Different Breeds of Guinea Pigs (A Breeders view)

maremma · Post » Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:13 pm

Now don't foget the part where I am completely genetics illiterate, especially with guinea pig genetics.

Did I understand correctly that the eye color comes from the same genes as the different hair colors or are they a completely different set of genes at work?

Where did Snowangel and Cuddler's blue eyes come from? Snowangel is all white and Cuddler is orange and white. Were they "suppose" to be black eyes but something "went wrong"? Most of my babies have black eyes, two have the pink eyes, Cocoa (lilac?) and Joey (white, cream and a seemingly very light lilac?) and of course two have blue eyes.

WHEEKness · Post » Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:13 pm

Salana, great explanation. Love it. Love piggy genetics. E, yes, the relationship between silver and golden agouti is very cool. I used to teach middle school genetics, and my pigs are definitely coming to school for the genetics unit next time I teach it.

salana · Post » Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:19 pm

I don't think anyone knows where the blue eyes come from. Or where Suzi's blue sclera (the whites of her eyes) come from.

JaneDoe · Post » Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:05 am

Suzi looks angelic.

rshevin · Post » Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:33 am

Now, I'm sure you've already done this salana, but does Suzi have any problems with her bones or with urinary calcium? Pubmed shows "blue sclera" to be associated strongly with the disease Osteogenesis Imperfecta in humans. I was just curious, had to check!

dellybean · Post » Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:53 am

Hi guys, sorry I've been MIA. I've been on vacation/camping/not around Internet. And I just switched jobs, so that's why my e-mail bounced back. I'll change it right now.

Based on Josephine's description, I think Wishes is a dilute agouti, though he has brownish/greenish hazel eyes; they're definitely not pink. I think he falls into the "beige" category of color. His belly band is a light cream color.

Most of my pictures of him can be found on this page: http://www.pbase.com/dellybean/guinea_pig

Here's a closeup of his eye when he was tiny: http://www.pbase.com/dellybean/image/73781255

You're welcome to use any pictures of him you'd like, Josephine.

salana · Post » Fri Aug 10, 2007 4:24 pm

Suzi has had small amounts of bladder calcium. It's interesting about the blue sclera being associated with bone problems. Mice with Einy-like problems and busted tfe3 genes on top of that, have terrible bone problems. Of course they found that out by breeding all these problems into the mice.

Josephine · Post » Fri Aug 10, 2007 4:29 pm

Thank you!

Evangeline · Post » Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:53 pm

Maremma-

Yes and no.

There is a Pink eye gene. That determines whether the pig has dark eyes (brown, grey, etc) or light eyes (pink). That Pink eye gene also has an effect on the dolution of colors.

For example, a pig that his red all over and has dark eyes will just be a self red. A pig that's red all over but who has pink eyes will be slightly different. The pink eye gene will dilute the red color to a more orange tint. That pig will be called a self orange.

And then there is the ruby eyes, which are dark but turn reddish in the light. When a pig has chocolate hair, his eyes are always ruby. That's also true for other colors.

So hair color and eye color really depend on one another.

TwoWhitePiggies · Post » Sat Aug 11, 2007 1:23 am

When a pig has chocolate hair, his eyes are always ruby.

That explains Widget's eyes!

briciolona · Post » Sat Aug 11, 2007 10:17 am

briciolona · Post » Sat Aug 11, 2007 11:07 am

This is Edwin, my friend's pig

I think He is an american satin, any other suggestion?

And this is Kaomi, Edwin's fiancee!