I certify that the report of this final year project entitled “Behaviour Study in an Environment Manipulated by Colour on Male American Guinea Pig (Cavia Porcellus)&rdquo

Tekspenuh

(1)ON MALE AMERICAN GUINEA PIG (CAVIA PORCELLUS). By LIM SZE FEY. A report submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Applied Science (Animal Husbandry Science) with Honours. Faculty of Agro Based Industry UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA KELANTAN 2018. i. FYP FIAT. BEHAVIOUR STUDY OF COLOUR MODIFIED ENVIRONMENT.

(2) I hereby declare that the work embodied in this report is the result of the original research and has not been submitted for a higher degree to any universities or institutions.. ________________________ Student Name: Date. I certify that the report of this final year project entitled “Behaviour Study in an Environment Manipulated by Colour on Male American Guinea Pig (Cavia Porcellus)” by Lim Sze Fey, matric number F14A0119 has been examined and all the correction recommended by examiners have been done for the degree of Bachelor of Applied Science (Husbandry Science) with Honours, Faculty of Agro-Based Industry, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan.. Approved by:. ________________________ Supervisor Name: Date:. i. FYP FIAT. DECLARATION.

(3) I would like to express my appreciation to my supervisor Mr. Zulhisyam bin Abdul Kari @ Abdullah, lecturers of Faculty of Agro-Based Industry, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan in supporting me throughout the research project and also all the guidance taught through my tertiary study; degree in husbandry science. The motivation, patience and invaluable limitless knowledge given by him was helping me to complete the research project. I came to learn about so many knowledge. I am really thankful to him.. I also feeling thankful and appreciate the school authority for given me permission to carry out the research experiment in the school animal labs. They also provided all the apparatus needed for carry out this research project.. I would also like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my beloved parents who helped me a lot by encouraging me all the time throughout the research project and support me for the financial that used to pay all the cost required for this research project. Without them, I will not able to finish this research project within the limited time frame.. ii. FYP FIAT. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.

(4) (Cavia Porcellus) ABSTRACT Guinea Pig is able to see most of the colour and not colour blind. However, scientific evidence on behaviour study on colour for guinea pig by the society were limited and there were lacking of publication awareness about this fact. Knowing a guinea pigs colour preference helped future pet owners and researchers to include the colour favoured by guinea pigs in their habitat so do provide a more comfortable environment. This research project revealed the behaviour study in an environment manipulated by colour on male American guinea pigs. Two treatments were used in this research. One with coloured food bowls environment and one with silver and black food bowls environment to determine the colour preference of the tested guinea pigs based on their consumption rate and behaviour. Weight gained was recorded weekly and three times weekly for their feed consumption. The diet of tested guinea pigs included the commercial feed pellet and vegetables to fulfil nutrient requirement. The findings of this project provided fundamental scientific evidence on the colour of preference among male American guinea pigs. There was significant different between the different coloured food bowls based on time approached in different environment but no significant different on feed consumption. Yellow was the most preferred colour for the guinea pigs in coloured environment and silver in dull environment. Behaviour study of guinea pigs gave ideas for future studies and research in veterinary science for investigating the behaviour pattern of the guinea pigs and in the pet trade. There was significant different between the comfortableness behaviour, activeness and growth in different environment based on the behaviour of male American guinea pigs. They were more comfortable, active and gained weight better living in coloured environment. This research project shown the relationship between male American guinea pigs colour preference with their feed consumption, growth, activeness and behaviour. Keywords: Male American guinea pig, colour preference, consumption rate, weight, behaviour study.. iii. FYP FIAT. Behaviour Study of Colour Modified Environment on Male American Guinea Pig.

(5) yang Dimanipulasikan oleh Warna (Cavia Porcellus) ABSTRAK Tikus Belanda dapat melihat kebanyakan warna dan bukan buta warna. Walau bagaimanapun, bukti saintifik yang mengenai kajian tingkah laku atas warna bagi tikus belanda oleh masyarakat adalah terhad dan terdapat kekurangan kesederaan awam tentang fakta ini. Dengan mengetahui kegemaran warna tikus belanda dapat membantu pemilik haiwan masa depan dan penyelidik dengan memasukan warna yang digemari oleh tikus belanda dalam habitat mereka supaya dapat menyediakan presekitaran yang lebih selesa kepada tikus belanda. Kajian ini memainkan peranan penting dalam meriahkan tikus belandan supaya lebih bahagia dan selesa hidup dalam persekitarannya. Projek ini telah mendedahkan kajian tingkah laku tikus belanda dalam persekitaran yang dimanipulasi oleh warna. Dua keadaan rawatan telah digunakan dalam kajian ini. Satu dengan persekitaran mangkuk makan yang berwarna dan satu lagi dengan persekitaran mangkuk makan perak dan hitam untuk menyelidikan kegemaran warna tikus belanda berdasarkan kadar memakan dan tingkah laku tikus belanda. Berat badan yang diperolehi akan ditimbang dan direkod setiap minggu dan tiga kali seminggu bagi makanan yang telah dimakan oleh mereka. Diet tikus belanda yang diuji termasuk makanan komersial dan sayur-sayuran bagi memenuhi keperluan nutrien mereka. Penemuan bagi projek ini telah memberikan asas bukti saintifik atas pemilihan warna di kalangan jantan American tikus belanda. Terdapat perbezaan yang ketara di antara mangkuk makanan yang berwarna beza berdasarkan kali pendekatan dalam persekitaran yang berbeza tetapi tiada perbezaan yang ketara bagi penggunaan makan. Kuning merupakan warna yang paling digemari oleh jantan American tikus belanda dalam persekitaran berwarna dan perak dalam persekitaran yang tidak berwarna. Kajian tingkah laku tikus belanda memberi idea untuk kajian masa depan dan penyelidikan dalam sains veterinar bagi menyiasat corak tingkah laku tikus belanda dan juga dalam pemberian idea bagi perdagangan haiwan peliharaan. Terdapat perbezaan yang ketara di antara tingkah laku tahap keselesaan, keaktifan dan pertumbuhan dalam persekitaran yang berbeza berdasarkan tingkah laku jantan American tikus belanda. Mereka lebih selesa, aktif dan bertambah berat badan yang lebih dalam persekitaran berwarna. Projek ini telah menunjukkan hubungan antara pilihan warna jantan American tikus belanda dengan penggunaan makanan, pertumbuhan, keaktifan dan tingkah laku mereka. Kata kunci: Jantan American tikus belanda, pemilihan warna, kadar memakan, berat badan, kajian tingkah laku.. iv. FYP FIAT. Kajian Tingkah Laku bagi Jantan American Tikus Belanda Dalam Persekitaran.

(6) PAGE DECLARATION. i. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. ii. ABSTRACT. iii. ABSTRAK. iv. TABLE OF CONTENTS. v. LIST OF TABLES. ix. LIST OF FIGURES. xix. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. xxiii. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. Research Background. 1. 1.2. Problem Statement. 3. 1.3. Hypothesis. 3. 1.4. Objectives. 4. 1.5. Scope of Study. 4. 1.6. Significance of Study. 5. 1.7. Limitation of Study. 5. v. FYP FIAT. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(7) 2.1. 2.2. 2.3. 2.4. 2.5. Guinea pig. 6. 2.1.1. 7. American guinea pig. Care for guinea pig. 7. 2.2.1. Housing and bedding of guinea pig. 7. 2.2.2. Nutrition and feed for guinea pig. 9. 2.2.3. Common disease of guinea pig. 12. Purpose of guinea pig. 13. 2.3.1. Meat Production. 13. 2.3.2. Research purpose. 14. Colour vision of Guinea pig. 15. 2.4.1. Previous research. 15. 2.4.2. Colour preference of guinea pig. 17. Behaviour of guinea pigs. 18. CHAPTER 3 MATERIAL AND METHOD 3.1. 3.2. Animal Experiment Design. 22. 3.1.1. Equipment. 22. 3.1.2. Feed and water. 23. Methods. 23. 3.2.1. Preparation of sample. 23. 3.2.2. Preparation of housing area for guinea pigs. 24. vi. FYP FIAT. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW.

