Among other pets, one cannot fail to note guinea pigs, which are loved by people in various countries. Smart, cute, fluffy, always attached to caring owners, they leave few people indifferent. At the same time, the contribution of guinea pigs to the development of modern civilization cannot be underestimated, since they are widely used as laboratory animals, and it is thanks to them that we have many modern medicines and preparations.
Interesting facts about guinea pigs
- Peruvians are the longest-haired among them. Their hair can reach half a meter in length.
- While most rodents are color blind, guinea pigs see the world in color. True, it’s still not the way we see it.
- Contrary to their name, guinea pigs do not like water, and they never swim.
- They are completely unsuited to jumping, and falling even from a small height can seriously harm them.
- The birthplace of guinea pigs is South America (interesting facts about South America).
- Guinea pigs are more awake than most other mammals. During the day, they go to sleep for 10-15 minutes several times, but this is usually limited.
- Having become pregnant, the female guinea pig can, if necessary, terminate or suspend the pregnancy without consequences for her body.
- Guinea pig DNA has 18 more chromosomes than human DNA.
- The official record for longevity among these animals is 15 years.
- Jumping in place in guinea pigs is expression of joy.
- Like other rodents, such as rats, guinea pig teeth grow throughout life. That is why they need to constantly gnaw on hard objects or hard food in order to grind them down (interesting facts about rats).
- Puberty in these animals occurs as early as about 5 weeks after birth.
- They have 4 toes on their front paws, and only 3 on their hind paws.
- The average life expectancy of guinea pigs is 5 years, sometimes more.
- These rodents are rather silent, but males sometimes chirp like birds. Pregnant females make similar sounds.
- Guinea pigs remember their owners not only by smell, but also by their faces.
- If they are stroked, they sometimes purr like cats.
- Guinea pigs have a high body temperature, so they can easily overheat and get heatstroke in hot weather.
- These rodents must eat their droppings to be healthy – they can only absorb vitamins K and B during the second passage of foods containing them through the digestive tract.
- The penicillin contained in the mold is a deadly poison for guinea pigs (interesting facts about mold).
- Guinea pigs are forced to eat constantly and in small portions due to the special structure of the digestive system.
- The weight of large guinea pigs can reach one and a half kilograms.
- In some South American countries, guinea pigs are considered a delicious delicacy. For example, in Ecuador.
- Among the representatives of the long-vanished Mochica culture, guinea pigs were considered divine animals.
- In the wild, guinea pigs live in social groups called colonies. Alone, they do not survive.
- There are 258 bones in the body of a guinea pig. For comparison, a person has 206 of them.
- The first people to domesticate guinea pigs for agricultural purposes were the Incas, and this happened about 7000 years ago.
- Despite their name, marine pigs are not biological relatives of pigs.
- Guinea pigs were brought to Europe by the Columbus expedition (interesting facts about Columbus).
- Guinea pigs sleep little, but still at night they are less mobile and active than during the day.
- Guinea pigs love to spend time looking after each other and looking after themselves. They are always very neat and clean.
- Baby guinea pigs are born already covered with fur, and with open eyes.
- The Chinese name of these animals is translated as «mouse-pig».