another how old to breed question

[horslvr123]

Ive read many different opinions on how old to breed a female.. Id like some clarification..
Do you start breeding when she hits the 6 month mark? If shes healthy and all, of course. Or do you want the babies born when she is 6 months??
Oh, and a color question.. If you want to get babies with more colors than the normal colors, should you breed to a colored male??
Example: a chocolate snowflake female.. breed to an algerian chocolate.. what are the chances of getting snow flakes? Or should that female be bred to a snowflake male??
Is there any type of color predictor??

Thanks for any and all thoughts on this..

[Nancy]

Some hedgehogs can be bred as early as 5 months but I myself would not do that as I am a new breeder and don't consider myself qualified to judge if they are developed enough. So your answer would be breed at 6 months.

As for colour, what colour are the parents, grandparents etc? Hedgehog genetics can go back 8 generations so you could end up with any of those past colours.

[bloane]

I personally don't breed my girls until they are at least 6 months, which has them having babies at 7 months.
Your snowflake female could throw snowflake babies with a standard male. Or cotty babies. Or albino babies. Or who only knows what. The parent's color does not determine the offspring color exactly. Like Nancy said, it can draw for several generations into the past to find something to confuse you.
Becca

[horslvr123]

What is Cotty??

[Nefarious77]

You might check out the "Hedgehog Colors" section of http://www.atlantishedgehogs.com/

You may learn a lot about genetics and color variations.

[bloane]

Cotty is a shortened form of "apricot" or "cinnacot". I recently bred a chocolate and a chocolate pinto together, got a grey, a chocolate pinto, a chocolate, and a pale apricot that may go white. The best thing about hedgehog colors is that they aren't really predictable, so even if you think you know what you should get, they can still throw you for a loop.
Becca

[sailordragon87]

here's a stupid question ( i dont have hedgehogs) but when babys are born are they like the chinchilla and guinea pig fully furred, teath,claws and eyes open? or are they pink things?

cassie

[bloane]

Little pink wigglies at first, though they have quills within an hour or two after birth. Their eyes don't open until about 2 1/2 weeks of age.
Becca