Dr. N. Matthew Ellinwood, D.V.M., Ph.D.
February 22, 2012
I OWA S TATE U NIVERSITY
C OLLEGE OF A GRICULTURE AND L IFE S CIENCES

GUINEA PIG MANAGEMENT
Cavia porcellus

Origin
•
Cavia porcellus – domesticated
•
Cavia aperia – wild
• wild – Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay
• also known as Cavies
• domesticated 16 th century – England

Varieties of Guinea Pigs
•
Traditional

American or English – short hair

Abyssinian – whorls of short rough hair

Peruvian – long hair

Varieties of Guinea Pigs
•
New varieties

Silky – medium length soft hair

Teddy – short, coarse hair

American Crested – short hair with contrasting whorl on forehead

Rex – very short, soft hair

Hairless

Traditional varieties of guinea pigs

American – short hair

Abyssinian – whorls of short hair

Peruvian – long hair

New varieties of guinea pigs

Silky – soft, medium hair

Teddy – short, coarse hair

American crested – contrasting whorl on head

Rex – very short, soft hair

Hairless – (well, almost)

Basic Guinea Pig
• compact stocky body
• tailless
• diurnal – actually
 short naps night and day
• sebaceous marking glands - rump
• open rooted teeth


Additional characteristics
• vocalize – at least 11 sounds
• good swimmers
• seldom jump
• rarely intentionally bite or scratch
• need frequent handling
• lifespan – 5 yr average, ~8 yr max.

Uses of Guinea Pigs
•
Pets
•
Scientific research
•
Food

Home Sweet Home
•
Temperature: 70, 65 – 79
•
Space

< 350 gm 60 sq. in.

> 350 gm 101 sq. in.
 max size 1.2 x 3.8 cm mesh or solid

Home Sweet Home
•
Bedding
 wood shavings – not cedar, pine
 shredded paper
 not dusty
 timothy hay overlay optional
 clean weekly

Home Sweet Home
•
Humidity 50%; 40 – 70
•
Light cycle 12:12
•
Air changes 10 – 15 per hour

Digestive System
•
Strict herbivores
•
Hind gut fermenters – cecum

Lactobacilli sp.
 primary fatty acid – propionic acid

NUTRITION
• require vitamin C
• have higher folic acid requirement
• sensitive to excess Ca, Vit. A, Vit. D
 leads to metastatic calcification
 mineralization of soft tissues

Feeding
•
Additional Requirements

~ 6 gm feed/100 gm body weight

18-20 % protein

10-16 % crude fiber
•
Use guinea pig feed!!!
•
NOT RABBIT FEED
 no vit. C and high in vit. D

Feeding Management
•
Messy feeders
•
Use J-feeders not bowl

Water Management
• Glass/clear bottles preferred
•
Like to play with waterers
 will empty water bottle and/or
 stop up the opening
 check frequently
•
Change & Clean water bottle daily
• Automatic waterers
 check daily; acidify water at source
 reduces pseudomonas

Water Management
• Glass/clear bottles preferred
•
Like to play with waterers
 will empty water bottle and/or
 stop up the opening
 check frequently
•
Change & Clean water bottle daily
• Automatic waterers
 check daily; acidify water at source
 reduces pseudomonas

REPRODUCTION
• age to sexual maturity 68-70
• estrous cycle 15-17 days
• gestation 59-72 days

SEXING male: straight slit female: Y-shaped

SEXING male: straight slit

SEXING female: Y-shaped

BREEDING
• females pair at 400gm; 2-3 months
• males pair at 600 gm; 3-4 months
• breed females before 6 months
 otherwise pubic symphysis fuses
 must relax at parturition

Response to the hormone relaxin

Guinea pig once used in bioassays for relaxin

Care of Young
• precocial – born
 furred, eyes open, teeth erupted
 walking within 2 hours
• two nipples – inguinal region
 can care for four young
 litters 3-4 (range 1-6)

Care of Young
• milk

3.9% fat

8.1% protein

3.0% lactose

DISEASES
• genetic
• infectious
• environmental
• nutritional
• others

DISEASES
• malocclusion – over growth of teeth
• causes
 environmental
 inadequate opportunity wear down teeth
 genetic
 teeth do not meet properly
• in guinea pigs
 lower premolars may be tilted inward
 eventually tongue is trapped

INFECTIOUS DISEASES
•
Bordetella bronchiseptica - pneumonia
 do not house with subclinical carriers
 rabbits, cats, dogs
• other infectious diseases are much less common

