So, what do guinea pigs eat? Well check out our guide to guinea pig diets. In actuality guinea pigs share a common dietary quirk with us, their bodies don't naturally produce vitamin c, so it's important they receive this as part of their diet.
Another name for guinea pigs is cavy; its latin name being Cavia porcellus. This animal is a native of South America, where around 20 different kinds of guinea pigs can be found. They come in an assortment of colours, long and short coat styles. The most common guinea pig, the Bolivian, has short, smooth hair and can be a mixture of white, cream, chocolate, black etc. Guinea pigs with short rough coats in similar colours to the Bolivian are called Abyssinian. Another variety of guinea pig is the Peruvian which has a long silky coat and therefore needs daily brushing to keep his coat clean and healthy. A variation on the Peruvian is the Sheltie.
Guinea pigs are generally very timid creatures, and need to be handled very carefully. This is particularly important if children are learning to care for guinea pigs. It is best to start handling guinea pigs when they are fairly young so they become used to handling.
There are a fair few types of guinea pigs, but most fall into 2 main catagories, the self single colour variety and the patterned varieties. The smooth coated guinea pigs are much more like the varieties found in the wild.
Guinea pigs do make excellent pets. As with all animals there are many considerations to be taken into account. Guinea pigs need housing which needs to be cleaned. Food and water need to be provided. Health problems need to be checked and sorted. All this can be costly in time as well as money. Before considering guinea pigs as pets you must take these into account.