(8) Preparation of coloured food bowl. 25. 3.2.4. Research experiment procedures. 25. 3.2.4.1 Data collection. 28. 3.2.4.2 Study of colour preference of male American guinea pigs. 29. 3.2.4.3 Behaviour study of male American guinea pigs. 29. CHAPTER 4 RESULT 4.1. Colour preference of male American guinea pigs. 30. 4.1.1. Feed consumption. 30. 4.1.2. Feed consumption pattern. 39. 4.1.3. Behaviour towards different food bowls. 42. 4. 2 Behaviour of male American guinea pigs in different environment. 48. 4.2.1. Behaviour. 48. 4.2.2. Activeness. 56. 4.2.3. Growth. 64. CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION 5.1. Colour preference of male American guinea pigs. 68. 5.2. Behaviour of male American guinea pigs in different environment. 71. CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION 6.1. Conclusion. 76. 6.2. Recommendation. 77. vii. FYP FIAT. 3.2.3.

(9) 79. APPENDIX A. 85. APPENDIX B. 94. APPENDIX C. 105. APPENDIX D. 148. APPENDIX E. 150. viii. FYP FIAT. REFERENCES.

(10) NO.. PAGE. 2.1. Common behaviour of guinea pigs. 18. 4.1. Total amount of feed consumption in gram based on different. 33. colour of food bowls for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 4.2. Average feed consumption in gram and significant value based on. 35. different coloured food bowls for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs throughout the 16 weeks experiment in different environment 4.3. Average number of feed consumption and significant value based. 36. on different coloured food bowls in both environment for the tested male American guinea pigs 4.4. Average number of feed consumption and significant value based. 37. on different environment for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs 4.5. Total times approached towards different food bowls for Group A. 44. and Group B male American guinea pigs based on different behaviour in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 4.6. Average times approached to different coloured food bowls and. 45. significant value for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in coloured and dull environment 4.7. Average times approached to different coloured food bowls and significant value for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured and dull environment. ix. 47. FYP FIAT. LIST OF TABLES.

(11) Behaviour key. 48. 4.9. Average comfortable behaviour towards different coloured food. 52. bowls and significant value for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in coloured environment 4.10. Average comfortable behaviour towards different coloured food. 54. bowls and significant value for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured environment 4.11. Average number of comfortable behaviour and significant value. 55. based on different environment for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs 4.12. Total number of activities for Group A and Group B male American. 59. guinea pigs based on different times in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 4.13. Average number of activities and significant value of A1, A2, B1. 60. and B2 male American guinea pigs based on different times in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 4.14. Average number of activities and significant value of Group A and. 61. Group B male American guinea pigs based on different times in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 4.15. Average number of activities and significant value based on. 62. different environment for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs 4.16. Weight gained by Group A and Group B male American guinea. 65. pigs in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 4.17. Average weight gained and significant value by Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2. x. 66. FYP FIAT. 4.8.

(12) Raw data for feed consumption collection from aquarium A and. 85. Aquarium B based on different food bowls three times per week A.2. Total amount of feed consumption in gram based on different. 89. colour of food bowls for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 A.3. Total times approached towards different food bowls for Group A. 90. and Group B male American guinea pigs based on different behaviour in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 A.4. Activeness of Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs. 91. based on number of activities on different times in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 A.5. Weight gained by Group A and Group B male American guinea. 93. pigs in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 B.1. One way ANOVA test for feed consumption based on different. 94. coloured food bowls for both groups of male American guinea pigs in coloured environment B.2. One way ANOVA test for feed consumption based on different. 94. coloured food bowls for both groups of male American guinea pigs in dull environment B.3. One way ANOVA test for feed consumption based on different. 95. coloured food bowls in coloured environment for all the tested male American guinea pigs B.4. One way ANOVA test for feed consumption based on different. 95. coloured food bowls in dull environment for all the tested male American guinea pigs B.5. One way ANOVA test for feed consumption based on different environment for both groups of male American guinea pigs. xi. 95. FYP FIAT. A.1.

(13) One way ANOVA test for times approaches based on different. 96. coloured food bowls in coloured environment for each male American guinea pigs B.7. One way ANOVA test for times approaches based on different. 96. coloured food bowls in dull environment for each male American guinea pigs B.8. One way ANOVA test for times approaches based on different. 97. coloured food bowls for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured environment B.9. One way ANOVA for times approaches based on different coloured. 97. food bowls for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in dull environment B.10. One way ANOVA test for comfortable behaviour towards different. 98. coloured food bowls for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in coloured environment B.11. One way ANOVA test for comfortable behaviour towards different. 99. coloured food bowls for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in dull environment B.12. One way ANOVA test for comfortable behaviour towards different. 100. coloured food bowls for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured environment B.13. One way ANOVA test for comfortable behaviour towards different. 100. coloured food bowls for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in dull environment B.14. One way ANOVA test for comfortable behaviour based on different environment for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs. xii. 101. FYP FIAT. B.6.

(14) One way ANOVA test for number of activities based on different. 101. times for each male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 B.16. One way ANOVA test for number of activities based on different. 102. times for each male American guinea pigs in Treatment 2 B.17. One way ANOVA test for number of activities based on different. 103. times for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 and 2 B.18. One way ANOVA test for number of activities based on different. 103. environment for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs B.19. One way ANOVA for weighted gained based on different. 104. environment for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in both coloured and dull environment C.1. Descriptive feed consumption (g) based on different coloured food. 105. bowls for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.2. Post Hoc test multiple comparison for feed consumption (g) based. 106. on different coloured food bowls for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.3. Tukey test Homogenous subset table for feed consumption (g). 107. based on different coloured food bowls for Group A male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.4. Tukey test Homogenous subset table for feed consumption (g). 108. based on different coloured food bowls for Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.5. Descriptive feed consumption (g) based on different coloured food bowls for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in dull environment. xiii. 108. FYP FIAT. B.15.

(15) Descriptive feed consumption (g) based on different coloured food. 109. bowls for all the tested male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.7. Post Hoc test multiple comparison for feed consumption (g) based. 109. on different coloured food bowls for all the tested male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.8. Tukey test Homogenous subset table for feed consumption (g). 110. based on different coloured food bowls for all the tested male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.9. Descriptive feed consumption (g) based on different coloured food. 111. bowls for all the tested male American guinea pigs in dull environment C.10 Descriptive feed consumption (g) for Group A and Group B male. 111. American guinea pigs in coloured and dull environment C.11 Descriptive for time approached to different coloured food. 112. bowls for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.12 Post Hoc test multiple comparison for time approached to. 113. different coloured food bowls for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.13 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for A1 male American guinea. 114. pigs in coloured environment C.14 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for A2 male American guinea. 115. pigs in coloured environment C.15 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for B1 male American guinea pigs in coloured environment. xiv. 115. FYP FIAT. C.6.

(16) 116. pigs in coloured environment C.17 Descriptive for times approached to different coloured food bowl for. 116. Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.18 Post Hoc test multiple comparison for times approached to different. 117. coloured food bowl for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.19 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for times approached to. 118. different coloured food bowl for Group A male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.20 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for times approached to. 118. different coloured food bowl for Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.21 Descriptive for times approached to different coloured food bowl for. 119. A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in dull environment C.22 Descriptive for times approached to different coloured food bowl for. 119. Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in dull environment C.23 Descriptive for comfortable behaviour towards different coloured. 120. food bowl for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.24 Post Hoc test for comfortable behaviour towards different coloured food bowl for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in coloured environment. xv. 121. FYP FIAT. C.16 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for B2 male American guinea.

