American Crested Guinea Pig | An Ideal Pet Facts
American crested guinea pigs are small, friendly guinea pig breeds. Their amiable nature and facile need for care and grooming make them popular pet choices.
These guinea pigs are small and have short, soft hair. They can be identified by the single rosette of hair on top of their head. This rosette or whorl of hair is always in white color, and the rest of its body is of the same color, with no white spots or parts.
American crested guinea pig is also called white crested guinea pig due to the white crest on its head. Although it’s quite hard to breed them, people love these animals. They are also most suitable for beginner owners.
Let us learn some facts about these guinea pigs.
American Crested Guinea Pig: Basic Facts
American crested guinea pigs are also known as white-crested guinea pigs. They are suitable for people who don’t have much experience in handling pets or guinea pigs. This is because these guinea pigs have friendly nature and like being held by people.
Speaking of docile nature, there’s another guinea pig of similar nature. The guinea pig is Texel Guinea Pig | History and Lifestyle.
Apart from their warmhearted nature, they are also of low compliance. Since they don’t have long hair or furs like shelties or Peruvian guinea pigs, it’s easy to maintain them. They don’t have any special food preferences, so feeding them will also not be an issue.
These guinea pigs are always of one color. But they have a white crest on top of their head, by which they get differentiated from other guinea pigs. Having no other spots of white in the rest of its body, they are usually of a golden, brown, black, or reddish color.
They are small compared to other guinea pigs, being 8-10 inches. They weigh around 1.5-3 pounds. The average lifespan of these guinea pigs is around 4-6years, but with proper care, they can live up to 9-10 years.
English VS American Crested Guinea Pig
As mentioned before, the determining characteristic of these guinea pigs is their white rosette, and the rest of their body is of any color except white. Even so, they get confused with English-crested guinea pigs very often.
The chances of this happening are pretty common, as English crested guinea pigs look about the same size and have small, soft fur as American crested guinea pigs. So how can you tell the difference between these two types of guinea pigs?
English vested, a guinea pig’s crest or rosette of hair on its head is of the same color as the rest of its body. This is not the case when it comes to American or white crested guinea pigs, as their crest is always of white color.
American crested guinea may be of multiple colors; in that case, their crest should also have multiple colors.
Apart from these factors, American crested guinea pigs and English crested guinea pigs are almost the same guinea pigs.
American Crested Guinea Pig Breeding Issue And Crested Guinea Pigs
Producing an American crested guinea pig demands high demand. Due to this, they are very rare.
The condition of being an American-crested guinea pig is that it needs to be whole of one color with a white crest on top of its head. But even if two American crested guinea pigs were to mate, the chances of getting another American crested from them is one out of fifty. So it goes without saying that they are hard to find.
Most of the time, breeders end up with guinea pigs that have multiple color palettes or many white spots. And they end up getting called just normal crested guinea pigs.
Nevertheless, American crested guinea pigs are very popular as pets. The American crested usually gets used in shows, though very rarely. They also get adopted along with other crested guineas cause American crested or not they sure are very cute!
American Crested Guinea Pig As Pet
American crested or white crested guinea pigs can be called the idealist guinea pigs to have as pets at any stage. You can be a pro at pet keeping or a beginner, they are going to be perfect pets.
These guinea pigs, who were recognized by many countries and organizations like ARBA In 1974 are cute and adorable like any other guinea pig. They are small and have cute features. So you cannot help but fall in love with their presence.
They have soft, small fur that doesn’t need any grooming from the owner’s side. This is because the guinea themselves would clean up and only in special cases would require bathing. Along with regular nail cutting and special care with ears, their grooming is very non-hectic!
They are herbivore animals. So you won’t have to work hard to collect different food types. Apart from that, just give them a spacious cage, let them roam outside at times, and see how to contend these animals get!
No wonder these guinea pigs are perfect as pets. But you may be worried about general guinea pigs’ lifespan. You may check out the guide on “How Long Do Guinea Pigs Live? Is Guinea Pig The Right Pet For You?” for proper information.
Taking care of American Crested Guinea Pig
Cage
Most animals won’t like staying in a cage when it is dirty. So just like any other animal or guinea pig, this guinea pig crested would also need its cage to be cleaned. So cleaning their cage once or thrice a week is preferable.
They are active animals, so their cage should be big. This is important as pet guinea pigs would spend most of their time inside their cage. It would be better if they had two floors to avoid getting bored.
Empty Space
Guinea pigs are social animals. They would need time with nature to play and warm up every day. So don’t keep them in cages all the time, and let them out in open areas and inside your house.
Diet
Guinea pigs are herbivores. So, an American crested will have vegetables, twigs, grass, and clean water in its diet. It’s essential to provide them with three to four drops of vitamin C either with food or water every day, as guinea pigs cannot make vitamin C on their own.
They can also eat food palettes. So three meals daily following this simple diet is enough for your American guinea pigs.
Grooming
To be honest, there isn’t much to do in grooming American Crested guinea pigs. They have small fur which they clean themselves. But you may have to give them a bath if they get dirty in mud or something.
You can cut their fur or brush them if they get tangled. Apart from that, trimming nails once a month and taking special care of their ear is important. They are usually very healthy and don’t really get infected with diseases that much.
Defining Features Of The American Crested Guinea Pig
There are two things to consider in identifying an American crested guinea pig. Their body color and their crest.
American crested guinea pigs are small and have small fur. Their entire body has one-colored fur, except for their crest. The crest on top of their head is mostly white.
It is a must that these conditions match to be an American-crested guinea pig.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is an American crested guinea pig for sale?
Yes, the American crested guinea pig is for sale. They cost around 10-20 dollars depending on their type and quality.
2. What is the American crested guinea pig lifespan?
On average, American crested guinea pigs live for 4-6 years. But with proper care, they can easily live up to 9-10 years.
Wrapping Up
American crested guinea pigs are small and have easy-to-maintain fur, the perfect animal and guinea type for petting. Beginners can go for the american crested guinea pig for being easy to handle.
They are of friendly nature. Some even call them shy. Regardless, they are loved and desired by many.
It is definitely encouraged if you want to go for these guinea pigs to have as a pet. But before that, learning about their needs and characteristics will undoubtedly come in handy no matter how easy it is to handle them.
