Pampered Piggy Paddocks Caviary
Downsizing Our Herd
Texel Cavy Breed
Here at Pampered Piggy Paddocks Caviary we specialize in the Texel breed of cavy (guinea pig). Texels have a stocky body, short nose, round face, and a luxurious long curly coat.
The Long Coat gene [ll] on its own causes the beautiful long straight coats of Silkie (Sheltie) breed.
The Rex gene [rxrx] causes the springy, woolly, short coat of the Rex breed.
A Texel's signature coat—from loose curls to tight ringlets—arise from the interaction of these two recessive genes. Careful breeding and selection is necessary to produce the highest quality coat.
Lilacs
Lilac is the result of the Pink-Eye Dilution gene acting on Black. These cavies are lovely soft shades of greige with rosy pink eyes. The Pink-Eye Dilution gene also dilutes Chocolate to Beige, and Red to Red-Eyed Orange. We are currently working on expanding our Broken Lilac lines and also working towards Self Lilacs.
Californians
Californians are cavies with a White, Cream, or Red base and Black, Chocolate, Lilac, or Beige extremities. White Californians can be distiguished from Himalayans by their dark eyes. The Californian variety originates with the "Cuy" cavy from Peru. Californian Texels are still fairly new, and are in the process of being accepted as a showable variety for Texels.
Tans, Otters, & Martins
These are cavies with a Black, Chocolate, Lilac or Beige base with markings reminiscent of a Doberman dog's in Red (Tans), Cream (Otters), or White (Martins)
Tan, Otter, and Martin Texels are very difficult to find! So we have begun breeding the varieties into the Texel breed from Americans. This is a long term project!