(17) 122. towards different coloured food bowl for A1 male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.26 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for comfortable behaviour. 123. towards different coloured food bowl for A2 male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.27 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for comfortable behaviour. 123. towards different coloured food bowl for B1 male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.28 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for comfortable behaviour. 124. towards different coloured food bowl for B2 male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.29 Descriptive for comfortable behaviour towards different coloured. 124. food bowl for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.30 Post Hoc test multiple comparison for comfortable behaviour. 125. towards different coloured food bowl for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.31 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for comfortable behaviour. 126. towards different coloured food bowl for Group A male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.32 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for comfortable behaviour. 126. towards different coloured food bowl for Group B male American guinea pigs in coloured environment C.33 Descriptive for comfortable behaviour towards different coloured food bowl for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in dull environment. xvi. 127. FYP FIAT. C.25 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for comfortable behaviour.

(18) 127. food bowl for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in dull environment C.35 Descriptive for comfortable behaviour towards coloured and dull. 128. environment for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs C.36 Descriptive for number of activities based on different times for A1,. 128. A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 C.37 Post Hoc test multiple comparison for number of activities based on. 130. different times for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 C.38 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for number of activities based. 132. on different times for A1 male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 C.39 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for number of activities based. 133. on different times for A2 male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 C.40 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for number of activities based. 133. on different times for B1 male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 C.41 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for number of activities based. 134. on different times for B2 male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 C.42 Descriptive for number of activities based on different times for A1,. 134. A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in Treatment 2 C.43 Post Hoc test multiple comparison for number of activities based on. 136. different times for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in Treatment 2 C.44 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for number of activities based. 138. on different times for A1 male American guinea pigs in Treatment 2 C.45 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for number of activities based on different times for A2 male American guinea pigs in Treatment 2. xvii. 139. FYP FIAT. C.34 Descriptive for comfortable behaviour towards different coloured.

(19) 139. on different times for B1 male American guinea pigs in Treatment 2 C.47 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for number of activities based. 140. on different times for B2 male American guinea pigs in Treatment 2 C.48 Descriptive for number of activities based on different times for. 140. Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 and 2 C.49 Post Hoc test multiple comparison for number of activities based on. 142. different times for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 and 2 C.50 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for number of activities based. 144. on different times for Group A male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 C.51 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for number of activities based. 145. on different times for Group B male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 C.52 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for number of activities based. 145. on different times for Group A male American guinea pigs in Treatment 2 C.53 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for number of activities based. 146. on different times for Group B male American guinea pigs in Treatment 2 C.54 Descriptive for weight gained based on different environment for A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs. xviii. 146. FYP FIAT. C.46 Tukey test Homogenous subset table for number of activities based.

(20) NO. 3.1. PAGE The layout plan for the housing with coloured food bowls in. 24. aquarium A as coloured environment 3.2. The layout plan for the housing with silver and black food bowls in. 25. aquarium B as dull environment 4.1. Total feed consumption in gram based on different colour of food. 34. bowls for Group A male American guinea pigs in 16 weeks of experiment 4.2. Total feed consumption in gram based on different colour of food. 34. bowls for Group B male American guinea pigs in 16 weeks of experiment 4.3. Average feed consumption in gram based on different colour of. 35. food bowls for Group A male American guinea pigs in 16 weeks of experiment 4.4. Average feed consumption in gram based on different colour of. 36. food bowls for Group B male American guinea pigs in 16 weeks of experiment 4.5. Average feed consumption in gram based on different colour of. 37. food bowls for all the tested male American guinea pigs in 16 weeks of experiment 4.6. Average number of feed consumption based on different. 38. environment for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs 4.7. Feed consumption pattern for Group A male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1. xix. 40. FYP FIAT. LIST OF FIGURES.

(21) Feed consumption pattern for Group B male American guinea pigs. 41. in Treatment 2 4.9. Total times approached to different coloured food bowls for Group. 45. A and Group B male American guinea pigs in 16 weeks of experiment 4.10. Average times approached to different coloured food bowls for A1. 46. and A2 male American guinea pigs in 16 weeks of experiment 4.11. Average times approached to different coloured food bowls for B1. 46. and B2 male American guinea pigs in 16 weeks of experiment 4.12. Average times approached to different coloured food bowls for. 47. Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in 16 weeks of experiment 4.13. Percentage of comfortable behaviour for Group A male American. 51. guinea pigs in aquarium A and B 4.14. Percentage of comfortable behaviour for Group B male American. 51. guinea pigs in aquarium A and B 4.15. Average comfortable behaviour towards different coloured food. 52. bowls for A1 and A2 male American guinea pigs in 16 weeks 4.16. Average comfortable behaviour towards different coloured food. 53. bowls for B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs in 16 weeks 4.17. Average comfortable behaviour towards different coloured food. 54. bowls for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs in 16 weeks 4.18. Average number of comfortable behaviour based on different environment for Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs. xx. 55. FYP FIAT. 4.8.

(22) Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs activeness based. 59. on total number of activities on different times in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 4.20. A1, A2, B1 and B2 male American guinea pigs activeness based on. 61. average number of activities on different times in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 4.21. Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs activeness based. 62. on average number of activities on different times in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 4.22. Average number of activities based on different environment for. 63. Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs 4.23. Weight gained by both groups of male American guinea pigs in. 66. Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 in 16 weeks of experiment 4.24. Average weight gained by both groups of male American guinea. 67. pigs in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 D.1. Group A and Group B male American guinea pigs. 148. D.2. Housing in aquarium A and aquarium B for male American guinea. 149. pigs D.3. Commercial feed pellet used for male American guinea pigs. 149. E.1. Barbering. 150. E.2. Begging for food by standing up using their hind leg. 150. E.3. Bite food bowl. 151. E.4. Coprophagy. 151. E.5. Drinking. 152. E.6. Eating. 152. E.7. Fur became tearing off result from fighting. 153. E.8. Freezing. 153. xxi. FYP FIAT. 4.19.

(23) Genital cleaning. 154. E.10 Grooming. 154. E.11 Hiding. 155. E.12 Jumping. 155. E.13 Laying down. 156. E.14 Lowering body and walked with a low pitch sound which known as. 157. low purring E.15 Mounting. 157. E.16 Nose nudging. 158. E.17 Nose scratching. 158. E.18 Running. 159. E.19 Scratching. 159. E.20 Sitting. 160. E.21 Sleeping with eyes fully and barely open. 160. E.22 Yawning. 161. xxii. FYP FIAT. E.9.

(24) g. Gram. kg. Kilogram. mg. Milligram. ml. Milliliter. nm. Nanometer. mgkg −1 Milligram per kilogram N. Sample size. df. Degree of freedom. xxiii. FYP FIAT. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.

(25) INTRODUCTION. 1.1. Research Background. Guinea pig is a species of rodent which belong to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Guinea pig originated in the Andes mountain of South America, earlier study suggested that guinea pigs were domesticated descendants of a closely related species of cavy such as Cavia aperea, Cavia fulgida or Cavia tschudii and thus, they did not exist naturally in the wild (Weir, 1974). Despite of its common name guinea pig but it had nothing related to swine. Guinea pigs, the Cavia porcellus, was an animal commonly used in biomedical research purpose. (Noonan, 1994) It was also well known for the companionship as household pet to human due to its docile nature, friendly and easier for handling. However, some of the country made used of guinea pig as a source of meat due to its smaller size, low in fat content and did not required refrigeration. It could be eaten in one meal for small family. The taste of guinea pig meat was alike with rabbit meat (Martin, 1991). Male American guinea pigs were used for this study.. Guinea pigs were not colour blind as they had special retina that helped them to differentiate colour but scientific evidence on the vision of guinea pig by the society were rarely been studied and there were lacking of publication awareness about this fact. Knowing a guinea pigs colour preference helped future pet owners and researchers know what colours to include in their guinea pigs’ habitat. One of a. 1. FYP FIAT. CHAPTER 1.

