Info WHEEK!

They are known for their unusually rough coat with tufts, called rosettes.  The Abyssinian has about 6 to 8 rosettes throughout its body, including the back and both sides. The only places rosettes are absent are their bellies and heads.

More info HERE.

Info WHEEK!

Guinea pigs poop frequently throughout the day. There is no certain time for pooping – if they’re awake, they’re likely to have to defecate. One guinea pig can poop up to 10 times in an hour.

More info HERE.

Info WHEEK!

#13
Vitamin C is the most important vitamin your cavies needs. It is a water soluble vitamin. Unlike Vitamin A, K, D and E it cannot be stored within the body and is excreted through your cavies urine. Guinea pigs require 10-30 mg/kg of vitamin C daily to maintain optimum health and development. Pregnant, lactating and young cavies require a higher amount of this vitamin. Suggested amounts include 30-50mg/kg however always check with a qualified exotics veterinarian or nutritionist before increasing this amount vastly. Capsicum, grass and dark leafy green vegetables are excellent sources of absorbic Acid.

Vitamins in Fruits & Vegetables

Info WHEEK!

#12
The Dunkin-Hartley strain, developed by the British, is the most widely used in laboratories. It is almost always an albino with short, smooth hair. A second type of guinea pig, the Abyssinian, has short, rough hair that grows in rosettes. The present day Peruvian type of guinea pig, with long hair, is seldom used in research.

More info on LabDiet.

Info WHEEK!

#11
The structure of the guinea pig ear is similar to that of humans, meaning that their hearing range is also similar. Guinea pigs also display the Preyer reflex used in checking for deafness, in which the outer ear moves in response to a whistle. Guinea pigs are therefore a preferred animal model for studying auditory systems, and in 1961Georg von Békésy was awarded a Nobel Prize for describing the mechanical mechanisms of the cochlea in guinea pigs1. Hair cells are sensory cells of the auditory system, which convert sound into an electrical signal. This signal can then be communicated through nerve cells. These cells do not re-grow when damaged, and loss of hair cells often leads to deafness as we age. The first successful attempt to regenerate hair cells in the inner ear of a mammal, announced in 2003, was achieved in guinea pigs2.

More info on ari.info.

Info WHEEK!

#10
Of all of the commonly used lab animals, guinea pigs are one of the most nervous and high-strung species. The guinea pig needs to be approached quietly and confidently. It will seldom scratch a human when it is picked up if it is supported well. If it does become alarmed, however, the whole colony can detect the fright and become apprehensive. To pick up the pig, grasp behind its head and in front of its forelegs with the thumb and forefinger. With the remaining fingers, hold the pig behind its front legs and rib cage. Use the other hand to support the hindquarters.

More info on LabDiet.

Info WHEEK!

#9
As well as requiring Vitamin C in their diet, guinea pigs also need high levels of folic acid, thiamine, arginine and potassium, which make them useful in nutrition studies. They also carry most of their plasma cholesterol in low density lipoprotein, so they are also useful in the study of cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism.

More info on ari.info.

Info WHEEK!

#8
Povidone Iodine (Betadine) -- topical antiseptic microbicide. Can be use to clean a guinea pigs wounds or fungal area. Safe to use near the eyes. Can also be diluted to a "weak tea" concentration (40 parts water to one part povidone iodine) and used to clean injuries or soak feet. Povidone iodine is less drying and also readily available at any pharmacy.

More info on Guinea Lynx.

Info WHEEK!

#7
The long gestation period of 59–72 days and mature central nervous system at birth means that guinea pigs are important in safety testing, particularly to prevent birth defects. However, it is the similarity of their immune system, and particularly their skin sensitivity, that led to their widespread use to test for allergic skin reactions.This use of guinea pigs to test for skin allergies has now been largely replaced by the milder local lymph node assay (LLNA), which uses mice and fewer of them. In 1999 many of these tests were carried out on guinea pigs, mostly for non-medical products. Now guinea pigs are rarely used.

More ininfo on ari.info.

Info WHEEK!

#6
The extreme allergic reaction, anaphylactic shock, has been studied extensively in guinea pigs, which display this reaction more readily and strongly than most other species. Guinea pigs' airways are sensitive to allergens, so it has been widely used in asthma studies. The inhaled medications that are the mainstays of asthma treatment were developed using guinea pigs as were orally-active drugs for asthma such as montelukast. Guinea pigs continue to be useful for the development of improved treatments for asthma, and they are also used in the testing of vaccines against anthrax, currently an important area of biodefence research, and new medicines to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis.

More info on ari.info.

Info WHEEK!

#5
The guinea pig is also widely used to provide tissues and organs for research. Guinea pig blood components are widely used, and isolated organ preparations such as guinea pig lung and intestine are extensively used in research to develop new medicines. Such tissue and organ preparations were important in the discovery and early development of beta blockers to treat high blood pressure and drugs to treat stomach ulcers.

Numerous developments have used guinea pig intestine at some point in their development, for example the anti-nausea drugs used by cancer patients and the identification of naturally occurring pain killing substances known as enkephalins. Guinea pig intestine has also been extensively used to study the 'little brain' in the gut, which contains as many nerve cells as the spinal cord. This has given giving insights into not only the control of the gut itself but also the workings of nerve circuits. The information gathered from these studies is being used to develop computer models.

More info on ari.info.

Info WHEEK!

#4

The German scientist Robert Koch used guinea pigs to discover that TB was caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, in 1882. The sensitivity of the guinea pig to this and other infections, and the similarities of its immune defence system to that of humans, has made it important in the study of infectious diseases.

In 1919 research showed that inoculation of guinea pigs with a small amount of blood from Yellow Fever patients produced a mild reaction in the animals. The same animals were later resistant to infection with Leptospira icteroides, while animals which had received no previous inoculation, or which had been inoculated with blood from malaria patients, died. The guinea pigs were said to have ‘Aquired Immunity’ to L icteroides3.

More info on ari.info.

Info WHEEK!

#3
Guinea pigs are valuable research animals because of the variety of experiments in which they can be used. They are often used to test lotions and ointments because their skin resembles human skin. Long use of the guinea pig in bacteriological and seriological research as resulted in a sizeable accumulation of information on blood values, cell counts, elementary analyses and physical constants. Guinea pigs have been used frequently in nutritional research and in immunology experiments.

More info on LabDiet.

Info WHEEK!

#2
Vitamin C was discovered using guinea pigs in 1907, and because, like humans, it requires this vitamin in its diet, the guinea pig has been used ever since in its study. Most other animals synthesise their own vitamin C. Following this early use, many other areas of nutrition have been studied in the guinea pig.

The German scientist Robert Koch used guinea pigs to discover that TB was caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, in 1882. The sensitivity of the guinea pig to this and other infections, and the similarities of its immune defence system to that of humans, has made it important in the study of infectious diseases.

More info on Understanding Animals.

Info WHEEK!

#1

Guinea pigs have biological similarities to humans, which make them useful in many fields of research. They have been used as experimental animals for centuries; hence, the term. The Spanish conquistadors brought guinea pigs to Europe from South America, where they had been bred domestically, 400 years ago. Since vitamin C was discovered through research on guinea pigs, they have been important in nutritional research, and were also crucial to the development of: vaccines for diphtheria, TB, replacement heart valves, blood transfusion, kidney dialysis antibiotics, anticoagulants and asthma medicines.

More info on ari.info.