Guinea Pig Trivia
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This guinea pig trivia quiz has 46 free questions with answers and covers the small, loud, opinionated rodent that is neither a pig nor from Guinea. It runs from the Andes, where cavies were domesticated for food around 5000 BC and are still eaten by the tens of millions, to the Elizabethan court where they became exotic pets, to the laboratories that turned the animal's name into a synonym for test subject and used it to crack the mystery of scurvy. The easy questions ask what a wheek is, what pet cavies mostly eat and whether they can climb. The medium ones cover breeds (Abyssinian, Peruvian, skinny pig), lifespan, gestation, popcorning, the vitamin they cannot make and the country where keeping one alone is illegal. The hard ones want the wild ancestor, the Cusco painting with cuy on the table, the year the hairless mutation appeared and the Guinness record for age. Every answer has been checked against a reference encyclopaedia, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered.
30 of 46 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Guinea pigs were first domesticated, as food, in which part of the world?
The Andes of South America
The Andes of South America: they are still raised for meat there, and many rural families keep them at home or let them roam indoors and out.
Q 02Linny the Guinea Pig leads which Nick Jr. team of classroom animals on musical rescue missions?
The Wonder Pets
The Wonder Pets: the show grew out of two Linny shorts, animated by photographing a real baby guinea pig and moving the cut-up photos like paper dolls.
Q 03Which US president's children kept guinea pigs named Admiral Dewey and Bishop Doane at the White House?
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: his sons once took the family pony, Algonquin, up in the White House elevator to cheer up their sick brother Archie.
Q 04Like humans but unlike most mammals, guinea pigs cannot make which vitamin?
Vitamin C
Vitamin C: in 1907 two Norwegian doctors fed guinea pigs a grain diet to study beriberi and, by lucky accident, gave them scurvy instead.
Q 05What do startled groups of guinea pigs often do?
Scatter in all directions
Scatter in all directions: a panicked group stampedes at random, though a guinea pig may instead freeze in place for long periods.
Q 06What is the call a guinea pig makes when it expects food?
A wheek
A wheek: many pet guinea pigs learn to wheek whenever they hear a plastic bag rustle.
Q 07What is it called when a happily excited guinea pig hops repeatedly in the air?
Popcorning
Popcorning: young guinea pigs do it most, and they need enough room to exercise before they leap for joy.
Q 08In which country is it illegal to keep a single guinea pig without a companion?
Switzerland
Switzerland: when a pet loses its cage-mate, owners can rent a companion from a rent-a-guinea-pig service so they stay within the law.
Q 09Which comedian voiced the pet guinea pig in Eddie Murphy's 1998 film Dr. Dolittle?
Chris Rock
Chris Rock: in the film, Dolittle's long-dormant gift for talking with animals returns after he nearly runs over a dog.
Q 10What is the correct term for a baby guinea pig?
Pup
Pup: a mother guinea pig has only two nipples, yet she can readily raise a litter of two to four pups.
Q 11What is a male guinea pig called?
A boar
A boar: a mixed group should have only one intact boar, because males will fight over the sows.
Q 12Why do guinea pigs constantly gnaw on wood and other hard materials?
Their front teeth grow continuously
Their front teeth grow continuously: all their teeth keep growing, so without enough tough food to wear them down they overgrow, making eating painful.
Q 13What do guinea pigs do with fibre fermented in their caecum?
Expel it as soft pellets and eat them again
Q 21How do wild cavies, the guinea pig's closest relatives, usually find shelter?
Use burrows other animals dug
Use burrows other animals dug: they neither dig nor build nests themselves, and they also hide in rock crevices and tunnels through dense plants.
Q 22Which giant rodent shares the guinea pig's family, Caviidae?
Capybara
Capybara: this giant cousin has become a star in Japan, where zoos run hot spring baths for capybaras to soak in.
Q 23Which bedding do vets tell guinea pig owners to avoid?
Cedar shavings
Cedar shavings: their aromatic oils are believed to be harmful, so paper-based bedding is the safer choice.
Expel it as soft pellets and eat them again: guinea pigs usually eat these cecotropes straight from the anus.
Q 14What should make up the bulk of a pet guinea pig's diet?
Fresh grass hay such as timothy
Fresh grass hay such as timothy: vets say to offer it without limit, while too many pellets can bring on diarrhoea and painful gas.
Q 15Which foot condition can wire cage floors cause in guinea pigs?
Bumblefoot
Bumblefoot: the pressure sores can turn into deep infections that are hard to treat, so vets want solid floors covered with bedding.
Q 16By a 2004 estimate, roughly how many guinea pigs did Peruvians eat each year?
About 65 million
About 65 million: a Peruvian university has even exported extra-large guinea pigs bred for meat, hoping foreigners will try the dish.
Q 17Which city's cathedral has a Last Supper painting showing Christ and the disciples dining on guinea pig?
Cusco
Cusco: colonial painters there copied European prints but added local touches, so Marcos Zapata's disciples dine on roast guinea pig.
Q 18How do Peru's traditional healers use guinea pigs?
Rubbed on a sick person's body to diagnose illness
Rubbed on a sick person's body to diagnose illness: afterwards the healer often cuts the animal open and reads its organs.
Q 19The guinea pig breed with a coat full of rosettes, or cowlicks, is called what?
Abyssinian
Abyssinian: breeders avoid pairing two roan Abyssinians, because the gene behind the roan colouring can give their young eye and digestive defects.
Q 20The 'skinny pig' is a guinea pig strain that is what?
Almost hairless
Almost hairless: skinny pigs keep hair only on the muzzle, legs and feet, and they need a warmer room than furred guinea pigs.
Q 24Why are many antibiotics dangerous for guinea pigs?
Destroy gut bacteria
Destroy gut bacteria: guinea pigs rely on those microbes to digest plants, so the wrong drug can bring on diarrhoea and even death.
Q 25As prey animals, what survival instinct makes guinea pigs tricky patients for vets?
They mask pain and signs of illness
They mask pain and signs of illness: a guinea pig can look normal until it is very sick, so weight loss or a hunched posture calls for a vet.
Q 26How good are guinea pigs at climbing?
Poor; most can only hop small obstacles
Poor; most can only hop small obstacles: they are not good jumpers either, so a cage often needs no lid unless other pets are around.
Q 27What happens to the guinea pigs in Ellis Parker Butler's 'Pigs Is Pigs'?
They multiply
They multiply: while officials argue over whether guinea pigs should ship at the livestock rate, the pair breed into more than four thousand.
Q 28Which actor voices Darwin, leader of the secret-agent guinea pigs, in Disney's G-Force (2009)?
Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell: Darwin believes his team was genetically engineered, until he learns they are ordinary animals and he was simply bought from a pet shop.
Q 29At which times of day are guinea pigs naturally most active?
Dawn and dusk
Dawn and dusk: in human care, though, many guinea pigs are active during the daytime too.
Q 30Which animated series had costumed guinea pigs attack the world?
South Park
South Park: the monsters were real guinea pigs in costumes, and Randy Marsh's shaky home-video footage spoofs Cloverfield.