Their are currently 7 different breed of longhair guinea pig in Australia. All the longhair breeds have a coat that grows an inch a month on average. By the time a longhair is 12 months of age the coat length the coat length will settle at 12 inches long. It is recommend to clip a longhairs coat every month so it stays nice and short, comfortable and tidy for the guinea pig. Longhair guinea pigs also need regular grooming to avoid their coats matting or becoming tangled you can clip the coat by sitting your guinea pig on a stand approx 30cm above the ground ( either a stand you have made yourself or a bucket turned upside down also makes a good grooming stand ) with normal scissors or electric clippers. Longhair guinea pigs coats should be groomed with a wide tooth comb and never a brush as brushes can damage the coat.
Longhair guinea pigs also need to be kept preferably indoors and on absorbent bedding such as recycled paper kitty litter or wood shavings so that their coat stays dry and clean. Longhairs require extra time, care, cleanliness and coat maintenance compared to shorthair breeds of guinea pig.

Peruvian
The Peruvian coat is soft and silky and straight. The coat can grow up to 20 inches long. The Peruvian under all it's hair has two rosettes on the rump it is not uncommon to find a Peruvian with a couple of extra rosettes although this can interfere with the way the coat naturally falls. The hair on the Peruvian also grows over the face and this is called the frontal. The frontal should grow at the same rate as the rest of the coat.

Sheltie
The Sheltie has a long soft and silky straight coat with nice texture just like the Peruvian. There are NO rosettes on the sheltie and the coat does not grow over the face. The coat grows around the face and under the chin and the coat around the chin is referred to as ' chops '. The coat in full length can grow up to 20 inches long with 12 inches for exhibition being common. The sheltie also has a nice thick part of coat called shoulder coat and this can be groomed back from the shelties face as shown in images below.

Coronet
The Coronet is the same as the sheltie and is a straight coated longhair like the sheltie although the difference between the coronet and the sheltie is that the coronet has a " crest " on the head. The crest is pinpoint, deep, and well centered and spaced evenly between the ears and eyes.

Texel
The Texel is a curly coated longhair with soft crimped ringlets throughout the coat. The Texel has a clear face with no hair falling over the face. The Texel is basically the same as the sheltie although the coat is curly/crimped rather than straight.

English Merino
The English Merino has the same crimped/curly coat as the Texel although the English Merino has a " crest " on the head. The crest is pinpoint, deep, and well centered and spaced evenly between the ears and eyes.

Alpaca

The Alpaca has the same coat fall as the Peruvian with a frontal ( hair ) that grows over the face and the alpaca also has two rump rosettes also like that of the Peruvian. The Alpacas coat falls into spirals and ringlets where as the Peruvian has a silky straight coat.

Sheba-Mini-Yak

The Sheba-Mini-Yak has a coat that should not grow past ground level. The Sheba is known as the messy longhair the sheba has rosettes placed randomly all over the body and this brings ' lift ' to the coat and gives it it's messy appearance. The more rosettes the messier and more lift the guinea pig will have.

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