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Title: The Raising and Care of Guinea Pigs

A complete guide to the breeding, feeding, housing,

exhibiting and marketing of cavies

Author: A C Smith

Release Date: April 30, 2010 [EBook

#32189]

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CARE OF GUINEA PIGS ***

Produced by Irma Spehar and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was

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The Raising and Care

Guinea Pigs

A Complete Guide to the

Breeding Feeding, Housing, Exhibiting

and Marketing of Cavies

Copyright 1915

by A C SMITH

GUINEA PIGS

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION.

The Guinea Pig or Cavy belongs to therabbit family and is a native of SouthAmerica Why they are called GuineaPigs, no one seems to know, unless theirshape suggests a small pig and the nameGuinea is a corruption of Guiana, acountry in South America In size, shapeand texture of fur they resemble a squirrel

or rabbit They have large bodies, shortlegs, small feet, no tails and a wide range

of colors A full grown Cavy weighsbetween two and three pounds, which

weight it attains at about 18 months of age.The males are usually larger than thefemales.

When white people first visited theAndean region of South America theyfound the Cavy domesticated and living inthe houses of the Indians, by whom theywere used for food They were introducedinto Europe in the 16th Century and sincethat time have spread all over the world

In South America there are still severalspecies of wild Cavies These are hunted

as game and are considered a greatdelicacy

Cavies are wholly vegetarian in diet,eating about the same things as a rabbit.They are very easily tamed, are veryhealthy and hardy, are not noisy, are clean

in their habits, and have no offensiveodor There is probably no animal in theworld that is easier to handle They easilyadapt themselves to conditions and seem

to do equally as well in city or country, inlarge or small quarters and a few of themtogether do as well as a large number ofthem

They are practically free from thediseases and epidemics that make theraising of poultry and rabbits so uncertain.Some of them get sick and die, of course,but it is usually due to some local cause or

to the fact that they have been neglected orimproperly fed or housed, but contagiousdiseases such as will often wipe outwhole flocks of poultry or a pen of rabbitsare unknown among Cavies

All of these things make the raising ofGuinea Pigs a very pleasant as well as avery profitable occupation.

The Peruvian has long silken hair andmay be called the aristocrat of Cavydom.They are raised principally by fanciersand for general purposes are no morevaluable than the short haired ones, arenot as hardy and are more trouble tohandle as their coat needs carefulattention

This, like the Peruvian, is also a fancybreed It has longer hair than the short-haired, and it stands out in curious little

rosettes These are more hardy than thePeruvian and are more common.

The Kind to Raise.

If you expect to raise Cavies forcommercial purposes the English is thekind that should pay you best They areeasier to take care of than the long-hairedvarieties For laboratories, experimentalpurposes, etc., it is the smooth-hairedCavy that is in most demand If you are aGuinea Pig fancier or are raising them forpet purposes it is merely a matter of tasteand choice The long-haired ones areusually more expensive and sell for more,

as they are scarcer and are generally soldfor pet and fancy purposes It is usuallywell to have a few Abyssinian among your

stock if you are raising many, as manypeople prefer them for pets.

CHAPTER III

USES OF GUINEA PIGS.

There are three main uses to whichGuinea Pigs are put, as food, as pets andfor experimental purposes in laboratoryand medical research By far the largestdemand is in the last named field

Scientific Uses.

There is possibly no animal so welladapted for scientific experiments as theGuinea Pig In the testing and analyzing ofserums and antitoxins and for

experimental purposes generally thedemand is enormous, thousands andthousands of them being used every year.Many of the large hospitals andlaboratories have been compelled toestablish breeding pens of their own inorder to be sure of a constant supply Thedemand here is steadily increasing andmany more would be used if they could beobtained at a reasonable price A UnitedStates Bulletin says, “Guinea Pigs sell atvarious prices dependant on supply anddemand The average price for severalyears has been about 75c, but laboratoriesnow report that suitable stock is short andthat they have been paying from $1.00 to

$1.50 for their supply of animals.” Forthese purposes they are used all the wayfrom nine weeks to six months or more old

or when they weigh from 9 ounces and up.The cost of rearing them to this age is verylittle and a good profit is thereforeassured the raiser.

