CAVIES OR GUINEA-PIGS 37 



broader-backed. It is rather delicate in constitution and 

 should not be exposed to cold or dampness. The long, soft 

 hair has a tendency to retain moisture, and if it is allowed 

 to remain in this condition, will have a serious effect on 

 the health of the specimen. 



Because of the tendency to gnaw one another's hair, 

 Peruvians cannot be kept together. For this reason, those 

 which are used in the breeding-pen should be at least partly 

 clipped. 



So much care and attention are required to keep a high- 

 class exhibition specimen in show condition that few care 

 to undertake it, or are successful in the enterprise. 



When born, the coat is comparatively short, and divided 

 into rosettes after the fashion of the Abyssinian, which 

 seems to indicate an origin from this breed. But the hair 

 is always soft and silky, and constantly increasing in length, 

 so that at about six months old it is fully developed. 



To keep this wonderful coat free from snarls and curls 

 is the cause of much labor on the part of the owner. It 

 should be brushed daily with a soft brush, the stroking 

 beginning at the head. After all tangles have been smoothed 

 out, the long tresses, in the case of exhibition specimens, is 

 folded — not rolled — in papers, in such a way that it cannot 

 drag on the floor or be soiled in any way. 



Peruvians should be bedded with straw cut in short 

 lengths, and hay furnished in a rack, as sawdust and seed- 

 heads do not get on well with silky hair. 



As with the Abyssinians, color has been neglected, and 

 most Peruvians are decidedly nondescript in this respect. 

 Good self whites are occasionally seen, however, and per- 

 haps some time we may have more Peruvians of other 

 attractive colors. 



