2 young hairless guinea pig sows'Happy Hairless Cavies'

Flintshire, North Wales, UK

Email: anne.cavies@googlemail.com

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All content of this website is Copyright Happyhairlesscavies 2011

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Hairless Guinea Pigs, Lakeland or Gene Carrier Guinea Pigs

 

 

Welcome to Happy Hairless Cavies

I am Anne from North Wales, I am a hobby breeder of Hairless Guinea Pigs. They are also known as 'Skinny Guinea Pigs' thoughPair of 3 day old hairless guinea pigs aka skinny guinea pigs some people just call them 'Skinny pigs'. My purpose is to increase awareness and to improve this very special breed. Cavies is the latin name for guinea pigs. They were given this name because their natural habitat is in the caves of South America. This breed is rarely completely hairless as they do have tough wiry fur on their heads, faces and feet. Completely hairless guinea pigs are called Baldwins.

 

I got my first Hairless Guinea Pig (Tulip) in Feb 2009 who was also my first breeding sow, soon followed by a pair of 'Hairless Gene Carriers', also known as 'Lakelands'.  Since then I have had several different sows and boars and am constantly trying to introduce as much new blood into my breeding lines to avoid in-breeding. I started breeding hairless guinea pigs in May 2009 and I had my first litter on 30th June to Lattifa, a Lakeland sow. Since then I have had many litters but am very careful to rest my sows for at least 6 months between litters and they are only allowed 3 litters at the very most before they are pensioned off!

Here is Alvin, a Chocolate Dalmatian Baldwin Boar who is one of my newer arrivals:

Alvin, a chocolate dalmatian baldwin boar

Chocolate Dalmation Baldwin Boar, Alvin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here he is again with Natasha, a Baldwin Gene Carrier Sow. The picture to the right is of Blackberry, a Black Skinny Boar.

Alvin with Natasha

Blackberry, a pure black skinny boar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of my litters which was born in 2011 to Velvet - don't you just love all those little wrinkles!

Litter of 3 hairless guinea pigs at 1 day

Hairless guinea pig litter at 1 day old

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 day old litter of hairless or skinny guinea pigs

I have found that hairless guinea pigs make wonderful pets as they don't smell, bite or moult. They each have a character of their own and are less nervous and feistier than standard Guinea Pigs. Their skin has a soft velvety texture with a small amount of hair on their nose and feet. You either love them or hate them but I fell in love with them the first time I saw them on the internet.

 

 

 

The next pictures are of Elvis who is a Lemon Agouti Baldwin Carrier Boar. He is a cross between a Baldwin and a normal hairy guinea pig.

Elvis, a lemon agouti baldwin gene carrier boar

Elvis again

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just Elvis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hairless or skinny guinea pig sow

 

 

On the right is Amber, a red and white skinny sow when she was quite young. There is another picture  lower down on this page of her feeding her litter of skinny guinea pigs.

 

 

Rupert, a young hairless guinea pig boar.

 

 

On the left is Rupert, one of my hairless guinea pig boars. He is a fine healthy young boar.

 

 

 

 

Next is Mum, a skinny or hairless guinea pig sow with three of her hairless babies (born Sept 2011) and a picture of two of the babies by themselves.

Hairless guinea pig sow with three baby hairless guinea pigs

2 skinny or hairless guinea pig babies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Natasha, a Pure Black Baldwin 'Carrier' sow.

Natasha, a pure black baldwin or carrier guinea pig sow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next is Precious, a Golden Skinny Sow. Then on the right its Violet, a Tri-colour Skinny Sow (Rupert's daughter!).

Precious, a golden skinny sow

Violet, a tri-colour skinny sow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next its Willow Tree who is a Lilac Skinny Boar, firstly by himself and then with Precious.

Willow Tree, a Lilac Skinny Boar

Willow Tree and Precious

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Amber and Shirtless's recent litter (April 2011), when they were all just a few days old and all doing well. There are some pictures of them by themselves and some with their mum in their cage while she is having a munch on a nice fresh tomato!

New litter of hairless guinea pigs at just a few days old with their mother

New litter of skinny or hairless guinea pigs at just a few days

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Young hairless guinea pig

New litter of hairless guinea pigs with their mum who is chomping away on fresh tomato!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New litter of hairless guinea pigs, only 3 days old!

  On the left is a litter of Tulip and Jack's that were born in August 2010. The photograph was taken when they were just a few days old. 2 boys and 2 girls and they are all doing well. Aren't they gorgeous!

 

 

 

 

  LItter of 4 young hairless guinea pigs feeding from their mother

Here they are again cuddling up to their mother Tulip. They were a little older in this picture and all doing very well.

 

 

 

                                                                           

                                 Amber, a hairless guinea pig sow feeding her young litter                                

On the left is Amber feeding her litter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next series of pictures are of a litter which were born in the middle of October 2010. They were about 3 weeks old when these pictures were taken. The first picture is of all four in a row on my window sill and the second picture is of them in their cage with their mother Honey, all munching away!

Young litter of hairless guinea pigs

Hairless guinea pig mother with litter in cage having a good feed

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please remember that all images and text in this site are copyright and whilst I am happy for you to view them they cannot be re-published in any form whatsoever without my permission.