(26) colour in yellow for food bowls and blue for drinkers (Cristina & Joshua, n.d.). But not all guinea pig were the same and some improvement could be made for this findings. For instants, increase the number of samples used that could made the result more convincing and experiment could focused on breed of guinea pig (either focused on only one breed or different breed with several numbers of samples), age of guinea pigs, sex of guinea pigs and so on.. For this final year research project, it provided fundamental scientific evidence to determine colour of preference for the male American guinea pigs. The guinea pigs in this project were provided with suitable environment according to the Human Society of United States, 2017 and the colour preference of the guinea pigs were studied based on the amount of feed consumed on different coloured food bowl and behaviour. As the colour preference of guinea pigs might affect their consumption rate, thus another four food bowl (two black and two silver) were provided as another treatment for the male American guinea pigs as comparison to the treatment group of guinea pigs with coloured food bowls. They were believed to perform better in coloured environment. Behaviour study of guinea pigs gave ideas for future studies and research in veterinary science for investigating the behaviour pattern of the guinea pigs. Guinea pigs were believed to react actively to the colour they preferred that make them felt comfortable. Thus coloured pills were believed to solve the problem of guinea pigs that were refused to take it when they were sick. Specific coloured food container could be used to improve the consumption rate of the guinea pigs so do achieve desired market weight for those manufacture that used guinea pigs for meat production. Since the natural instinct of guinea pigs were that they liked to eat what grows on ground, thus their colour of preference was expected to be the colour of green.. 2. FYP FIAT. research done by John Bowne High School which shown that guinea pigs preferred.

(27) Problem Statement. Guinea pigs were well known of it companionship as pet in worldwide, research purpose and in some country as meat source. However the scientific evidences on behaviour study and colour vision on guinea pig by the society were limited and there were lacking of publication awareness about the fact that guinea pigs were not colour blind as they could differentiated colour. However, there was a lack of knowledge for the guinea pigs owners and manufacturers to provide a comfortable and suitable environment for the guinea pigs.. 1.3. Hypothesis. H0 = There was significant different between the different coloured food bowls based on the feed consumption and time approached in different environment and between the comfortableness behaviour, activeness and growth in different environment based on the behaviour of male American guinea pigs.. H1 = There was no significant different between the different coloured food bowls based on the feed consumption and time approached in different environment and between the comfortableness behaviour, activeness and growth in different environment based on the behaviour of male American guinea pigs.. 3. FYP FIAT. 1.2.

(28) 1.. Objectives. To determine the colour preference of male American guinea pigs based on the feed consumption and time approached to different coloured food bowl in different environment.. 2.. Behaviour study of male American guinea pigs based on the comfortableness behaviour, activeness and growth in different environment.. 1.5. Scope of Study. The colour preference of guinea pigs was determined through the feed consumption rate by recording and weighting the feed consumed in gram for the different food bowls three times a week and the time approached to different coloured food bowls per day. The colour used included red, yellow, green, blue, black and silver. While the behaviour study of the male American guinea pigs was based on their comfortableness behaviour, activeness and growth in different environment. They were all observed five times a day (9.00 a.m., 12.00 p.m., 3.00 p.m., 6.00 p.m. and 9 p.m.) with observation duration for 30 minutes for each session. The research project was carried out for 16 weeks in UMK Jeli campus, Animal Lab.. The colour preference and behaviour for guinea pigs was useful as it provided information for researcher or pet owner to include the colour that will improved their comfortableness level of living and known what the guinea pigs tried to communicated with. Guinea pigs communicated with each other by showing different kind of behaviour, vocalization and body language. It was crucial to understand the behaviour pattern of guinea pigs so to understand their normal and abnormal behaviour.. 4. FYP FIAT. 1.4.

(29) Significance of Study. Understanding guinea pigs colour preference helped future pet owners and researchers known what colours to include in guinea pigs’ habitat to provide a more comfortable and suitable environment for them. Behaviour study of guinea pigs gave ideas for future studies and research in veterinary science and in pet trade in order to recognize the behaviour patterns, unusual behaviour that the guinea pigs tried to communicate with. Coloured pills were believed to solve the problem of guinea pigs that were refused to take it when they were sick. In some country, guinea pigs were used as one of the source of meat production, by knowing their colour of preference, specific coloured food container could use to improve the consumption rate of the guinea pigs so to achieve desired market weight and size. Guinea pigs were not tolerate with the sudden changed of environment. Even though a changed of food bowl or drinker will upset them (Christina & Joshua, n.d.). Thus the behaviour study of guinea pig was crucial to reduce stress of guinea pigs at any given environment.. 1.7. Limitation of Study. The limitation faced by this project was in term of financial. The capital for carrying out the project was limited and there were limited sample found in Jeli. The nearest pet shop located at Kota Bharu, Kelantan which required around 2 hours car journey to reach from University Malaysia Kelantan Campus Jeli.. 5. FYP FIAT. 1.6.

(30) LITERATURE REVIEW. 2.1. Guinea pig. The guinea pig is known as cavy, domestic guinea pigs or cuy for livestock breeds. The scientific name for guinea pig is Cavia Porcellus. It is a species belongs to the family of Caviidae and the genus Cavia. The guinea pig has no relationship with swine despite its name of pig. Guinea pig originated in the Andes. An earlier studies based on biochemistry and hybridization suggested that guinea pig was domesticated descendants of a closely related species of cavy for instant, Cavia aperea, Cavia fulgida, Cavia tschudii and they were not exist naturally in the wild (Weir, 1974). A recent study was carried out to study the guinea pig by applying molecular marker (Spotorno, Marin, Manríquez, et al., 2006) to study the structure of skull and skeletal morphology of current and mummified animals (Spotorno, Manríquez, Fernández, et al, 2007) stated that the ancestor of guinea pigs were most likely the Cavia tschudii. In Western societies, the guinea pigs were widely spread as household pet since the introduction by European traders in the 16th century due to their friendly, docile nature, even affectionate responsiveness to handle and feed, and was easy for caring made them a wonderful pet. Some organizations devoted to competitive breeding of guinea pigs. Thus, provided many specialized breed of guinea pig with different coat colour, coat length, composition and so on that had cultivated by different breeders.. 6. FYP FIAT. CHAPTER 2.

(31) They were used as model organism in the 19th and 20th century in laboratory test resulting guinea pigs as a test subject. The amount of guinea pigs used for laboratory test was decreasing as they were largely replaced by other rodents for instant, mice and rats. However, guinea pigs were still used in research as a models for human medical condition like juvenile diabetes, pregnancy complication, tuberculosis and scurvy (Weir, 1974). The life span of guinea pigs was around 4 to 9 years.. 2.1.1. American guinea pig. The American guinea pigs were the common breed for people as household pet as well as laboratory research. American guinea pigs were found firstly domesticated around 5000 BC in Andes with originally named as English guinea pig while name American used by the American Cavy Breeders Association in 1960’s. (Sherman, 2016). They had short and smooth fur with variety of colour and pattern. They were good temperament and associate better with other breeds of guinea pigs and was suitable for children. Due to its short hair feature, grooming was not required for American guinea pigs.. 2.2. Care for guinea pig. 2.2.1. Housing and bedding of guinea pig. Recently, a book with title “Guidelines for the Housing of Guinea Pigs in Scientific Institutions” was published by the Animal Welfare Branch NSW Department of Primary Industries to provide the information on the enclosure design, care and management for guinea pigs in year 2010. Animal Research Review Panel (2010), the 7. FYP FIAT. Guinea pigs were used for biological experimentation since the 17th century..

