Guinea pigs, or cavies, come in a wide variety of breeds that differ in coat color, pattern, texture, and length. The document describes over 20 breeds of guinea pig categorized by coat type (short-haired, long-haired, rough-coated, etc). Each breed's distinctive physical characteristics and coat patterns are defined, such as the American Crested's single forehead rosette or the Teddy's short, dense coat. Potential health issues linked to certain coat varieties, like osteodystrophy in satin-coated pigs, are also noted. The extensive list shows the variety of guinea pig breeds cultivated through specialized breeding programs worldwide.

1. Guinea Pig Variations
By fantastic FURRIES

2. The Guinea Pig
The guinea pig (Cavia porcellus), also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the
genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea. They
originated in the Andes, and earlier studies based on biochemistry and hybridization suggested they are domesticated
descendants of a closely related species of cavy such as Cavia aperea, C. fulgida, or C. tschudii and, therefore, do not
exist naturally in the wild. Recent studies applying molecular markers,[3][4] in addition to studying the skull and
skeletal morphology of current and mummified animals, revealed that the ancestor is most likely Cavia tschudii.
The guinea pig plays an important role in the folk culture of many Indigenous South American groups, especially as a
food source, but also in folk medicine and in community religious ceremonies. Since the 1960s, efforts have been made
to increase consumption of the animal outside South America.
In Western societies, the guinea pig has enjoyed widespread popularity as a household pet since its introduction by
European traders in the 16th century. Their docile nature and responsiveness to handling and feeding, and the relative
ease of caring for them, continue to make the guinea pig a popular pet. Organizations devoted to competitive breeding
of guinea pigs have been formed worldwide, and many specialized breeds of guinea pig, with varying coat colors and
compositions, are cultivated by breeders.
Biological experimentation on guinea pigs has been carried out since the 17th century. The animals were frequently
used as model organisms in the 19th and 20th centuries, resulting in the epithet "guinea pig" for a test subject, but
have since been largely replaced by other rodents such as mice and rats. They are still used in research, primarily as
models for human medical conditions such as juvenile diabetes, tuberculosis, scurvy, and pregnancy complications.

3. Colouration

4. Tri Colour
A Guinea Pig belted with three
different colours.

5. Self / Solid
A solid colour all over.

6. Tortoishell
A mixture of many colours.

7. Belted
A solid colour with a different colour
or shade belting it in the middle.

8. Masked
A body of colour with a normally white
‘masked’ face.

9. Speckled
Ticked cavies have black series hairs
with red seried ticking, each individual
hair has stripes of both a black and a
red series colour. In case a ticked cavy
also has the tortoiseshell pattern, the
red series patches are uniformly
coloured while the black series patch.
An agouti or argente cavy has a solid
coloured belly and is otherwise fully
ticked. Variations with black or
chocolate (with dark eyes) are called
agouti, and variations with beige, grey,
and lilac (with red eyes) are called
argente. Two common variations are
the golden agouti, with black and red,
and the silver agouti, with black and
white.

10. Brindle
A brindle cavy has intermixed hairs of
both black and red series colours
throughout their coats, with no
ticking. An ideal show brindle appears
uniformly coloured, with both series
appearing evenly all over.

11. Dutch
A Dutch cavy has a specific white
pattern: a blaze on the face, a wide
white band around the neck, chest,
and the belly, including the front
paws, and white tips on the hind feet.
The pattern is essentially the same as
the Dutch pattern in rabbits, and was
named after it.

12. Magpie
A tan cavy is an otherwise solid black,
with red ticking around the muzzle,
around the eyes, in spots above the
eyes, under the neck and the belly,
and sparsely on the lower sides. Otter
and fox cavies have yellow and white
ticking, respectively. Different shades
are named after the black series
shade, for instance black otter, lilac-
and-tan, and grey fox.

