Physiological characteristics of guinea pigs

Physiological characteristics of guinea pigs

The guinea pig is short and round, with a large head, large and bright eyes, round ears, split upper lip, short ears, short limbs, 4 toes in the forefoot, 3 toes in the hindfoot, and no outer tail. Many breeds are cultivated artificially, except for Angora guinea pigs with long hair, the body hair is short and shiny. Body hair is black, white, gray, brown, chocolate, etc., and there are also various markings.

1. Vitamin C cannot be synthesized in the body (liver and intestine), and the vitamin C required must come from feed. People, primates and guinea pigs lack enzymes to synthesize vitamin C, so when raising guinea pigs, it is necessary to add vitamin C to feed or feed fresh vegetables, when vitamin C deficiency occurs, one of the symptoms is hemiparalysis in the hindlimbs, especially in winter, vitamin C supply, the symptoms disappear.

2. The ear fossa canal is sensitive and convenient for hearing experiments. Guinea pigs are most sensitive to pure tone at 700pm / s, such as 2000 cycles / s audio frequency to observe the inner ear toxicity of neomycin.

3. It can tolerate hypoxia and resist hypoxia, which is 4 times stronger than mice and 2 times stronger than rats.

4. It is very sensitive to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Brucella, Leptospira, Brucella Maltese, diphtheria, Q fever virus, lymphocytic choroid plexus meningitis virus and so on.

5. Guinea pigs are easy to cause allergic reactions, and the "complement" in serology is made from guinea pig serum.

6. The thymus of the guinea pig is all in the neck, located between the angle of the mandible and the entrance of the chest, and there are two bright, yellowish, Sui-round and fully lobulated glands. The liver is divided into four main lobes and four lobules. The lung is divided into seven lobes, four right lobes and three left lobes.

7. The sexual cycle of guinea pigs is 16.5 (12-18) days, pregnancy 68 (62-72) days, lactation 21 days, litter size 3.5 (1-6), which is a year-round, multi-estrus animal with postpartum sexual cycle. Animal cycles can be divided into two categories: multiple cycles (multiple cycles in a year) and single cycle (one cycle in a year). Except for primates, there are obvious species and genus differences in the reproductive cycle of all mammals. Some animals, such as dogs, cats, pigs, horses and cattle, only have this periodic change in the reproductive season, and the reproductive organs are in a state of atrophy and rest in the rest of the time. however, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs and other animals show a round-trip cycle of sexual cycle throughout the year.

8. The normal body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, tidal volume, ventilation rate, oxygen consumption, blood pressure and red blood cell count of guinea pigs were 38.6 (37.8-39.5) ℃, 280 (200-360), 90 (69-104), 1.8 (1.0-3.9) ml, 16ml (10-28) / min, 75-120mmHg, 5.6 (4.5-7.0) million / (mm3), respectively. Hemoglobin 14.4 (11-16.5) g/100ml blood, total white blood cell 5000~6000mm3, platelet 116000 / mm3, plasma total protein 5.4 (5.0-5.6) g%, blood volume 6.4% of body weight, 32 pairs of chromosomes, life span 5-10 years.