General Cuy Showdown

Awh! As a cuy owner myself I think this is a good idea. Let us know who the biggest cuy is!

Interesting. Cuy are also quite prevalent in Oregon, too. I just got three males from a Petsmart up here a couple weeks ago and a few months before that there were several at a Petsmart a few miles from me. The same breeder/supplier who stocks many of California's Petcos also sells to Petsmarts up here, too.

I've had several over the years, the largest weighing 7.5 lbs (sadly, he did not live long). I have such an affinity for them, but their entire lives seem so sad to me because they are so afraid of so many things all the time. Even with extensive handling and work, they are often just seemingly terrorized by the simplest things ... I can't imagine who thought it was a good idea to breed them into what is supposed to be a "pet" market. They are also snarky, snippy pigs as cagemates in many cases so they can be hard to pair up. Sad!

My profile pic is my favorite pig of all time, a cuy named Pigfoot, who is a senior around 6 now and his "senior" weight is down to 5.5 lbs.

Very cool! I think one of my piggies might be a cuy. How much i know, she is about 5 months and is already double bigger than her cagemate, who is almost the same age. She is also much more shy and squeels, when I pick her up (unless I pick her up in a hidey or a bag), but she is getting a bit more tame, although slowly. And she looks very similar to the one on your t-shirt.

What a unique event! Please let us know how it goes.

Here is a video of the Cuy Show down, I would post my video but found this video to be 150% better then mine.
@<b><a href="https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/member.php?u=31098" target="_blank">PiggleLove2013</a></b> @<b><a href="https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/member.php?u=24349" target="_blank">Agrimony</a></b> @<b><a href="https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/member.php?u=35108" target="_blank">Easefirst</a></b> @<b><a href="https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/member.php?u=7434" target="_blank">Paula</a></b>

[video]https://youtu.be/_Bfst78gXY4[/video]

Great! Thanks for posting that.

I find cuys fascinating, but from what I've read they're almost impossible to tame and develop a relationship with in the same way one can with a "normal" cavy because the prey animal mentality is even more deeply ingrained. Is that true?

@Dashmo, that is true. They're very skittish and incredibly fast and strong. They do NOT make good pets.

Dashmo said:

I find cuys fascinating, but from what I've read they're almost impossible to tame and develop a relationship with in the same way one can with a "normal" cavy because the prey animal mentality is even more deeply ingrained. Is that true?

Click to expand...

I can't talk from experience because I've never had a Cuy before, but their natural temperament is skittish and wild. They do not make great pets for first time owners, but for more experience guinea pig owners who are willing to patience with them.

Are they trainable? According to my rescue...they are. It takes a lot of work and patience training cuys which the rescue is doing on a daily basis. They also have shorter lifespans.

The two posted on video are tamed (because of training). The rescue has a cuy mascot which is very tamed, but they put a lot effort to train him.

There's anecdotal evidence that they don't live nearly as long as regular pigs. I remember reading somewhere that the oldest recorded age for a cuy is about four.

I have one big guy who is nearly 6, I've had him more than 5 years now. He is pretty calm with me because probably he realizes I'm not going to eat him after all this time. Initially he was wild but now he's an old man and about the sweetest senior pig I've ever had. I have others who are a bit frightening in their panic and terror.

I think the majority of those we're finding in pet stores are a mix of actual cuy and our regular pet pigs and that might mean longer life spans and slightly smaller size for these guys.

I've also recently learned there's a breeder here in OR that has imported some cuy pigs from South America and breeding and selling them as "Peru Giants" mainly to folks who want to use them as meat for small homesteading projects but also there are some buying them as pets and there seems to be quite a lot of demand for them so we'll be seeing them all over the country in no time, I'm sure.

Ok so this girl is sitting here going "What is a Cuy?" so off to Google I go... The first images they are all on plates... NICE, I should have just further read the comments here before I traumatized myself. So I have ask, are they GPs but just bred actually for consumption?

AnnikasMommy said:

Ok so this girl is sitting here going "What is a Cuy?" so off to Google I go... The first images they are all on plates... NICE, I should have just further read the comments here before I traumatized myself. So I have ask, are they GPs but just bred actually for consumption?

Click to expand...

Yes. Just like cows and pigs and chickens in this country, only much more sustainable and with much less impact on the earth.

Thank you @Paula I learn something new every day. BTW @CavieGuy I LOVE LOVE LOVE the shirt!!!

I contacted the lady at this rescue about my guinea pig Bear i sent her his measurements and pictures and she said that he is definitely half cuy!!!!! She also said that they have seen dalmatian full cuys in CA, so his coloring has nothing to do with him being a cuy or not. I was super surprised that he was half, i had my suspicions but i thought he was just big.... She said that half cuys are more and more common now. She was also surprised that i got him in Oregon. This is him if your curious....lol

If they're a rescue and presumably taking in rescue pigs, I don't know how she could be certain any pig is "full" anything, cuy or not, and I wonder if they'd consider some of my chunky boys who are 3.5-4 lbs cuys too just based on their size. Those in South America are specifically red and white so that (disturbing as this is) their skin is lighter and more appealing when they're served as meat. As for the surprise on them being in Oregon, the big pigs have been in Oregon for a while now, as I mentioned I have had one over five years and have had and have several others too. I also know they are as far north as Seattle and like I said in a previous post, with the breeder here in OR shipping them out all over the country now, within a year or two, I think we'll be seeing them all over the country, not just the west coast.

For those who have Cuys, can you please fill this out:

https://www.laguineapigrescue.com/cuy-reports-and-sightings.html

My rescue is tracking where they are being sold and trying to stop PetSmart and PetCo from selling them.

Our rescue has taken in quite a few cuy over the past four years. Most are very skittish and don't make cuddly pets.

One of of our most recent cuy to arrive is Maxwell. He weighs in at over 6 pounds and has totally changed my mind of what they're capable of.. He's a total sweetheart and even sits up on his back legs to beg for treats. He's not crazy about being picked up but I don't blame him because it's pretty awkward picking up a 6 pound piggy. Once in your lap, he's a very cuddly boy. And he's been extremely gentle with Wayne, our piggy who had both eyes removed to glaucoma.

just to remind me though that he's the exception and not the rule, our most recent arrival is a very skittish pregnant girl who I think is at least part cuy. We'll see when she's done growing.

The Southern California rescues have been doing a great job with the cuy and their issues. They deserve a out of praise for trying help address the problem instead of ignoring it.

I am not quite sure, that my Lola Ease is a cuy, she is about 6 months old, and she weighs 3 pounds and 5 ounces (my other one Queenie Joy at about the same age weighs 2 pounds and 1 ounce.) However Lola is much longer too and she has much larger facial features. She has very similar markings to Hercules. And I got her from craigslist (those people had them for 2 months, and they got them from other people, who most likely bought them from the store. It wouldn't be easy to track down. How long do piggies grow? Maybe she is also a mix of the cuy with regular piggies?