The Fair =]

Question
QUESTION: I have two guinea pigs...Sugar and Brownie. I am taking Brownie to the small pet show in a few days and I was wondering if you would have any info about him that I could use? Brownie is an Albino with brown fur and with red eyes and he has a medium length of hair. Last year I brought Brownie for the small pet show and he got Grand Champion, so hopefully I can do the same this year. =] Just if there is any information about them or fun or rare facts just let me know. Thanks =] =]


Lilac Orange White Ame   ANSWER: You'll have a great time at the fair. It's always fun. Let me see if I can help clarify a few things about Brownie. First of all there is no albinism in cavies (guinea pigs). They do not carry the gene as other species do. By definition an albino has white hair, red eyes and no pigment in the skin. That gene is not present in guinea pigs, even though you may see a white pig with red eyes. We also have cream pigs with red eyes. And to confuse you more, both of those colors also come with dark eyes.

Brownie is not actually brown. His color is called beige. A beige pig must have red eyes to be a true beige. That's because of a gene that dilutes the color both in his eyes and his coat.  There are actually only two colors in cavies. Red and black. All others are dilutions of those two. I've attached a picture of one of my pigs that was lilac/orange/white. Notice that she has red eyes, again because of the dilution gene that changes both the black to lilac and the red to orange. Just click on the picture and it will enlarge it for you to see.

White is the absence of color. In the red series there are several variations,or dilutions. Red dilutes to orange, which dilutes to cream, then to white. Black dilutes to chocolate, which dilutes to beige, then lilac.  It's because of the genes they carry.

Some colors such as beige have dilute genes that affect eye colors and therefore have red eyes. Chocolates have either a dark or a ruby cast to their eyes. Beige and lilac both have red eyes.

The breed is determined by the coat. A short smooth haired pig is an American. There are 13 different breeds in cavies. Within each of those breeds are numerous different "varieties" and colors. The best way for you to see all the different breeds is to go to the American Rabbit Breeders Association website. They have pictures of all the different breeds of both rabbits and cavies. Their site is www.arba.net.  If you just type in ARBA you can get to it as well.

The other site is American Cavy Breeders Association or www.acbaonline.com.  They also have all the various breeds for you to see.  

For a pet show your animal does not have to be purebred. They are judged by different standards than a regular open show.  They're a lot of fun. I've judged both pet shows and 4H Showmanship. It's great experience for everyone.  If they're having an open cavy show at the fair by all means try to go.  You'll learn a great deal about what the judges are looking for in each breed and variety.

I can tell you that one of the things you definitely want to do is present a clean well groomed pig. Trim the toenails a few days before the show.  Or do it when you bathe him.  You don't want to trim the nails the day of the show because if you hit the quick and the toenail bleeds you don't want him getting his coat dirty because of it.  

Bathe him about a week before. That's because it takes time for the natural oils in the coat to replenish.  Otherwise you may present a pig with temporary dandruff and a lack of shine because the oils haven't had time to work back into the coat.  He will still be clean even after a week.

I hope this helps you.  If there's anything else I can do please do contact me.  I'd love to know how the fair went for both of you.  

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My guinea pig Brownie   QUESTION: Ok, thank you soooo much for the information =] The pet show is tomorrow and it is the 4-H one (im in 4-H  this is my 3rd year).....and so yea i did it last year and the judge gave me grand champion on my guinea pig and reserve for my turtle because she said i just had so much knowledge about my pets and knew so much about them and knew what i was talking about. And i also attached a photo of my gp so you could c what he looks like. But anyway is there any funny or rare facts about guinea pigs that not very ppl know about that you would know about? Cuz that would be super helpful THanks!!!!! =]

ANSWER: Thank you for the picture. It's an excellent shot. Brownie is not beige. From what I can see he looks like a dilute agouti. That's assuming he has a belly band that is the same color as the tips on his hair. If his belly is exactly like the hair on his back he is called a dilute solid. this again is assuming that when you look at the hair on his back the bottom part of the hair is a different color than the tips of the hair. We call that a "ticked" animal. That is his "variety". If he is the same color all over he is an REO (Red Eyed Orange). Again it's a little difficult for me to see that just from the picture.

Longhaired cavies have variations in their coats even if they are one colored such as black, chocolate,lilac,cream, etc. because as their coat grows long we are actually seeing most of the undercoat. With short haired pigs you don't see that.

His breed appears to be a Silkie. His hair is not long enough to look purebred but is too long
to be an American. You can tell the characteristic sweep of hair on top of his head that is typical of a Silkie, which actually looks like a longhaired American.  
since he's not kept in show coat we wouldn't expect his coat to be real long. Longhaired pigs are kept in wraps to prevent the coat from breaking.

I don't know how rare this fact is but a lot of people do not know this: when you stroke your cavy across the head (and if you're doing showmanship be sure to use the term cavy, not guinea pig) they will often toss the head upward as if to shake you off. This is not because they don't like it, it's a 'knee jerk' reaction. A knee jerk reaction is what happens when the doctor hits your knee in the right spot and the knee jerks upward, out of your control. Your body just makes it happen.

As small prey animals they are constantly on guard in the wild for things like hawks and eagles. If a bird of prey swoops down on them they will grab them by the back of the neck. The cavy's response is to toss the head in an effor to shake off the predator.

You might also mention that your pig has red eyes because of the dilution gene that dilutes his undercolor and also dilutes the pigment in the eye, allowing the blood to show through and giving him the red eyes. Certain dilutes MUST have the red eye. And an REO is one of them. They are a dilute version of a dark eyed red cavy.

Mention that the normal gestation for a cavy is about 70 days. A normal litter is 2 to 3 pups. Some have more, some less. The sow has only two teats so the babies must take turns nursing.

You can also mention that a cavy's closest genetic relative is a Chinchilla. It is thought that they are a rodent, although that is still not unanimous in the scientific world, because the word rodent comes from the Latin "rodentia" which means teeth that continually grow. But there are some in the scientific world who believe that they are not rodents at all.

And of course if you're doing showmanship you know the drill of walking through the numbers of toes they have, etc. You can also mention that there are still wild cavies in South America and they are still used as a food source. They call it cuy (pronounced kwee). Wild cavies are considerably larger than the domestic cavy, some reaching 4 to 5 pounds.

I hope I've given you enough information to give you a good run. If there's anything else I'm not sure what I've left out, but don't hesitate to contact me. I'm wishing you good luck. Can't wait to hear how you do. And send more pictures.

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QUESTION: Hey thank you soooooo much for all the information about my guinea pig!!!! It was all very helpful in the fair showmanship. I am really sorry I never got to tell you how I ended up doing at the fair. I ended up getting a purple so thats pretty good. Next year I'll get that Grand Champion!! But anyway thank you so much for helping me er giving me all that information about my guinea pigs. Thanks again!!!

Answer
Kaitlin, I am thrilled to hear from you and that you did well. It was a lot of fun wasn't it? The first couple of times is the hardest, but at each event you enter you learn from those around you. I'm so glad you had such a good time.

Just let me know if there's anything else you need.