Top 5 Interesting Guinea Pig Facts No One Told you About

Are you tired of boring facts like “did you know, guinea pigs are rodents!”? I mean, all guinea pig owners know that, right? I’m so tired of these “interesting” facts. Therefore, let me introduce you to these fun guinea pig facts that you piggy parents have zero ideas about.

1. It takes up to 20 Hours for guinea pigs to digest food

To be honest, I was also very surprised when I found this out because, with the rapid rate guinea pigs poop, it seems impossible that it takes up to 20 hours for guinea pigs to fully digest food – but it’s true.

In addition to that, guinea pigs digest most of their food and nutrients in the caecum and colon, aka the large intestine. Moreover, since they have a high-fibre diet, the food takes a bit longer to digest.

Therefore, make sure to provide unlimited timothy hay, and if you’re also sick of the high prices of high-quality hay in pet stores, here are 5 useful tips to save lots of money on guinea pigs

2. Piggy Nightmares & Dreams

Yep, guinea pigs have dreams and nightmares too! However, guinea pigs only sleep for a few hours in total, which means their chances of having dreams are more rare than other animals like dogs. Therefore, their dreams are mostly short, about 5 minutes or so.

When dreaming, your guinea pig may twitch a little and change some expressions, like humans.

However, sadly they don’t sleep talk (or should I say dream wheek)

In addition, what dreams or nightmares do you think guinea pigs have? Tell me in the comments section below!

3. Vets can now perform C-sections on guinea pigs

vets holding new 6 newborn guinea pigs pups after a successful C-Section surgery

C-sections, short for Caesarean Section, is a method used to deliver a baby through surgery in the abdomen and uterus. In a study from the Canadian Institute for Health information, it is reported that 28.8 percent of births were performed by C-Section on woman.

On the other hand, there has never been a successful C-Section surgery on guinea pigs, until now.

That is because performing a C-Section surgery requires anesthesia, a drug that makes you unconscious and keeps you from feeling pain. However, this drug is very dangerous and surgeries that require this are rarely successful on guinea pigs due to their small size.

Nevertheless, Nugget, a one-year-old pregnant guinea pig had heavy difficulties during labour.

With no choice left, a team of vets from MyVet Firhouse decided to perform C-section on the little piggy. The surgery took 50 minutes and thankfully, they successfully delivered 6 piglets!

Super Soft fleece blanket for guinea pigs

Warm heating pad for comfort

Guinea pig house!

4. Guinea Pigs can only Go 8 Hours without Food!

Even though humans can last for 8-21 days with no food, guinea pigs can only go 8 hours without their precious hay and veggies – so in other words, if you forgot to refill hay for your piggies before bed, they may be starving to death when you wake up and check on them.

I think I have a new fear unlocked.

So to prevent this, here are 7 tips about guinea pigs 7 tips about guinea pigs I wish I knew earlier, and that will help you for sure. Don’t make the same mistakes as me!

In addition, remember to get a large hay rack so you can stuff lots of hay when you are gone for a one-day trip.

5. The LARGEST guinea pig breed

source: http://www.exoticpetvet.com/cuy-criollo-giant-guinea-pig.html

You might not want to get these huge guinea pigs, this gigantic size breed is called Cuy Criollo, and it was first found in 2010 in South California.

They are still guinea pigs, however, an adult weighs 4-8 pounds (1.8 kg – 3.6 kg), while a regular breed/size guinea pig weighs 2-3 pounds (1 kg – 1.3 kg). That’s 2 times heavier!

On the other hand, Cuy Criollo guinea pigs might not be the ideal pet. This is because they are very strong and hard to tame. Cuy Criollo guinea pigs also have an impressive appetite but a shorter lifespan.

Here’s a more detailed explanation on how they were “discovered” and the dark truth of cuy criollo guinea pigs