The American Rabbit Breeders Association is the parent organization
of the American Cavy Breeders Association
2. Abyssinian Satin
3. American
4. American Satin
5. Teddy
6. Teddy Satin
7. Coronet
9. Peruvian Satin
10. Silkie
11. Silkie Satin
12. Texel
13. White Crested
had a short, smooth coat with brown/black ticked fur. Since then, mutations
occurred which have resulted in a longer coat or in some cases a coarser
coat. This is where our different breeds came from.
The different breeds are broken down into categories of color called variety.
Therefore, within each breed are many different varieties.
The cavy first came into the United States about the mid 1700's and
became popular in the show ring around the last part of the 19th century. At
that time, there were only three recognized breeds: the American, which
has a short, smooth coat, the Abyssinian, which has a short, rough coat and
the Angora, which has a long, smooth coat.
defined pattern of ridges and rosettes.
There are four rosettes on the saddle
area, and four across the rump area
with a mustache around the nose.
They, like the other breeds, come in a
variety of colors. It arrived in England
about 1861 and is among the oldest
recorded breeds. It is desirable to
have a rough texture to the coat to
make the ridges stand firm for good
divisions of the rosettes. The swirl
must have a well defined center and
not “bleed” into each other.
appearance and standard as
the Aby, only with the added
beauty of the satin sheen.
The satinization of the coat
makes it harder to maintain
the roughness and in England
is not desirable because the
judges frown on the soft coat.
It was recognized as the
eighth official breed by the
ARBA in January 1986.
popular of all the cavies. When it
was first imported into the UK, it
was named the "English.” After
being brought to the United States
its name was changed to the
"American,” (despite the fact in the
rest of the world it is still known as
the English). It has a short, smooth
coat, is well rounded and even from
shoulders to hips. In essence, the
perfect pig looks as solid as a brick
with rounded corners. Although it
comes in many different varieties
today, the original color of the wild
cavy is brown, ticked with black. As
they have been bred over the years
a number of color mutations have
occurred which is why we have so
many different ones today.
in the American cavy back in 1976 and
the American Satin became the first
satin breed to be recognized by the
ARBA in January of 1984. Just about
any breed can be satinized, meaning,
you can make their coat have a radiant
sheen. The reason it looks so
luminous is that the hair shaft is hollow,
which causes it to reflect light,
consequently giving it an intense look.
The Satin breed must follow the same
standard as their counterpart.
of the Teddy Bear hamster. Actually, its name is simply Teddy. It has a coat
that is dense, wiry and resilient to touch much like that of the Rex in England.
It started as a mutation in an American tortoiseshell/white back in 1967 and
did not take breeders long to start raising them. They are genetically different
from the Rex (although they do look alike) and breeding a Teddy to a Rex will
result in short, smooth coated babies. Since the Teddy is a mutation that
breeds true, it cannot be made from crossing other breeds. It became the fifth
recognized breed in 1974 and is currently the most popular in the United
States today.
eleventh breed recognized
by the ARBA in January of
1990. It has all the
qualities of the Teddy, but
one major difference is
satinizing the coat causes
it to become softer.
Although the standard
does allow for a softer
coat, many breeders have
noticed that judges will
choose the harsher over
the softer.
Masquerade Stud in England around the mid
1970's. They were originally called the Crested
Sheltie but its name was changed in 1979 to
Coronet. It was developed by crossing the
Sheltie (a Silkie) with an American Crested. On
the other side of the ocean, (in the United
States) around the late '70's and early '80's,
Coronets were being developed from several
sources. The Pankratzs of California were
developing them from pet quality crested
Americans with longer rump hair, which were in
turn bred to top quality silkies; and also from
Jennifer Lin of Washington. After all this time,
the Coronet was finally recognized by the ARBA
on February 1, 1998. It has long soft flowing fur
with a crest on the top of its head. It is often
described as a silkie with a crest and can be
shown in a variety of colors
appeared in Paris in
1886 and is the
ancestor of longhaired
guinea pigs. It arrived
in England about the
end of the 19th century
and in America about
the beginning of the
20th. It was known as
the Angora up until the
mid-1930's when its
name was changed to
Peruvian. It has dense,
silky fur with a pair of
swirling rosettes on
each hip that causes
the fur to grow in the
opposite direction,
flipping it up over the
head. When completely
groomed out into its
show coat, it can look
like a circle of fur
without knowing which
end is the front.
was recognized as
the 10th official
breed in January of
1988, by the ARBA.
It has all the
appearance and
qualities of the
Peruvian with the
added splendor of
the satin sheen.
mutated from Peruvians because
they were born without rosettes.
When the Angora had its name
changed to Peruvian, the Silkie
was tossed aside and forgotten. It
was re-introduced to the ARBA in
1980 and has since made a full
comeback.
The Silkie coat is straight with no
curls or rosettes and it should be
very dense and soft. The nose is
shorter than other breeds and it
has a mane that grows from the
back of the neck, sweeping over
the body, covering the part down
the middle of its back. The silkie
is judged mainly for its coat and
comes in many varieties.
recognized by the ARBA in January of
1987. The Silkie Satin has all the features
of the Silkie with the added beauty of the
satin sheen to the coat
England, back around 1980. By crossing a Rex boar
with Silkie sows, it eventually yielded curly pigs with
long fur. This approach took eight years to develop
the Texel we see today. When it was brought into the
United States the amount of animals was limited so
new blood was needed to keep the line going.
Instead of starting from scratch (which was a long
process to get the coat at a nice length), the Texel
was crossed with a Silkie and then back to the Texel.
It has a short body with a well-rounded head and long
fur with flowing ringlets all over including the belly. Its
coat should be dense, yet soft to the touch. Its fur
does not matt as easily as other longhairs do. Babies
look like an ordinary Rex at birth, but start to grow
their long fur at about 8 to 10 weeks.
Since the Rex and Teddy are genetically different,
crossing a Texel with a Teddy will produce smooth
coated babies making it wise not to introduce Teddies
into the line. The English version of the Texel has
tight, kinky ringlets while the American version has
large, dense curls. The reason for this difference is
because in England, they advocate brushing of the
Texel, but in the US, brushing is cause for
disqualification at cavy shows. The Texel became
recognized by the ARBA in 1998.
known as the American Crested
because it looks like an American
with a white crest in the center of
its forehead. It was the fourth
breed officially recognized by the
ARBA in January of 1974 and is
perhaps the most challenging to
work with. No white hair, except
for the crest, is allowed to be
present on the rest of the cavy.
You will seldom see a large entry
of this beautiful breed at the
show table because some
breeders have difficulty getting 1
in 50 show quality animals. The
White-crested breeders have
introduced Satin into this breed,
although Crested Satin is not
recognized by the ARBA.
However, it is recognized in
Canada, (if you wish to raise and
show them you can join a
Canadian group).
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO VIEW THEIR WEBSITES.
KARIN AND KURT STUEBER
CAVY COTTAGE
BLACKGOLD CAVIES
BIVOIR CAVIARY
CHERISHED CAVIES
FORT YORK CAVIARY
NO SACRIFICE CAVIARY
MARSHALL STUD
