Guinea pigs at their best for show
With his cavy Robbie is Zander Gillan, 10, of Christchurch, at the Guinea Pig Show in the Green Island Civic Hall yesterday. Photo: Gerard O'Brien
Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the prettiest guinea pig of them all?
The best groomed cavies from across Dunedin were judged on their appearance at the Guinea Pig Show at the Green Island Civic Hall yesterday.
Prizes were given to the guinea pigs with the prettiest eyes, the most wonderful whiskers and the biggest butt among other novelty classes.
Otago Cavy Club president Josh Wilson-Jones, 17, said about 100 guinea pigs were brought along to the show where they were judged according to breed standards set by the New Zealand Cavy Council.
Josh began looking after guinea pigs when he was 5 years old and started breeding them when he was 11.
He brought about 20 cavies to the show and had lost count of how many he had in total.
His favourite breed was the Black American Crested which he had developed from scratch himself.
He reached perfection with One in a Million , a pure black Claremont cavy with a circular white crest on its head.
Breeding and looking after the guinea pigs was an expensive hobby, he said.
Josh kept his in a purpose-built, well-insulated shed with heaters and air conditioning that he had built with money he collected doing chores and his grandparents' lawns.
Other breeds were judged on their specific traits at the show using a 100-point system.
Prizes available included rosettes, certificates, shampoo, hay and pellet samples.
mark.john@odt.co.nz
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