(32) requirement of guinea pigs, the living area should be in open space. The size of the housing area depended on the number of guinea pigs used to be stay together, sizes of guinea pigs and difference breeding purpose. The minimum height of cage should be 250 mm and constructed with mesh panel. The flooring should be solid floors covered with substrate like stream-treated wood shavings, shredded paper or straw. In-enclosure shelters should be provided to guinea pig as White, Balk and Lang, (1989) stated that “Guinea pigs tend to rest, sleep, grooming and stay close together with the shelter provided”. Socialized was needed for guinea pigs and thus they should not be housed individually. Kept guinea pigs housing area away from sounds as they were very sensitive to human’s activity. Food and water provided must be free from contaminants to keep the guinea pigs safe (Animal Research Review Panel, 2010).. The bedding material was one of the factors that cause error during animal research project (Besch, 1980) and it always caused biased experimental results (Wirth, 1988). However fewer studies had been carried out based on guinea pig bedding (Marshall, Schutz & Bilsing, 1996; White, Balk & Lang, 1989) as compared to mice and rats (Ago, Gonda & Takechi, 2002; Bradshaw & Poling, 1991; Raynor, Steinhagen, & Hamm, 1983; Van de Weerd, Van Loo & Van 1997). A research were carried out to investigate the bedding preference of guinea pigs by providing them wood shavings and paper cutting sheet with the procedure and method based on a previous study done by Manser, Morris and Broom, (1995). All the bedding materials were sterilized using an autoclave and the result concluded that guinea pigs preferred wood shavings in the light while paper cutting at the night (Kawakami et al., 2003). The research also shown that guinea pigs were active at night and frequently stayed on the paper shaving in the dark due to their nocturnal characteristic stated by Akita, Ishii, Kuwahara and Tsubone (2001) and Nicholls (1992) and thus most of the drinking, evacuation behaviour and eating will be conducted in the darkness by guinea pigs (Marshall, 8. FYP FIAT. institution for the book stated that to achieve the behavioural and physiological.

(33) to investigate the effect of dark-coloured shader over the central portion of a cage to the guinea pigs. Based on the observed behaviour of different species of guinea pig used, the result shown that utilization of the central portion of the cage increased with the present of shader. Guinea pigs spent much time under the shader and around the food hopper with the absent of the shader (Byrd, Winnicker, & Gaskill, 2016). This proved that guinea pigs preferred darkness.. Sutherland & Festing (1987) stated that “guinea pigs were very messy”. They liked to kick feed and bedding materials out from their cages or pens, they urinated and defecated in their food bowls and liked to play with the drinkers and causing wastage. According to Harkness and Wagner (1989) the urine of guinea pigs were range from off-white to yellow with the presence of carbonate crystals and phosphate. Urine tended to form strong alkaline on the flooring and an acidic solution had to be used to clean the urine occasionally.. 2.2.2. Nutrition and feed for guinea pig. A book with title “Guidelines for the Housing of Guinea Pigs in Scientific Institutions” from the Animal Research Panel, 2010 stated that the diet of guinea pigs should low in caloric value but high in fibre. Guinea pig usually ate more in the late afternoon and evening (Donnelly & Brown, 2004) and a research argued that there was no difference feeding pattern with the presence of light and dark (Hirsch, 1973). 3.5 g of dry matter per 100 g of body weight were consumed by adult guinea pigs per day (Donnelly & Brown , 2004) and a greater intake for guinea pigs in growing juvenile stage, pregnancy and lactation (Künkele, 2000). Guinea pig had better digestibility of fibre than rabbit and rat on a similar diet (Sakaguchi, Itoh, Kohno, Ohshima & Mizutani,. 9. FYP FIAT. Schutz & Bilsing, 1996; White, Balk & Lang, 1989). Another research were carried out.

(34) hay was not recommended as it considered as inadequate for supplementation of nutrient. Succulents should be provided with suitable amount like carrots, cucumber and apple. Remember not to had sudden changed of the diet as this action affected the normal gut flora (Donnelly & Brown , 2004).. Cristina and Joshua (n.d.) stated “Guinea pigs lack of the ability to synthesis vitamin C by themselves”. Guinea pig required 10 mg of Vitamin Ckg −1 of body weight and 30mg kg −1 for pregnant female (Donnelly. & Brown, 2004). The factors that. reduced the vitamin C content in food were dampness, heat and light. Fresh vegetables should be provided as vitamin C supplement for guinea pigs. For instant, capsicum, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, asparagus, kale which was rich in Vitamin C. As vitamin C was crucial for guinea pigs, the deficiency will cause disease like scurvy that cause weight losing, alopecia and diarrhoea after two weeks on the diet lack of vitamin C (Donnelly & Brown, 2004).. The commercial feed pellet used for this research project was from the Smart Heart Brand Rodent Food which was complete and in balanced formula (1 kg). This pellet was specifically balanced to provide sufficient and complete nutrient need for rodents like guinea pigs and chinchillas. This formula of feed pellet ensured healthy and shiny skin and coat for the rodents. It contained vitamin C which helped in improving immunity and reducing cellular stress from free radicals so to slow down the aging process, vitamin A that helped in improving visual acuity, vitamin D3 that helped to develop stronger bones and teeth of the rodents and vitamin E helped in reproductive system (SmartHeart Rodent Food, 2003). According to a book with title ‘Complete Pet Owner’s Manual’, 1/8 cup of pellet which was around 30 gram should be provided per guinea pig per day (Katrin, 1998). 10. FYP FIAT. 1997). Guinea pigs preferred pelleted diet than hay and thus diet based completely on.

(35) through) and cucumber was supplied to the guinea pigs twice per days as succulent. Green capsicum contains great source vitamin C, low in fat and contained no sugar (yellow and red capsicum contained high amount of sugar content), no phosphorus (high level of phosphorus will cause phosphate stone in guinea pigs) and no oxalate acid which high level of this acid will cause bladder stone in guinea pigs (Chris, 2013). This made green capsicum the ideal succulent for guinea pigs. While cucumber contained high water content and was favoured by most guinea pigs although it had very little nutritional value (Chris, 2013). Cucumber was really suitable for guinea pigs in the hot weather country like Kelantan as it acted as extra water supplement for guinea pigs.. Crucial mineral like Zinc is important for the nervous system function for guinea pigs. Abnormal locomotion or posture, hypersensitivity and decreased in motor conduction in sciatic nerve will occur with the deficiency of Zinc (North, 1999). North (1999) stated that an adequate amount of zinc in diet is 100mgkg −1 if fed ad libitum. Another mineral required is selenium. The metabolism of dietary selenium of guinea pigs were different with other species of rodents as requirement of antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase for selenium activity was lower. Deficiency of selenium will slowed down the growth rate. Amount of selenium for guinea pigs daily consumption is 0.5mgkg −1 (Carter, 1972).. The water given to the guinea pigs was from contaminant and recommended to be separated from the food as guinea pigs will played with the drinkers and dribble water on the food given that caused wastage (North, 1999). The amount of water consumed by guinea pigs daily is 6 mlg −1 for pelleted ration diet and 2 - 3mlg −1 for rations contain fresh grass and hay or other succulent supplement (North, 1999).. 11. FYP FIAT. Green capsicum (exclude the stem as it was too rough for guinea pigs to chew.

