The Skinny Pig is an almost hairless breed of Guinea pig. Skinny pigs typically have hair on their muzzles, feet, and legs, but are hairless over the remainder of their bodies. Some of them have a thin covering of fuzzy hair on their backs as well. A healthy Skinny has skin that is mostly smooth with some wrinkling around the legs and neck, the body is full with no appearance of spine or ribs. Skinnies can come in a variety of colours and patterns, such as Dutch, Tortoiseshell, Himalayan and many others. "Skinny" is the term used for hairless guinea pigs to describe the illusion of their visually thinner appearance, or coloquially referring to the exposed skin of the animal. The modern Skinny Pig breed originated with a cross between haired guinea pigs and a hairless lab strain. The hairless strain that it is most likely related to was a spontaneous genetic mutation that was first identified at Montreal's Armand Frappier Institute in 1978, in a colony of Hartley lab guinea pigs. In 1982 they were sent to Charles River Laboratories to be bred for laboratory use and are commonly used in dermatology studies today. They are an outbred strain that has an intact thymus and normal immune system.
Video Skinny pig
Unique traits
Hairless guinea pigs are not significantly physiologically different than regular haired guinea pigs, although they need to eat more to maintain body heat. The optimal temperature range for a hairless guinea pig is 75 to 79 °F (24 to 26 °C), which is slightly higher than the optimal temperature range for the haired guinea pig.
Their sensitive skin has very much the same appearance as human skin, but has the same needs as normal guinea pig skin. Exposed skin is vulnerable to sunburn, other injuries and fungal infections unless precautions are taken. Skinny pigs should be housed indoors and they are usually kept with nesting materials such as a blanket or cloth bag for heat conservation. The breeding protocol for Skinny pigs require out crossing to haired carriers at least every other generation. This is an important step in the breeding process, which makes them a poor choice for novice breeders. Skinny pigs are born nearly hairless and most maintain the same level of hair through their life.
"Werewolf" is a slang term for skinny pigs with more hair than usual, extending up over the face and onto the neck and shoulders. Extremely hairy werewolf skinny pigs will have hair all the way down to their rump. Werewolves typically gain and lose fur based on hormone levels, especially hormones related to pregnancy.
Haired Skinny carriers remain haired (looking like a normal guinea pig) their entire life but carry the hairless gene. Even though the Skinny is a relatively new breed among pet owners and cavy fanciers, it is gaining popularity in Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia as well as in the United States where it was introduced into the pet trade in the mid-to-late 1990s.
Maps Skinny pig
See also
- Nude mouse
- Naked mole rat
- Guinea pig breed
Notes
References
- http://www.jle.com/en/revues/medecine/ejd/e-docs/00/01/8A/21/article.md
- http://www.criver.com/products-services/basic-research/find-a-model/iaf-hairless-guinea-pig-(1)
- http://netvet.wustl.edu/species/guinea/guinpig.txt
- http://www.hillary.net/school/lab_animal/labanimal.lec.11.03.98
- http://www.guinealynx.info/records/viewtopic.php?t=43
External links
- guinealynx.info
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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