13. Roan and
Dalmation
A roan cavy has white hairs evenly
intermixed on their body, while a Dalmatian
cavy has a white body with coloured spots.
The latter is named after the spotted
Dalmatian dog, and is not actually from
Dalmatia. The head and the rump are mostly
coloured in both varieties. They are caused
by the same gene, and whether a cavy
appears roan or Dalmatian is defined by
modifier factors. Many cavies have an
intermediate roan/Dalmatian pattern, and
these varieties are challenging to
successfully breed in show quality.
The roan/Dalmatian factor, sometimes
called the "lethal white gene" or simply
"lethal gene", is an incomplete dominant. It
is lethal when homozygous, resulting in full
white pups with varying combinations of
deafness, blindness, loss of smell, and
deformities. Some homozygous pups may
survive for some time, while others die soon
after birth if not euthanised. Most
roan/Dalmatian breeders breed
roan/Dalmatian solely to non-carriers to
avoid the 50% risk of homozygous pups for
breeding carrier to carrier.
While the roan/Dalmatian factor is
consistently visible in heterozygous carriers
that do not have other factors producing
white hair, the pattern can be masked by
extreme dilution (resulting in full white
colouration) or extreme white spotting.

14. Himalayan
The Himalayan is the Siamese cat of
the guinea pig world! It is a pointed
pig, which means that it has a white
body, with darker highlights (usually
black or brown) on the ears, nose and
feet. The pads of the feet, and toenails
should also be dark. Himalayans are
born white and the colour on the
extremities develops during the first
few weeks of age. In hot weather or in
bright sunlight the colour of the points
may fade. It is thought that sudden
frights or shock, fighting or illness may
also cause the points to fade. The eyes
of a Himalayan are bold and pink.

15. Colours

16. Lilac

17. Rusty

18. Grey

19. White

20. Black

21. Brown

22. Chocolate

23. Bay

24. Black

25. Blonde

26. Fur Textures

27. Crowned
A Guinea Pig with a crown or rosette.

28. Teddy
A slightly frazzled look and a crispy
texture.

29. Swirled
A Guinea Pig with many rosettes all
over their body. And can come in all
colours and textures including satin.

30. Long Haired
A long silky feel.

31. Frazzled
Again like the teddy Guinea Pig it has a
frazzled texture but has longer hair.

32. Eye Colour

33. Red eyes

34. Brown Eyes

35. Blue eyes

36. Species

37. Merino
The Merino resembles the Coronet,
but has curly hair.

38. Lunkarya
The Lunkarya, sometimes Lunk for
short, is a new breed group developed
first in Sweden, and mainly seen in the
Nordic countries. It has a long, rough,
curly coat that should be very dense
and full. The group has three breed
variations: the Lunkarya Peruvian
(with a prominent forelock), the
Lunkarya Sheltie (with the hair flowing
back over the body), and the Lunkarya
Coronet (with a crest on the
forehead).
It was initially described as a dominant
rex Peruvian, but later was named
Lunkarya, a variation of the last name
of breed's creator Lundqvist.

39. Sheba (the
mini yak)
The Sheba is a long haired, rosetted
cavy, characterized by mutton chop
whiskers, with frontal, presented to
one side of the face, and in a naturally
tousled appearance. They have been
recognized as a cavy breed in
Australia. Their breed standard was
developed by Wynne Eecen of Sydney
New South Wales, in the 1970s, and
was published in her book Pigs Isn't
Pigs.[9] Often referred to as the "Bad
Hair Day" Cavy.

40. Alpaca
The Alpaca resembles a Peruvian with
a "forelock", but it has curly coat. It is
a relatively rare breed.

41. Silkie
A Silkie has long, smooth
coat that flows back over
the body. A Silkie must
never have any rosettes or
any hair growing in a
direction towards its face.
Its coat should not have a
part. When viewed from
above, a Silkie and its coat
forms a teardrop shape.
The coat is generally
accepted to have a
somewhat longer sweep of
hair in the rear.

42. Peruvian
The Peruvian resembles the
Silkie with its smooth coat,
but has a prominent
"forelock" resulting from a
portion of its coat on the
head and the neck growing
forward on the body.

43. Coronet
The Coronet resembles the
Silkie with its smooth coat
growing backwards over its
body, but it has a crest on
its forehead. Like with the
short-coated crested
breeds, this crest should
be symmetrical with a tight
centre and no sticking
hairs.

44. Texel
A Texel has a long coat flowing back
over the body like with a Silkie's, with
the difference that the coat is curly.
Originating from England, the Texel
was officially recognized as a breed by
the ACBA in 1998.[8] According to the
US standard, the curls should ideally
be tightly wound corkscrew curls and
should cover the entire body, including
the stomach. A lengthwise part in the
coat is acceptable. However, the
original standard from England, where
the breed originated, states, that the
Texel is the rexoid equivalent of the
Sheltie, and therefor, the Texel should
be combed out the same way you
would comb out a sheltie, though still
show a rexoid appearance.