OTHER DISEASES
• vitamin C deficiency – scurvy
• metastatic calcification
 mineralization of soft tissues
• heat stroke

85º F+, high humidity, lack of ventilation
• barbering
 small bald patches

Public Health Risks
• minimal
• diseases guinea pigs may carry

Bordetella, Salmonella, Yersinia
pseudotuberculosis, Streptococcus

CHINCHILLA
MANAGEMENT
Chinchilla lanigera

Origin
•
Two species in the wild
–
Chinchilla brevicaudata
• Shorter, stockier, and facing extinction
• A previously extant species is already extict
–
Chinchilla lanigera
•
Chinchilla lanigera – domesticated
• wild – Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile
•
Spanish discovered them in 16 th century

• Crespuscular
– Active – require wheels
• Names after the Chincha people of the
Andes: “Little Chincha”
• Hunting in the 19 th century
– Fur trade led to rarity in the wild
• Rock crevices in the wild
• Can jump up to 6 feet high

• In the wild, groups called herds
• Nonseasonally polyestrous
• Gestation is 111 days
– Usually two offsping
– Precocial
• Prey species defense
– Fur release
– Urine spraying

• Dust baths
– Fine volcanic dust (pumice)
• Diet
– Pelleted chinchilla with timothy hay
• Raisin supplement 1-2 per day
• Do not over supplement on fruits and vegetables

Research Importance
• Hearing
– Range and anatomy
• Chagas disease
– Parasitic diseae causing American trypanosomiasis
• Gastrointestinal disease
• Listeriosis

Colors of Chinchilla

Standard Grey

Ebony

Homozygous beige

Heterozygous beige

Brown Velvet

Black velvet

Golden mosaic

Sapphire

Silver

Silver white

Albino white

Pure white

Degus
 South American rodent
 Related to Guinea pigs
 Smaller, social rodents

Natural History and Domestication
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Rodentia
• Suborder: Hystricognathi
• Parvorder: Caviomorpha
• Family: Octodontidae
• Genus: Octodon
• Species: degus

Natural History and Domestication
• Related to Guinea Pigs and Chinchillas
– South American
– Chilean deserts
• Semi arid scrub of central Chile
– “Brushed tailed rats”
– “Chilean squirrels”
– High vitamin C requirement
– Long gestation with precocious young
– Long lived in captivity (6-8 year)

Natural History and Domestication
• Social groups in the wild
– 1-2 males, 3-6 females typical
• Large borrowed communities
– Heat and predators
• Large ears for dissipating heat
• Long hind legs (running/jumping), dexterous forepaws
• Diurnal and crepuscular
• Coprophagic at night
• Agouti brown with UV reflecting cream color undersides
– Signaling mechanism? Vision into ultraviolet

Natural History and Domestication
• Forage dried vegetation; require high fiber content
– Adapted to high fiber low sugar diets
• Seasonal breeders
– Breed late winter: birth early Spring (90 day gestation)
– Precocious young: haired, visual, hearing, and ambulatory
• Males have abdominal testes
– Sex by anogenital distance
– Social alarm behaviors

Natural History and Domestication
• Domesticated in 1970s as research model
– Type II diabetes model
– Neuroscience model of eye hand/paw
• Spontaneous us of tools to retrieve seeds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2007-12-09_(20)_Degu.JPG
• Spontaneously stack objects in order of decreasing size
– Circadian rhythm
• Diurnal and nocturnal rhythms
• Cues from temperature, melatonin, and pheromones
– Aging and development studies
• Separating pups from dam for periods of half an hour
– Developmental and behavioral changes in later life
• Aged degus have Alzheimer markers

Husbandry
• Same sex housing, males paired pre-pubertally (12 weeks)
• Housing, flooring, wheels
– Bumblefoot
• Dust baths
• Bedding of paper or dried pine shavings (cedar is toxic)
• Diet: Chewing and maloclusions
• Meadow/Timorthy hay base diet (forage throughout day)
– And chinchilla or guinea pig pellets
• Water
• Never dried fruits/molasses containing feeds

Disease and Zoonosis
• Maloclussion
• Diabetes (type II)
• Footpad problems (bumblefoot)
• Blocked lacrimal ducts (secondary to infection/inflamation
– Veterinary care/antibiotics

Tables in text
• Chinchilla 7.1
• Guinea Pig 7.4
• Degus 7.10