| Over the past century, the guinea pig has become a | | | | male's home, there will most likely be some hostile |
| popular pet in the United States. While we are all | | | | behavior - at least in the beginning. |
| familiar with this common animal, there are many | | | | Two males in the presence of one or more females |
| facts concerning it that are not necessarily common | | | | are a bad idea. They can become quite aggressive |
| knowledge. Please read along as we discover and | | | | and adversarial toward one another as they compete |
| discuss some interesting facts about this common | | | | for the females. In the wild, cavies used to live in |
| and loveable house pet. | | | | packs. The pack's dominant male was the only male |
| The guinea pig has a very delicate bone structure. | | | | allowed to mate with any of the females. This |
| Because of this, their bones break fairly easily. For | | | | increased the chances of survival of the offspring |
| this reason, these little animals should be handled | | | | because it insured that all of the children were |
| carefully and loosely. Never squeeze or hug a your | | | | descended from the strongest and fittest male |
| pig tightly. Also, one must be very careful to insure | | | | available. Although guinea pigs no longer exist in the |
| that these pets are not dropped from excessive | | | | wild, this holdover behavior can still be observed in |
| heights nor allowed to jump from high surfaces such | | | | our domesticated pigs. |
| as tables, chairs or sofas. | | | | These animals have a very acute sense of hearing. |
| Guinea pigs have a total of 14 toes. Each front paw | | | | Like dogs, they are able to hear frequencies or tones |
| has four toes and the back feet each have three | | | | above the human range of hearing. Human beings can |
| toes. When guinea pigs walk or run, they do so only | | | | only hear frequencies up to 20 kHz (vibrations at |
| on these toes. The entire foot rests on the ground | | | | 20,000 times per second) whereas cavies can hear |
| only when the pigs are standing. | | | | frequencies as high as 33 kHz. |
| Unlike squirrels, mice or many other rodents; when | | | | The guinea pig is very dependent upon its very keen |
| eating, guinea pigs do not sit on their haunches and | | | | sense of smell. The cavy's sense of smell is |
| grip food between their front paws. Their style is to | | | | one-thousand times more sensitive and discerning |
| feed more like a horse or a dog - simply standing on | | | | than that of a human being. |
| all fours and grazing out of a dish, a bowl or from the | | | | The guinea pig is an animal that is very common to |
| ground. | | | | most of us in the western world. And although it is |
| In general, cavies are friendly, congenial and peaceful | | | | quite familiar to us as a family pet and as a |
| animals. Two females can easily live with each other | | | | laboratory animal, there is much information about |
| with little or no conflict. A male and a female nearly | | | | this little rodent that is not commonly known. I hope |
| always get along very well (although one of the pair | | | | that the newly-gained knowledge from this discussion |
| should obviously be neutered in order to prevent an | | | | will help you to better understand the actions and |
| in-cage population explosion). Two males, if raised | | | | behaviors of your own pet guinea pigs as you |
| together will also generally make a good pair. | | | | interact with them on a daily basis. |
| However, if a new male is introduced into another | | | | |