45. Rough Coated
Breeds

46. Abyssinian
The Abyssinian has a short, rough coat
with anywhere from 6-8 tufts rosettes on
its shoulders, sides, back, and backside.
The derivation of the breed's name is
unknown, but does not connote an origin
in the geographical region of Abyssinia
(present day Ethiopia).
The ideal Abyssinian's rosettes are all
well-formed: fully formed with tight
centres without hairs sticking out. They
should be located symmetrically, one on
each shoulder, four across the back, one
on each of the hips, and two on the
rump. The ridges between two rosettes
should ideally stand rigidly straight,
without breaking down onto either side
even if pressed down lightly with the
palm of a hand. All colours and patterns
are accepted, although some
colourations are much more common
than others.

47. Teddy
A Teddy has a short, rough, very dense
and springy coat that stands up all
over the body. The hair typically grows
to a moderate length and generally
makes this breed resemble a soft toy
more than any other. Another unique
feature of the Teddies in the USA is
the relatively long hair coating their
bellies. The Teddy resembles the Rex
but the similar coats of the two breeds
are result from separate genetic
factors.

48. Rex
A Rex has short, rough hair that stands
on end all over the body. The hair
should be of uniform length and
texture all over, and no more than 1⁄2
inch (1 1⁄4 cm) in length, preferably
shorter. The Rex resembles the Teddy
but the similar coats of the two breeds
are result from separate genetic
factors.

49. Smooth Coated
Breeds

50. American
White Crested
The American Crested, referred
to simply as the Crested by
ACBA and as the White Crested
by ANCC, closely resembles the
English Crested, in having a
single rosette on the forehead.
The breed standards and ideals
are nearly identical, with the
exception that an American
Crested cavy's crest should be
completely of a color different
from the rest of the animal.
Most usually the crest is white,
as necessitated by the ACBA
standard. No other white hair
should be present in the
animal. By this standard,
American Cresteds are not bred
in colourations that have white
anywhere on the body, such as
Dutch, roan, and Dalmatian.
They are the most popular
breed of guinea pigs

51. American Satin
American or English Satin.
This breed of guinea pig is
the most common one
that you will find. The
English cavy has a smooth
and short coat that lies
sleek and flat across its
body. It can come in
various colours and various
colour combinations.
Another outstanding
feature of this cavy is the
Roman nose, which is wide
and curvy.

52. Satin Coat
Variants
The satin is a variety with a
characteristic satin-like, almost
glassy sheen to its coat like its
name suggests. The genetic
factor for satin coat is recessive
and found in all types of coat,
long, rough, curly and short.
Satin coat is linked to
Osteodystrophy (OD), an
incurable and potentially
painful metabolic disease of the
bones. OD symptoms begin
showing at around 12 to 18
months, including wobbly gait,
problems with eating, and with
sows, parturition complications.
Due to animal welfare
concerns, some registries such
as the Swedish and Finnish
guinea pig associations, refuse
to register satin cavies or cavies
with a satin parent.

53. Ridgeback
The Ridgeback is a very common
breed with a smooth short coat,
with a lengthwise ridge of
standing hair on its back. The
ridge should ideally be short,
regular, straight and should look
like a mountain top . It should go
from the head to neck . Ridgeback
cavies as well as non-ridged
carriers of the genetic ridgeback
factor both have so called tufty
feet, with the hair on the hind
feet growing "the wrong way",
upwards on the leg. Ridgeback
cavies sometimes have rosettes
on the body, which is considered
a fault.
The Ridgeback is a recognized
breed in the UK and is show under
the guidance of the Rare Varieties
cavy club and is also recognized as
a Rare Variety in Sweden.

54. Short Hair
The Short Hair is a smooth,
short-haired cavy with a
rounded body and comes
in a variety of colours as
well as satin. This is the
most common and calmest
of all the guinea pigs.

55. English
Crested
Crested guinea pigs conform
to the Self colours, but have
a crest or rosette on their
forehead. Self Crested
guinea pigs have a crest the
same colour as their body
colour, whereas American
Crested have a crest that is a
different colour to their
body colour, commonly a
white crest on a solid
coloured body. The crested
gene is dominant to non-
crested, so that a smooth
guinea pig bred from a
crested parent cannot be a
crested carrier.

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