Satin guinea pig

[Newby]

After we lost one of our old boars, we managed to successfully bond our remaining boy with a new friend (via a rescue's bonding service). When I went to bring them home a few weeks ago I was struck by how much sheenier and silky our new boy's coat was.

I had a vague recollection from my childhood interest in hamsters that you could get satin varieties so didn't think too much of it.

I was randomly googling this afternoon and stumbled across satin syndrome so now I'm a bit concerned that this is something we might have to contend with in the future.

Does little Bruno look like a satin pig?

 

[Bill & Ted]

Oh Bruno is a handsome little man, I hope he hasn’t got the Satin gene. Although not all of them are affected Your vet can determine if he is a Satin by looking through a microscope of the hair which has a hollow shaft

this guide below has details of Satin syndrome

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...gs-picture-guide-to-common-pet-breeds.121399/

 

[fluffysal]

@Eriathwen is the forum satin expert. I have a satin boy, Mischievous Master Boris who is about a year old. It can be hard to tell from pictures but to me it looks like he has the distinctive ring of light round his nose. In real life it's pretty unmistakable once seen and especially obvious on a self. I try not to worry but keep an eye on him for any signs. He also gets a good check over at the vets regularly with his nail trim.

 

[Wiebke]

After we lost one of our old boars, we managed to successfully bond our remaining boy with a new friend (via a rescue's bonding service). When I went to bring them home a few weeks ago I was struck by how much sheenier and silky our new boy's coat was.

I had a vague recollection from my childhood interest in hamsters that you could get satin varieties so didn't think too much of it.

I was randomly googling this afternoon and stumbled across satin syndrome so now I'm a bit concerned that this is something we might have to contend with in the future.

Does little Bruno look like a satin pig?

Hi and welcome

We can unfortunately not tell from for sure your pictures; but he looks like a normal healthy guinea pig to me.

Satin guinea pigs have hollow hairs, which give them the really noticeable extra sparkly shine; so holding a hair under a microscope should clear that up.

If you want to compare the difference between normal healthy shiny coat and satin piggies, please have a look at the family picture in the satin chapter of our breeds guide; you will see that the sheen is truly on an entirely different level: What-breed-are-my-guinea-pigs? Picture-guide-to-common-pet-breeds-missing-photos-are-owned-by-members-we-cant-replace-them

PS: You may find our New Owners information collection very helpful since a lot has changed in the guinea pig world in the last decade. 15 years of literally tens of thousands of questions on this lively forum and owner practice reaching back as far as half a century have gone into our various guides. You may want to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read at need as you go along. With quite a few guides you pick up on different things at different levels of experience: Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners

 

[Newby]

Thanks everyone . Hopefully I've just got a case of the Dr Googles and he's just a shiny, happy pig.

He's settled in really well and has started to put on a bit of weight (rescue said he needed feeding up a bit) so fingers crossed he continues in good health. I wasn't sure how easy it would be to find Fudge a new mate, so it was a relief when they bonded so quickly.

Won't stop me reading up, though, just in case - it's always handy to know what to keep an eye out for.
@fluffysal Boris is gorgeous

 

[weepweeps]

Google is great. I use it all the time. But don’t believe everything

 

[Eriathwen]

I agree he looks like a normal piggy with a healthy shine to me too. Although osteodystrophy or satin syndrome can occur in normal coated piggies as unfortunately the satin gene is a gene that only has to be carried, not just expressed, to create issues. That being said, unless they're showing symptoms, all you can do is keep an eye on them for symptoms and love them while you have them hopefully you have nothing to worry about with your little man though.