but a famous and very popular traditional food. The locals often hold guinea pig festivals, selecting the largest and best-looking guinea pigs, and so on, though the highlight of this festival is actuallyguinea pig barbecue。
A Peruvian speciality - guinea pig barbecue. Image: wordpress.com
There are many breeds of pet guinea pigs
Of course, I believe what everyone cares about most is still the guinea pig as a pet.
From the 16th century right up to now, after hundreds of years of crossing and selection, pet guinea pigs have come to include countless breeds with different appearances; what you see in pet shops and find online is only the tip of the iceberg. According to the guinea pig'scoat type and length, we can simply and crudely divide them into the following main categories:
Coat type: smooth-haired, reverse-haired, curly-haired, crested;
Coat length: short-haired, long-haired.
Generally speaking, different breeds of pet guinea pigs are simply made by pairing the above coat lengths with types two by two, for examplethe one closest to the wild type is the "short smooth"(short-haired and smooth-haired), while breeds with exotic looks and relatively high aesthetic appeal, such as long-crested, long smooth, long reverse and various curly-haired ones, are more popular in the pet market than ordinary short smooths, and naturally cost much more.
Each of the above breeds of pet guinea pigshas very diverse coat colours, including not only various solid-coloured individuals, such as pure white, pure black and pure brown, but also many variegated ones (ranging from two colours to four) and gradient-coloured individuals. Just imagine, keeping a litter of guinea pigs in all sorts of colours would be quite interesting.
Swipe left and right to see several pet guinea pig breeds. Image: pixabay & boredpanda
There is also a rather odd type of guinea pig breed that ishairless(similar in style to the Sphynx cat); I like to call it the "naked pig." Some of this breed are born hairless, while others are born with hair that gradually falls out as they age.
How to get along with guinea pigs
After coming to New Zealand as a new PhD student, Yingzhiwu and I finally had our own home, and finally had space to keep animals, and the first thing I thought of was the adorable guinea pig I had encountered at university. "Once I have a place, I will definitely keep them properly." Now I had a place, so what counts as "keeping them properly"? I will use our piggy "Maiya" as an example to talk about how to "properly keep" a guinea pig.
Come and meet her, this is our piggy Maiya; the name was taken from the sprout-shaped white patch on her forehead. Image: Yingzhiwu
I have always believed thatkeeping a pet is a very serious matter, and that a poop-scooping owner must be prepared to spend a great deal of time and energy preparing and researching information. Seeing a cute animal and impulsively buying it first and thinking later is not only very dangerous for the animal itself, but from the owner's point of view, incomplete information will also prevent you from experiencing the joy of keeping and interacting with it.
After spending a great deal of time checking countless sources on websites in China and New Zealand, I finally confirmed that with our conditions we could keep Dutch pigs properly: from the point of view of animal welfare, the recommended area for keepingone piggy here in New Zealand is no less than 0.7 sq m, while the recommended area for two is 1.4 sq m, which ensures the piggy has ample space to move around. Our home is rather small, so we decided to keep just 1.
Before going to the pet shop we had already set up the piggy's home in advance: a very large enclosure, with asleeping area(a wooden pig house closed at the top with an opening at the side) and adining area(holding hay and guinea pig food, plus a toilet); between the pig house and the dining room there is a relatively long passage requiring turns and a climb, which ensures the piggy gets a certain amount of exercise in daily life.
Maiya's pig house, with an activity area of 0.9 sq m, including a semi-enclosed dining area and a plaza (1st floor), a semi-enclosed pig house (2nd floor), and a 3rd-floor platform lined with a towel for her to play on. Yet our adventurous Maiya has already developed a 4th floor by herself - can you find her? Image: Red-billed Blue Magpie
Maiya is a small black-and-white two-coloured sow, of the ordinary short smooth breed. Her usual food is mainlyunlimited hay and a limited supply of guinea pig food, plus fresh grass, vegetables and fruit (such as parsley, carrot and kiwi) provided at set times in limited amounts.
In terms of nutrition, the owner must first note that piggies cannot synthesise vitamin C themselves, sovegetables and fruit containing vitamin C must be providedto supplement it; in addition, note that Dutch pigs very easily get stones, so not only mustclean and unlimited drinking waterbe ensured, butcalcium intake must also be controlled; for example, the very popular staple alfalfa hay has a high calcium content, which is not a big problem for young pigs (because young pigs need more calcium than adults), but adult pigs that eat excessive alfalfa hay easily get stones.
For the first few weeks after Maiya first came to our home,she was still adapting to the environment; during this period we did not give her too much stimulation, nor did we interact with her frequently. Once she was familiar with us, we began slowly training her to recognise her name, and often took her out to play together; by then she already liked us very much, so she could happily interact with us, such as eating and sleeping on our laps.
Maiya will obediently sleep in her house and go to the dining area to eat, and she will deposit 90% of her droppings in the toilet in the dining area. The picture shows Maiya sleeping on Yingzhiwu's lap. Image: Yingzhiwu
Besides the sleeping and dining facilities, Maiya's enclosure also has sometoys, that is, so-called "enrichment," to fully satisfy her exploratory spirit and sense of novelty, so that she does not get too bored in daily life. For example, Yingzhiwu fixed a bunch of hanging cloth strips at the entrance of the pig house, which Maiya loves and often pushes around with her head; we also placed a wooden board beside the pig house for her tognaw on(the ever-growing front teeth of rodents need frequent gnawing); in addition we put in some small wooden blocks of different shapes, and this little drama queen Maiya loves to throw these small blocks around to play, then make sounds to attract our attention.
Maiya is a pig with a strong exploratory spirit, curious about anything new. Image: Yingzhiwu
By the way, Maiya especially loves eating poop, and loves eating it continuously; once I saw her eat 8 poop pellets in a row. Of course, this is normal behaviour for guinea pigs; what they eat is a softer kind of faecal pellet, which contains quite a few useful nutrients (such as vitamins, fibre and some bacteria that aid digestion), and for piggieseating poop helps improve the efficiency of nutrient absorption。
Maiya eating poop. Image: Yingzhiwu
Finally, some small tips for keeping guinea pigs
A piggy's lifespan can reach 4-6 years, so please be prepared to accompany it long-term;
Piggies shed hair heavily, whether long-haired or short-haired, so if you are allergic to animal hair, please think carefully before keeping one;
Piggies make all kinds of loud calls when hungry and excited, so if your home has poor sound insulation, please think carefully before keeping one;
Piggies eat a lot and poop a lot, so if the enclosure is not cleaned in time it will smell strongly; those who are lazy should think carefully before keeping one;
Even after an environmental adaptation period and deliberate training, not all piggies like being touched;
Piggies often lick their own fur, so if you have applied skincare products or cosmetics to your hands, please do not touch a piggy directly.
The guinea pig is a very cute and very clever animal. So if you give it enough love and attention, it will know and remember, and then repay you with its boundless cuteness.
This article is the 231st article of the 4th year of Species Calendar, from Species Calendar author @Red-billed Blue Magpie.
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