(36) Common disease of guinea pig. Just like other animals, guinea pig suffered from disease which occur naturally or through infection. A research was carried out to investigate the disease based on 1000 guinea pigs to describe the common disease on pet guinea pigs (Minarikova et al., 2015). All the guinea pigs’ history for instant their previous treatment and health status had been recorded. Behaviour, posture, body condition and other examination like eyes, hair and ears had been assessed and palpation was carried out for the subcutaneous lymph nodes, respiratory system, abdomen as well as the auscultation of cardiovascular. A paediatric laryngoscope was used to examine the oral cavity of guinea pigs by reviewing the previous study did by Jekl and Knotek (2007). The result shown that dental problem was with highest prevalence (36.3%) in the middle age group in male than female guinea pigs. Second prevalence disease was the skin problems (33.3%) in guinea pigs below the age of two. While third common disease was ovarian cystic disease in female guinea pigs older than two years old. Other health disorders included the gastrointestinal stasis, fatty eye, tibiofeoral osteoarthritis and ciliary body calcifications. 81 out of 1000 guinea pigs were found healthy throughout the experiment (Minarikova et al., 2015). This could be concluded that the most common disease suffered for guinea pigs were dental or oral disease, skin problem and ovarian cystic disease.. Another research studied the causes of dental disease in the pet guinea pigs and found nothing related to the diet they consumed and what cause the dental disease was highly related to the environment they in contact with. It was very important for the owners to be aware of the clinical symptom of dental disease to prevent the guinea pigs from suffering pain or secondary infection. One of the most common sign was the difficulty of eating and thus causing malnutrition (Norman & Wills, 2016). The clinical. 12. FYP FIAT. 2.2.3.

(37) and Disorders of the Oral Cavity of Guinea Pigs” (Legendre, 2016).. 2.3. Purpose of guinea pig. 2.3.1. Meat Production. Guinea pigs originated from Andes, South America. They were important source of meat production and played important role in religious ceremonies and local medicine (MŸller-Haye, 1981). The Spaniards brought the guinea pigs to Europe following the conquest of Peru in 1532 (MŸller-Haye, 1981). Guinea pig was an importance source of meat production that was rich in protein and low in fat-content (Martin, 1991). The meat of guinea pig tasted aliked with rabbit meat (Martin, 1991). One of the country that extensively used guinea pig as meat source was Peru (Koeslag, 1989). In Peru, the popularity had been taken off and guinea pig farming was found helpful to reduce poverty rate for many peasant farmers that lived below the minimum wage (Chambers, 2017). About 21 million of guinea pigs found in Peru and about 65 million of animals were slaughtered to produce 16,500 tons of meat annually (Koeslag, 1989). The meat was mostly consumed by the rural population as important source of animal protein. Andean countries like Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia also widely used guinea pigs as one of the meat source. Research shown that half a million of guinea pigs were exclusively found in Colombia in the Andean part of the Department of Narino for meat production which locate nearly to the border with Ecuador (Koeslag, 1989).. Although the guinea pigs were widely used in Narino as meat production but the productivity was very low due to the poor management of the manufacturer. Poor management in term of housing facilities and feeding increased the risk of animal. 13. FYP FIAT. signs of dental disease for guinea pigs had been stated in an article with title “Anatomy.

(38) causing them to be lack of appetite and became sick. There might be lack of professional knowledge of the manufacturer about the care of guinea pig and the problem of mixing the guinea pigs with different sex and ages resulted in high incidence of contagious disease (Koeslag, 1989). Guinea pigs were unable to tolerate with the sudden changed of environment and thus, more care should be provided to the guinea pig to ensure proper growth throughout their life time (Cristina & Joshua, n.d.). Healthy guinea pigs will had short, fine and light-colour hair for short hair breed and grow quickly.. Knowing the colour preference of guinea pigs, special feed container could be utilised by the manufacturer of Narino to improve the consumption rate of guinea pigs so to achieve desired market size. Behaviour study information were believed to be beneficial to the manufacturer to provide a more suitable and comfortable environment for the growth of guinea pigs.. 2.3.2. Research purpose. Guinea pigs were widely used in laboratory research as guinea pigs were biologically similar to humans. A previous study done by Fiala, Sohn, Wang, Seibert, Tsurutani, Dennis and Aliaga (2005) with the tittle “Induction of Preneoplastic Lung Lesions in Guinea Pigs by Cigarette Smoke Inhalation and Their Exacerbation by High Dietary Levels of Vitamins C and E, Carcinogenesis” had assessed the guinea pigs on the effects of natural antioxidants like ascorbic acid alone and with other combination of antioxidants that cause pulmonary damage due to reactive oxygen and nitrogen species derived from the inhaled cigarette smoke had proved the usefulness of guinea pigs for humans as well as as human research (Fiala et al., 2005). Previous researches that studied on the effects of cigarette smoke inhalation of guinea pigs had suggested. 14. FYP FIAT. disease as guinea pig stressed out easily whenever they felt uncomfortable and thus.

(39) than mice or rat” (Toxicol, 1998; Liu, Lian, Smith, et al., 2003; Wittschi, 2000; Dontenwill, et al., 1973). A book mentioned that “just like human, an exogenous source of ascorbic acid was required by guinea pigs as well” (Nutrient requirement of the guinea pig, 1995).. Guinea pigs also had been widely used for human disease diagnosis like tuberculosis, legionnaires disease, Q fever, listeria respiratory disease like asthma and so on due to its high susceptibility to infectious disease (Danielle, David & Anthony, 2008). A research was carried out in year 1882 to study the guinea pigs for the identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that triggered tuberculosis (Koch, 1882) . Besides human disease studies, guinea pigs also had been used for immunological studies and auditory research as the structure of the guinea pig ear was similar to human that the hearing range might be similar as well (Martin, n.d.). Red blood cells, tissue, organ, polyclonal antibodies and complement of guinea pigs played roles in the biochemical and biological research. Tissue and isolated organ of guinea pigs such like lung and intestine were useful in the research for developing new medicines (Health INC., 2016). Guinea pigs were found closely related to humans, thus guinea pigs vision investigation might be an important factor to show whether guinea pigs had colour preferences like human.. 2.4. Colour vision of Guinea pig. 2.4.1. Previous research. Guinea pig had been widely used in scientific research purpose and medical investigation but due to its docile characteristic, it had been treated as household pet and in some countries as meat source (Bradt, 1988). Miles, Ratoosh and Meyer (1956) 15. FYP FIAT. that “guinea pigs were more preferred and suitable for laboratory experiment rather.

(40) discriminate between red and green light and between green and blue light. However, another research was carried out a discriminative experiment based on the vision of guinea pigs by testing the guinea pigs with the both light and found guinea pigs were able to discriminate a blue light from the green light and concluded that guinea pigs did had colour vision (Miles et al., 1956). Due to this uniqueness, the ordinal status of guinea pigs may be separated from the species of Rodentia (Graur, Hide, & Li, 1991; Li, Hide, Zharkikh, Ma, & Graur, 1992). If this idea was correct, comparison between guinea pigs and typical rodents based on their spectral mechanism will be useful information for evolution of the receptors and photopigments in their retinas.. Bridges (1959) stated that “the guinea pig has rods-rich retina which is a typical photopigment with peak absorption of 497 nm for mammalian rhodopsin”. Granit (1994) concluded that “the guinea pigs have a pure rod-eye”. An argument made by O'Day (1947) who reported the earlier observation done by Kolmer (1036) who concluded that "the retina of guinea pig is certainly not pure rod”. While few researchers suggested that “the guinea pigs contain both rods and cones in their retinas” (Szel & Rohlich, 1992; Hecht & Schlaer, 1936). According to Meissl and Thiele (1987) and Weale (1995), guinea pigs shown response when light-evoked. Behaviour study by King (1956) and Rood (1972) concluded that the guinea pigs did show crepuscular activity rhythms in natural and semi-natural environment while continuous activity in the constant illumination and darkness environment (Harper, 1976).. Colour vision required at least two spectrally distinct population of cones (Parry & Bowmaker, 2002). Studies about the basic features of the vision and the vision system in guinea pig were rare and not well known by the public. According to Jacobs and Deegan (1994), a behavioural discrimination tests and the electroretinogram (ERG) flicker photometry were carried out to determine the spectral sensitivity and spectral 16. FYP FIAT. had suggested that guinea pigs lack of colour vision as guinea pigs could not.

