>>The guys are strictly vegetarian. The only processed food they accept is bread.
>
>Sorry, we're talking at cross purposes here. I'd forgotten you promulgated getting a guinea pig instead of a hamster. I was thinking of the allegation that they "chow down" on their young. G pigs are different in that they were originally bred for humans to chow down on, no?

Don't know what's so original about it :).

But yes - in Peru they are. For the rest of the world, the gunea pigs are bred to be used as, well, guinea pigs :). In Serbian, the domestic word is "zamorac" - "za-" meaning "for-", and "moriti" - to kill (same root as in nightmare; Morija was some Slavic god of plague or whatever).

Their current use as pets is the first chance for the poor little animals to have a decent life. And if you saw our one, more wide than long, it's more than decent :).