As Pets.

The demand for Guinea Pigs as pets isvery large They are so widely used in themedical field that the pet stores have ahard time keeping enough on hand tosupply the local demand for pets They arevery interesting and perfectly harmlesslittle animals They do not bite or scratchand young children can play with them.They are not as common as the ordinarypet, and being more of a novelty, attractmore attention When sold as pets theyusually bring more than when sold to the

hospitals and raisers are assured of a verylarge demand for this purpose In Englandand Europe the Guinea Pig is more widelyraised than in America and there are morefanciers who show and exhibit themextensively They are becoming morepopular in this country and are beingexhibited more and more in Pet StockShows A good show animal is worth allthe way from $10 to $100 As a hobby theraising of Guinea Pigs is most interestingand instructive as there are so manyexperiments that can be made in thebreeding.

As Food.

For food purposes Guinea Pigs areadmirable, although not many are eaten in

this country at the present time However,many of the newspapers and magazineshave run articles suggesting that they beraised for this purpose and there is really

no reason why they should not be TheUnited States Government indorses them

as food animals and advises that they beused in this connection In a few years wewill possibly see Guinea Pigs sold in thestores as rabbits and poultry are now.Certainly no animal could be cleaner andbeing a vegetarian exclusively, its flesh is

of the best They can be prepared just as arabbit or squirrel In soups, stews, pies, orroasted, broiled or baked the young Cavy

is equal to any other animal For thispurpose the animal should be about one-half grown

CHAPTER IV

FOOD AND FEEDING.

The feeding of Guinea Pigs is a verysimple matter Their main food is goodhay or dried grass This should be beforethem all the time, as they will not eat toomuch of it Be sure, however, that it is notmusty or mouldy

In addition to hay, they should have atleast once a day, a feeding of green food.This is essential in keeping them frombecoming constipated By green food wemean such things as lawn clippings, greenclover, spinach, green corn stalks, lettuce,

celery tops, plantain, dandelion, grasses,etc., which is, of course, very plentiful inthe summer In the winter when you cannotget these, carrots, beets, apples, cabbage,mangle beets, yellow turnips, etc., willtake their place.

The grains such as oats, wheat, corn,bran, chops, etc., should be fed them, as itmakes flesh and gives them strength Oats

is probably the best of them all Stalebread is also good, but it should not begreasy or mouldy A good plan is to feed

in the morning hay and grain or a bran orchops mash instead of the grain At noonsome green stuff or roots and at night hay.Give them all the hay they can eat Keep itbefore them all of the time, but only feed

as much green stuff as they can clear up in

a few hours They are also not apt toovereat grain, which should be fed in anearthen or wooden vessel If you feed onlytwice a day, give them the green food inthe morning with the hay Guinea Pigsdrink but little water when eating greenfood, but they should have a vessel offresh water in the hutch or pen everymorning It is also well to keep a piece ofrock salt in each hutch.

In the spring or summer you can feedmore green stuff than in the winter, in fact,

we have raised them in the summer on anexclusive green food diet by moving thehutches from place to place on the lawn.But in the winter and fall, when greens arescarce and they are not used to them, asudden over-feeding might result in severe

loss Avoid a sudden change of diet.

In the spring and summer there is butlittle food to buy for them Even the cityraiser, by saving his own and hisneighbors’ lawn clippings, can be wellsupplied By curing these clippings a goodgrade of hay is obtained A little grain,especially for the pregnant mothers, is allthat need be bought

Bread and milk is a good fleshproducer and should be fed any weakones, also nursing mothers In the winter itshould be warmed

The feeding of Cavies, you see, is avery simple matter, even for a city man.The commission houses every day throwaway enough lettuce, cabbage, celery, etc.,

to feed a large number Stale bread canalways be bought very cheaply from thebakeries On the farm nothing whateverneed be bought at any time.

be avoided Of course, meat or greasy

food must not be fed.