(41) the ERG flicker that known as ERG flicker photometry which the procedures and material used was previously described in an earlier publications (Jacobs, Geist & Neitz, 1989; Neitz & Jacobs, 1984). The result from the experiment indicated that guinea pigs contained rods about 494 nm peak sensitivity in its retinas and cones with peak sensitivities about 429nm and 529 nm which suggested to be the retinal basis for the capability of colour vision (Jacobs, Jess & Deegan, 1994). Another research was carried out to determine the visual pigment content of rods and cones of guinea pigs with similar result to support Gerald and Deegan statement (Parry & Bowmaker, 2002). Thus, as guinea pigs could differentiated colour further study could be done on their colour preference.. 2.4.2. Colour preference of guinea pig. Gerald and Deegan (1994) stated that “guinea pig can differentiate certain objects and is not colour blind. Previous research from Horst Bielfeld carried out an experiment using difference coloured food bowls and change the order every day in his books, Guinea Pigs – A Complete Pet Owner’s Manual and the result shown that guinea pigs searched out the coloured food bowl with food (Katrin, 1998). The result indicated that guinea pigs had colour preference. The preferred colour make them feel comfortable with (Sharon, 2003).. A research done by the John Bowne High School stated that “ the guinea pig preferred yellow colour food bowl and blue colour drinker and not interested at all to black coloured food bowl (Cristina & Joshua, n.d.). A housing contained four coloured food bowls and drinkers (red, yellow, green and blue) and one black coloured food bowl as control were used to investigate the colour preference of the guinea pigs by determined the consumption rate of the feed and water for three months. Total up to 17. FYP FIAT. mechanism of guinea pigs. The electrophysiological experiments was used to analyse.

(42) American) with three females and one male were used throughout the research project. Both sexes of guinea pigs used made the result more promising. However, there were some improvement should be done by the research to make the result more convincing. More samples with different breed and age groups should be used to show more accurate and concise results so do provide a better understanding of the colour preference of guinea pigs.. 2.5. Behaviour of guinea pigs. Guinea pigs regardless of different breed, age, gender, they communicated through sound, behaviour and body language. It is important to understand the guinea pigs behaviour in order to understand their behaviour pattern either is normal or abnormal that they are trying to communicate with.. Guinea pigs were active in night (Akita, Ishii, Kuwahara & Tsubone, 2001;Nicholls, 1992). The activeness of male American guinea pigs for this research project were observed base on different times ( 9 a.m., 12 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.) in different treatments. Same went to their growth rate throughout the 16 weeks of experiment. The common behaviour of guinea pigs that were going to be observed throughout this research project with explanation was as shown below;. Table 2.1: Common behaviour of guinea pigs Behaviour Barbering. Explanation Another words of chewing hair that will cause bald patch. This behaviour often occurred as a result of conflicts between adult males or between adult and young. It also exhibited by. 18. FYP FIAT. four guinea pigs from different species (White crested, Abyssinian, Peruvian and.

(43) Excessive barbering should be stop immediately as it might due to the mange mite infection (Jackie, 2010). Beg for Food. A wheeking sound made by the guinea pigs to attract owner attention for food and sometimes accompanied by standing up using their hind leg (Jackie, 2010).. Bite food bowl. Some guinea pigs bite their cage or food bowl as they were getting bored and wanted to seek for attention (Jackie, 2010).. Coprophagy. Formal words for eating faeces. As for all breed of guinea pigs, they produced two type of faeces. One was soft rich in nitrogen that derived from the caecum and will be re-ingested after being passed. Another type was passed as faecal. About 40% of the waste produced by the guinea pigs will be consumed.. Drinking. They approached to drinker for water.. Eating. They approached to food bowl for feed to eat.. Fighting. Often occur between males guinea pigs. They fight for dominance. Stopped them immediately by separating them as they will fight until death if none of the guinea pigs surrendered in the fight (Jackie, 2010).. Freezing. They stood very still for a short period when they felt threatened or heard of sudden sound that they were unfamiliar with to make themselves seem invisible (Jackie, 2010).. Genital cleaning. A behaviour of grooming at their genital part.. Grooming. They stood on their hind legs and cleaned themself with their front legs by licking their fur (Jackie, 2010).. Hiding. Since they were timid by nature, they used to run away and hided (Jackie, 2010).. 19. FYP FIAT. stressed female or bored guinea pig (Guinea Lynx, 2017)..

(44) Formal words for ‘popcorning’. A behaviour shown when guinea pigs were extremely excited and happy. They ran and jumped in to the air, landed on all fours, bounced up again in the air and turned to the other way (Jackie, 2010).. Laying down. Occurred when they felt relax and wanted to rest.. Low purring. A low pitch of sound made by the guinea pigs when they felt contented and comfortable. A higher pitch indicated a sound of annoyance (Lianne, 2017).. Mounting. A sexual behaviour between male and female guinea pigs. However, it was also a sign on dominance that could occurred between the males or females (Jackie, 2010).. Moving backward. They moved backward when they felt threatened.. Nose nudging. Another dominance behaviour of guinea pigs (Jackie, 2010).. Nose scratching. A behaviour to make their nose cleaned. Excessive scratching followed by sneezing might be due to respiratory infection that caused by environment irritant (Rosenthal, n.d.).. Running. They were running around in the cage when they were excited and happy follow by jumping (Jackie, 2010).. Scratching. They scratched themselves during the occasional urge to itch. Excessive scratched should be alerted as it might due to some skin problem (Jackie, 2010).. Sitting. Normal behaviour when they wanted, eating, resting and relaxing.. Sleeping. They slept with their eyes widely open. They did not sleep long and often just a quick nap. Total time for them to sleep per day is about 4 – 5 hours. They rested their head on the ground. Some of them spread out their hind legs when they were totally. 20. FYP FIAT. Jumping.

(45) they felt extremely safe and comfortable (Jackie, 2010). Sneezing. Normal behaviour that mostly cause by dust. Excessive sneezing should be concerned as it might be infection or allergy.. Yawning. Occur after a slept or may also occurred when they were relaxed and happy (Jackie, 2010).. 21. FYP FIAT. relaxed. Sometimes they might fully closed their eyes when.

(46) MATERIALS AND METHODS. 3.1. Animal Experiment Design. Total up to four male American guinea pigs were used for this research project. They were all given birth by the same mother. They were purchased from the Pets Wonderland Pet Store at Shah Alam Centre City Mall in their ages of two months. All the guinea pigs were checked physically to ensure their health status before purchased. The four guinea pigs were separated into two groups, named as Group A and Group B with two guinea pigs per group that both underwent two treatments.. 3.1.1. Equipment. The equipment used for this project were four different coloured food bowls (red, yellow, green and blue colour), two silver food bowls, two black food bowls, two drinkers, towers as bedding, grey and white coroplast and two big aquariums. While weighting balance and beakers were used as the measuring equipment to study the consumption rate of the male American guinea pig by weighting the feed consumption in gram based on different food bowls in both aquariums three times weekly. The coroplast were used as the basement layer of bedding in the aquarium for easier cleaning process.. 22. FYP FIAT. CHAPTER 3.

(47) Feed and water. Commercial feed pellet were used as the main feed for the feeding purpose for the tested male American guinea pigs in this project. The commercial feed pellet were purchased from the pet shop. 30 gram of pellet should be provided per guinea pigs per day as stated by Katrin (1998). However, to avoid shortage of food, the guinea pigs were provided in extra amount of pellet in the first few weeks of experiment. Other than that, fresh capsicum and cucumber were supplied to the guinea pigs every day twice as succulent to fulfil the nutrient requirement like vitamin C for the guinea pigs as they lacked of the ability to synthesis vitamin C by themselves (Cristina & Joshua, n.d.). Commercial feed pellet were given three times a week for each groups of guinea pigs in their respective aquariums with equal weight for each food bowl. Water source was from the University water supply and drinkers were provided in each aquarium. The feed in each food bowls were weighted and recorded in gram before (initial weight) and after (final weight) the guinea pigs consumption, water was replenished for each aquarium every day. The raw data collected for feed pellet given with initial and final weight for three times per week could refer to Appendix Table A.1.. 3.2. Methods. 3.2.1. Preparation of sample. Four male American guinea pigs were purchased from the Pets Wonderland Pet Store at Shah Alam Centre City Mall in their ages of two months. Daily routine of the guinea pigs were inquired from the pet shop owner to minimize the stress caused by transferring the guinea pigs from the pet shop to the research venue as guinea pigs could not tolerate sudden change of environment (Cristina & Joshua, n.d.). 23. FYP FIAT. 3.1.2.

