A Skinny pig is a hairless Guinea pig. Skinny pigs typically have hair on their paws and at the crowns of their heads, but are nude over the remainder of their bodies. The modern skinny pig breed was the result of a spontaneous genetic mutation in inbred laboratory strains from Hartley stock at the Eastman Kodak Company in 1979, and henceforth was deliberately reproduced by Charles River Laboratories in a strain that had an intact thymus.[1] It is unclear which laboratory strains became the foundation of the pet skinny pigs now common among owners and breeders.
-Wikipedia
It has recently come to our attention that a skinny pig that we sold had some heath complications following a neutering. Unfortunately the little guy did not make it. We of course offered a replacement for their lost baby, she accepted and the second time it was a girl pup so she would not have to go under the knife. Of the twenty or so babies we have sold this is the first time we have had problems, but we do want to be upfront about the issue. They do have a higher metabolism than a normal guinea pig, meaning heath issues can go south quicker than a normal guinea. Also, skinny pigs *may have a lower immune than the normal guinea pig. With this in mind, at the first sign of heath issues, or if they have to undergo any type of surgery we suggest a veterinarian supervised anti-biotic regiment. We have had very little problems with our skinnys after they reach adulthood. If they do have heath issues it is usually when they are younger, and we have learned that a quick vet trip and anti-biotic regiment usually solves these issues. But if you do have issues, not related to surgery, within the first year please let us know and we will resolve the issues. Your happiness and your pet’s wellness is our first concern.
Sincerely
Joe
*There are "immunodeficent" and "full immune" lines of skinny pigs bred in labs for different testing. They are unsure which lines made it to the pet trade. The breeder we received our skinnys from assured us they we full immune skinny pigs, but that they were “snuck” out of a lab, so I’m not 100% sure. They have been cross bred with normal guineas (i.e. they are not true albinos) so they should have normal guinea immune breed in.
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