CHAPTER V

HOUSING.

Guinea Pigs do not require either large

or elaborate quarters and the average man

or boy can easily prepare a suitable placefor them There are two methods ofhousing usually used, namely, hutches andpens

Hutches.

Among breeders generally the hutchmethod is preferred They occupy lessroom, are easier to keep warm in the

winter, and are easier handled Weillustrate several types Fig 1 and Fig 2are the kind used by the U S Department

of Agriculture in the Bureau of AnimalIndustry They are about 20 inches wide,3½ feet deep and 18 inches high Theywill accommodate a male and three orfour females and young ones until weaned

Front and Rear Views of Government Type of Hutch.The door covers nearly the whole front

and is made of wire netting In the back is

a screened opening for ventilation Each

hutch should have a shelf about four

inches high in the back as they like to get

on and under it These hutches are made to

stack one on another to utilize small space

and are kept indoors

Fig 3 shows a type of hutch that can be

built against the side of the wall It is not

best to have the wall of the house serve as

the back of the hutch, it might be too cold

These can be built in tiers of three, each

tier about 18 inches or two feet high The

size of each hutch can vary, depending on

the number of Guinea Pigs you have The

entire front should be of wire with large

doors so as to allow ventilation and to beeasily cleaned In the winter a small boxcan be put in each one for sleepingquarters and this box kept full of straw.

Pens.

Some breeders prefer pens and the pensystem does have some advantages In thefirst place, it gives the animals moreroom, has to be cleaned out less frequentlyand is more economical

If you have a suitable place for makingpens it will be all right to use them Ofcourse, it is harder to protect them fromcats, rats and dogs in pens, and it is alsoharder to keep them warm in winter Insummer the pens are really to be

preferred If you have space in a barn,wood shed, attic, basement or any placethat is protected from wind and rain andcats, rats and dogs, you can easily fix up aplace for them A place six by ten feetwill accommodate from 30 to 50 GuineaPigs Your space should be divided intoseveral different pens with 12 to 18 inchboard or wire netting Guinea Pigs do notburrow, so a board floor is not necessary.The floor should be covered with litter ofsome sort Saw dust is good for a bottomlayer Hay or straw can be put on the sawdust In the winter, if the place is notheated, boxes with a small hole for them

to run in and out of and which should befilled with hay or straw, should besupplied for sleeping quarters

Heat in the winter is not considerednecessary by many very successfulbreeders, but we think it best they shouldhave some protection, especially in verybitter weather, and the warmer you cankeep them the better They thrive betterwhen the temperature does not fall belowfreezing If given well protected, tightquarters with plenty of bedding they willget by all right without heat However, thefemales that are about to litter should bekept in a warm place, as the little oneswill freeze if the weather is very cold.After they get about a month old, you can,during a warm spell, move them out withthe others One of the most successfulbreeders in the West, whose stock bringsfancy prices, opposes artificial heat andsays they are better without it Other

breeders use oil stoves in the severeweather and some of the largest Caviarieshave elaborate heating arrangements.

Out Door Hutches.

In the summer you can build a pen ofwire netting for them to run in with a smalltight box for sleeping quarters andprotection from storm Use small meshchicken wire for the sides The top can be

of netting or boards The size of the penwill of course depend on how manyCavies you have These pens can bemoved from place to place on the lawn,giving them good green grass Very littleother food then will be required

General Instructions.

Give your stock all the room you canspare Do not see how little room you canuse, if you have room to waste Be surethat they have ventilation, even in thewinter Animals, like humans, need freshair See that your hutches are kept cleanand dry Do not let your Cavies get wet.There is no need to build expensive andelaborate hutches, especially at the start.When you get a larger herd you can decide

on some uniform style of hutch or pen andmake them all alike This makes them easy

to handle and enlarge Local conditionsand circumstances will determine howyou will keep your Cavies