(48) Preparation of housing area for guinea pigs. Two big aquariums together with covers labelled as A and B were used as the housing for the male American guinea pigs. According to The Human Society of United States (2017), the suitable cage size for two guinea pigs were 10.5 square feet with 30” x 50” or more were favourable for the movement of guinea pigs. However, due to limited resources, the aquariums used was in the size of 18’’ x 36’’. Coroplasts were used as basement bedding in each aquarium. White coroplast was placed in aquarium A and grey coroplast in aquarium B. Aquarium A was the coloured environment and aquarium B was the dull environment. Four coloured food bowls will be placed in each corner in aquarium A and two silver and two black food bowls labelled as Na, Nb, Ba and Bb were placed in each corner in aquarium B. All the food bowls will be rotated clockwise every weeks to make each corner with different colour per week. Drinkers were provided in each aquarium. The aquariums were cleaned twice a week in the morning to ensure a hygienic environment to the guinea pigs and towers were used as second layer of bedding for the guinea pigs. Extra towels were used as shelter for hiding purpose. The layout plan for the housing of guinea pigs was shown as below. Aquarium A. R. Y. White Coroplast. Drinker G. B. Towel bedding Food bowl. Figure 3.1: The layout plan for the housing with coloured food bowls in aquarium A as coloured environment.. 24. FYP FIAT. 3.2.2.

(49) Na. Nb. Grey Coroplast Drinker Bb. Ba. Towel bedding Food bowl. Figure 3.2: The layout plan for the housing with silver and black food bowls in aquarium B as dull environment.. 3.2.3. Preparation of coloured food bowl. Silver finger bowls were used as the food bowls for this research study due to limited budget. Five different coloured tapes were used to wrap the finger bowls and making it as different coloured food bowl. The five coloured tapes were red, yellow, green, blue and black colour. Four coloured finger bowls as food bowls in aquarium A and two finger bowls with black tape and two normal silver finger bowls in aquarium B. To prevent the finger bowls to be moved around by the guinea pigs, plastic suction cups were used on each food bowls to stick on the corner of each aquarium.. 3.2.4. Research experiment procedures. Two pairs of male American guinea pigs for each group were placed separately in two equal sizes of aquariums with tower bedding for the guinea pigs to roam freely. Total up to two groups of male American guinea pigs were used for this research experiment. Inside each of the aquarium the food bowls labelled R, B, G and Y in aquarium A and Ba, Bb, Na, Nb in aquarium B. All the food bowls were rotated. 25. FYP FIAT. Aquarium B.

(50) green and blue) in aquarium A and dull food bowls (silver and black) in aquarium B with the same initial weight to investigate the total amount of feed consumption for each food bowls by the male American guinea pigs to determine their colour preference as the guinea pigs were eating from all the different colour bowls. Water was provided in a drinkers in each aquarium. The aquariums was cleaned twice a week to ensure a hygienic environment for the guinea pigs.. There were two treatments for this study named as Treatment 1 and Treatment 2. Both with 8 weeks duration. The experiment design for this research project was the repeated measure method that was counterbalancing. The same groups of male American guinea pigs were taken part in both coloured and dull environment. The male American guinea pigs were separated into Group A and Group B. In Treatment 1, Group A guinea pig were placed in aquarium A (coloured environment) then to aquarium B (dull environment) for Treatment 2. While in contrast, Group B guinea pigs were placed in aquarium B (dull environment) for Treatment 1 than to aquarium A (coloured environment) for Treatment 2.. The given feed was measured and weighed in gram to acquire the consumed weight for each food bowls three times a week from each aquarium and the water was replenished every day. All data collected was recorded in a table form and analysed using a bar chart, line graph and pie chart for summarizing the results obtained throughout the experiment. The male American guinea pigs were expected to consume more in the coloured environment and to prove this statement, comparison and One way ANOVA test was carried out for the feed consumption for both groups of male American guinea pigs in Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 after the 16 weeks of guinea pigs rearing. The amount of feed given to the male American guinea pigs were remained the same initial weight for each food bowl every time replenish throughout 26. FYP FIAT. clockwise weekly. Feed was provided to the different coloured food bowls (red, yellow,.

(51) American guineas was observed and recorded to determine their colour preference in each environment. One way ANOVA test was carried out to determine the significant different for the time approached based on different food bowls for the male American guinea pigs in each environment.. As for the behaviour study of the male American guinea pigs in both aquariums, all of them were observed 5 times per day (9 a.m., 12 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m.) with a 30 minutes of observation duration for each time based on the behaviour pattern towards the food bowls in aquarium A and B. Whether they liked to approach, sleep, rest or react actively around either one of the food bowl and their activeness throughout the day in both aquariums. Data collected was tabulated and analysed to make a comparison between the guinea pigs in both aquarium A and aquarium B to investigate the relationship between the environment manipulated by colour and the behaviour pattern of male American guinea pigs based on different environment. One way ANOVA test was carried out as well to determine the significant different of the behaviour for the tested male American guinea pigs in different environment. The weight gained of the male American guinea pigs was recorded by weighting each of them once per week. They were believed to gain weight better in the coloured environment. Comfortableness behaviour of the male American guinea pigs was observed as well to determine whether they reacted actively with either one of the coloured food bowl and react more comfortable in either one of the environment. One way ANOVA tests were carried out to determine the weight gained and comfortable behaviour based on the different environment for the male American guinea pigs.. 27. FYP FIAT. the experiment. The time approached to different coloured food bowls for each male.

(52) This research project was carried out for 16 weeks beside the animal lab located in University Malaysia Kelantan Campus Jeli. 8 weeks for Treatment 1 and another 8 weeks for Treatment 2. The data collection was carried out by weighting the food bowls in both aquarium A and B for acquiring the amount of feed consumption on each food bowl three times a week during the Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday in the morning (8.30 a.m.). The initial weight of feed was provided in the same amount for every food bowls. Weighting balance was used to weight the feed before and after consumed by the guinea pigs. Beakers was used to collect the feed. All data collected were tabulated and analysed using a bar graph and line graph for showing results of feed consumption of different groups of male American guinea pigs in different environment based on different food bowls. The calculation of acquiring the consumed weight of feed for each food bowls was as below; Weighting of feed consumption, Initial weight of feed in each food bowl – final weight of feed in each food bowl = Total feed consumed weight by guinea pigs for each food bowl.. While for the behaviour study of the male American guinea pigs in both aquariums, all of them were observed 5 times per day (9 a.m., 12 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m.) with 30 minutes duration for each session based on the behaviour pattern towards the different food bowls in aquarium A and B. Whether they liked to approach, sleep, rest or react actively around either one of the food bowls and their activeness throughout the day in both aquariums. The observation (data) was collected, tabulated and analysed to make a comparison between guinea pigs in both aquarium A and aquarium B to investigate the relationship between the environment manipulated by colour and the behaviour pattern of male American guinea pigs. 28. FYP FIAT. 3.2.4.1 Data collection.

I certify that the report of this final year project entitled &ldquo;Behaviour Study in an Environment Manipulated by Colour on Male American Guinea Pig (Cavia Porcellus)&rdquo

I certify that the report of this final year project entitled “Behaviour Study in an Environment Manipulated by Colour on Male American Guinea Pig (Cavia Porcellus)&rdquo