Your First Piggy- Picking the Variety

        After your pick the breed, you will want to pick a variety. Varieties don't make a very big difference in breeding or showing, but they do, of course, make the guinea pig look different.

Broken. Broken pigs have two or more colors in splotches. Any colors can be combined to create a broken piggy. Examples:

A Broken White and Orange Cavy

A Broken Beige and Lilac Cavy

A Broken Chocolate, Orange, and White Cavy

Self. Self piggies are completely one color. They can be any color. Examples:

A Self Red Cavy

A Self White Cavy

Agouti. Agouti cavies have an even ticking pattern of one tip color and one base color, and a belly band.

Solid. As far as I know, although I do not completely understand solids, solids are a lot like agoutis. However, solids do not have belly bands.

Tortoise Shell. Tortoise shell cavies are basically brokens with red and black patches. They have dark eyes.

Dalmatian. Dalmatians are white with spots of any recognized self color.

Dutch. Dutch are supposed to have a white background with any recognized color as the color for the markings. The requirements for Dutch are very specific, so they are hard to breed.

Himalayan. Himalayans are supposed to be white with markings on the nose, feet, and ears.

Tortoiseshell and White. TSWs are basically brokens with white, red, and black. Example:

A TSW Cavy

Tan. Tan pattern cavies have markings that are to be black, chocolate, blue, beige, or lilac.