Guinea Pigs and Vitamin C

Updated on 11/17/15, Originally posted on 11/5/11

Bible Verse: Genesis 2:19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.

Note that God told Adam to name all the animals.  Now that was probably a big job, but it might not have been as big of a job as you might think.  Today there are a lot of variations within a kind of animal.  For example look at the different breeds of Guinea Pigs we see today.  Some have short hair (Short Haired Breed), some long hair (Sheltie or Silkie Breed), some have fur shaped in whorls (Abyssinian Breed) and some have no hair (Skinny Breed).  Back at the beginning of the world, there were not all these breeds of Guinea Pigs that we see today.  Over a short period of time Guinea Pigs have past on certain genetics and even lost some genetics when breeding, thus changing its appearance, but they are all still rodents and they have not and can not turn into fish or birds.  The same thing can be said about dogs and cats.  So in other words Adam did not have as many animals to name that we have today (he did not have to name all the breeds of Guinea Pigs).  Keep in mind that this is not evolution!  Evolution says that “animals turn into other animals by gaining new genetic information”.  Here we are talking about animals losing genetic information such as the hairless Guinea Pig losing its hair.  Also remember that an animal’s DNA is very complex. Animals pass things down to the next generation, even things that did not physically show up on the outside of the previous animal, but yet this DNA can show up on the outside of an animal in the next generation. This information was already in the DNA of the previous animal (the next generation did not gain new information, it was already there from the previous generation).  All information was stored inside the DNA of each animal at the time of creation.  The hairless Guinea Pig looks very different from other Guinea Pigs but it is still a Guinea Pig; it’s not a reptile, bird, or fish.  Dogs are dogs and cats are cats.  There are variations within a kind of animal and that is why we see such a large variety of features in Guinea Pigs and many other animals.  God is so amazing with the way he designed animals with such complexity!!  Go to these link and watch the videos titled Evolution Refuted  and Rapid Speciation.

 

Creature Tip:  Some animals are able to produce their own Vitamin C internally. The Guinea Pig (Cavia porcellus) also know as the Cavy, cannot synthesize Vitamin C.  It’s likely that at one time someplace along the way of breeding, Guinea Pigs lost the information in there DNA on how to synthesize Vitamin C. Guinea Pigs need Vitamin C to survive. Because of this, the Guinea Pig must have a constant supply of Vitamin C in its diet to prevent scurvy.  Guinea Pigs are herbivores so they can get Vitamin C from fresh fruits and veggies.

You can also buy vitamin drops to add in your Guinea Pig’s water to ensure he or she is getting enough Vitamin C.  If you chose to add Vitamin C drops to your Guinea Pig’s water, it will need to be changed daily.  Vitamin C is relatively an unstable compound.

Some commercial Guinea Pig foods have Vitamin C added into them.  But remember that Vitamin C in unstable and is only good for a short time. When it is placed into a commercial Guinea Pig diet, it is only stable for a short time.  After about 1-2 months the food will lose its Vitamin C.  Keeping Guinea Pig food in a sealed container or in a refrigerator will help the Vitamin C last longer and the food will stay fresher.

Signs of scurvy may include poor appetite, swollen painful joints and chest, reluctant to move, and bleeding from the gums.  If you suspect your Guinea Pig has scurvy take him/her to the vet ASAP!  Scurry if left untreated can be fatal.