American guinea pig
The American is the original and most common guinea pig variety, and the one most people picture: a short, smooth, close-lying coat with no rosettes or length to it.
In Britain it is called the English or the Smooth.
It is a medium guinea pig of around a kilogram, and the coat is the point — it lies flat over the whole body and needs essentially no grooming, which is why this variety is the one most often recommended for a first-time keeper or a household with children. Temperament is no different from any other guinea pig: social, vocal, and initially cautious.
- Origin
- The original short-coated variety
- Size
- 700–1200 g
- Lifespan
- 5–7 years
- Coat
- Short, smooth and close-lying; no rosettes
- Temperament
- Social, vocal, calm once settled
- Grooming
- Minimal — a weekly brush at most
Related: Guinea pig · Abyssinian guinea pig · Abyssinian satin guinea pig · Alpaca guinea pig · American satin guinea pig
2 american guinea pig photos, newest first
Living with a american guinea pig
The easiest guinea pig coat there is: a weekly once-over and nothing more.
Everything else that matters is common to the species. Vitamin C daily, because guinea pigs cannot make their own. Unlimited hay, which wears the continuously growing teeth and keeps the gut moving. Company, because a lone guinea pig is a stressed one — keep two sows or a sow with a neutered boar.
Give far more floor space than a pet-shop cage provides; they run rather than climb.
Check the feet for pododermatitis, the teeth for overgrowth, and take any guinea pig that stops eating to a vet the same day.
General guidance, not veterinary advice. Individual critters vary, and anything about a specific animal is a question for a vet who has seen it.
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