 

Lakeland or Skinny Carrier Guinea Pigs

Lakeland or skinny carrier guinea pigs carry the 'hairless guinea pig' gene in their DNA which they have inherited from their parentage. This gene has nothing to do with genetic modification but is a naturally occurring gene that on a few very rare occasions turns up quite naturally in guinea pigs. By selective breeding these rare natural occurring hairless guinea pigs have been developed into the 'hairless guinea pig breed'. Lakelands (sometimes known as carriers) are very important because they can be used to breed hairless or skinny guinea pigs by mating them with a skinny guinea pig. This makes them a means of introducing a wider gene pool into the hairless guinea pig breed and lessens the problems of in-breeding sometimes found in new breeds. Sometimes Lakelands will produce a hairless guinea pig baby even when mated with an ordinary guinea pig!

 

Lakeland sow, a cross between a hairless and normal guinea pig

 

On the left is Candy, a 'Lakeland' or 'Skinny Gene Carrier' guinea pig sow, she looks just like an ordinary guinea pig doesn't she!

 

 

 

 

I am very much against the in-breeding of hairless guinea pigs!

Honey, a 'Werewolf' skinny or hairless guinea pig sow

 

On the right is Honey, who is classed as a 'Werewolf' skinny because she has a little more hair compared to normal skinny guinea pigs.

 

Below you can see her with her tricolour young litter, born in October 2010.

 

 

Skinny Werewolf sow Honey with young litter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Difference between Skinnies and Baldwins

There are two breeds of cavies with no hair, ‘Baldwins’ and ‘Skinnies’. Just to confuse things, Skinnies are also known as ‘Hairless Guinea Pigs’. But don’t be worried as neither breed is ‘skinless’, just hairless (or at least very little hair). ‘Baldwins’ and ‘Skinnies’ are two quite separate breeds of guinea pigs with some different genes.

Skinny Guinea Pigs (also known as Hairless Guinea Pigs)

The breeding of skinny guinea pigs goes back to the use of guinea pigs for the testing of all sorts of different make-up and hand creams (ie. dermatological testing). The testing labs involved wanted hair-free guinea pigs for these tests and developed the REW breed (Red Eyed Whites, also known as Albinos). I guess they must have been the result of some very selective breeding of a naturally occurring mutant (but not the same mutant as in Baldwins, see below).  Nobody seems to quite know how, but some of these REW’s found their way out of the labs. Maybe some workers took a few home because they were so cute, I know I would have!
Thankfully finding a breeder that will supply Skinnies is getting a lot easier as they spread in popularity. There are even rumours of them appearing in a few specialist pet shops, though personally I don’t approve of this as it breaks the bond between breeder and new owner which helps ensure a suitable new home for them. At the moment although the supply is getting a lot easier, for most new owners a bit of travelling will usually be involved to collect them (and most breeders much prefer to hand them over in person). When this is totally impractical there are a few trustworthy specialist pet couriers that can be used but this can work out quite expensive!
If you mate a skinny sow with a skinny boar then all of the litter will be Skinnies. Now, although we call this breed ‘hairless guinea pigs’ they do grow just a little hair as they become adults. The amount can vary quite a bit depending upon which skinny lines are being bred. At the moment the most desirable hair is a tuft on the nose, just a little by the ears and some on the feet.

Surprisingly, some Skinnies known as Werewolf Skinnies can have a completely hairy face, shoulders and parts of its body. With some sows, the amount of hair varies during their ovulation cycle and when pregnant they may lose almost all their hair. This is quite normal for the skinny breed and nothing to worry about.
 


Baldwins

Baldwins, however are a natural mutant and their history is more reliably known than that of Skinnies. The story goes that a breeder (Carrol Miller) who was breeding ‘White Crested’ guinea pigs noticed that in one litter one of them had lost all of its hair when only a few weeks old. She was curious to see if this could be replicated and so then once it had grown into an adult she started breeding back to its white crested family to produce more babies which also lost their hair after a few weeks. This was the start of the Baldwin guinea pigs. I guess she must have come up with the name herself? I don’t know so please get in contact if you do!
Now, the important difference between Skinnies and Baldwins is that Baldwins are born with hair and shed the hair after 2 to 4 weeks but Skinnies are born with no hair at all and grow a little hair as they become adults. When Baldwins shed their hair they lose absolutely all of it, even their whiskers and it never grows back. With zero hair their skin is almost rubber like and quite squishy and very wrinkly. In fact, totally adorable! The problem is that Baldwins are still very rare and not easily available in the UK and many other parts of the world at the moment but hopefully this will change.

So you see, ‘Skinny’ (hairless) and ‘Baldwin’ guinea pigs have quite different origins and are very different breeds. If you mate a Skinny with a Baldwin you won’t get hairless guinea pigs but hairy ones! But both breeds are still guinea pigs with little or no hair. They still have that wonderful guinea pig personality and without so much hair their personality is so much more on display.
 

 

More Pictures

You can find lots more pictures of my hairless and lakeland guinea pigs on the 'Gallery' page

 


        Happy Hairless Cavies, Flintshire, North Wales, UK

       Email: anne.cavies@googlemail.com

Copyright - All images and text in this website are Copyright Happyhairlesscavies 2011 and cannot be re-published in any form without the permission of Happyhairlesscavies.