We're Gonna Get some Babies!!!

[wyvernrider18]

I am SOOOO excited. The exotics animal director at my college wants to breed another litter of baby hedghogs and she's going to let me pick the breeding pair! I think mostly because I am the only one here who has the best idea of which hedgies can be bred without inbreeding. I have studied their physical genetics closely and decided that Boss Hog and Hotaru should be the breeding pair because I am 100% certain that they aren't related at all, and because Hotaru needs to be bred soon to stay with in the suggested first breeding period. I'm so excited, i get to watch a new litter grow up, and if we get any apricot babies from the litter, I'm going to try and get my hands on one because i want an apricot SO bad! EEP! :winkgrin:

[kaiteedyd]

It should be easy to tell when hedgehogs aren't related. You simply look at their pedigree.

[wyvernrider18]

We don't have pedigrees on these guys, and i don't know where the school got them from, but I'm pretty sure Boss and Hotaru aren't related because I'm pretty sure Boss hasn't fathered any litters yet. From what I'm noticing as far as characteristics, the only two litters that have been bred here have been to the same breeding pair. But I'm still excited. Boss is such a pretty apricot, so its going to be fun to see what kind of babies he's going to produce.

[kaiteedyd]

I don't understand breeding animals that don't have pedigrees. How can you know they're not related without lineage?

Saying that Boss hasn't fathered any litters and therefore is unrelated to the female doens't make any sense.

I'm not trying to pop your bubble and you're going to do what you want to but I don't see the logic in what you're saying.

[wyvernrider18]

Basically, I'm techinacally NOT the one breeding them, i have just been given permission to pick the breeding pair, they MIGHT have ppedigrees on them, but I don't think so. Basically we would call these "lab animals" since their used in our vet tech studies. We don't do anything mean to them, no, but she wants to breed them so the students have some kind of experience with them.

[Lc51290]

I was just curious but if you don't know where Boss Hog and Hotaru came from couldn't it be possible that they had the same mother and/or fathers? Did you get the two hedgehogs from the same breeder? Even if your school owns the hedgehogs they have to know where the hedgehogs originally came from.
Anyway good luck with the litter.

[wyvernrider18]

I know Boss Hog and Hotaru didn't have the same mother or father because Hotaru was bred here and Boss Hog wasn't, but I'm pretty sure they aren't related. We put then together today. It was so cute, Boss was squeaking at her. I've never gotten to see hedgehog courtship, so I got a smile from it. Also, is there any way to tell if she has been bred? I know some animals exhibit a vaginal plug after they've been bred, but I'm not sure about hedgehogs....

[Lc51290]

After a female has been bred I have never seen evidence of a vaginal plug. I don't believe there is such a thing for hedgehogs. I might be wrong though... :dunno:
Give it a few weeks (about three) and you might begin to see some weight gain. Some hedgehogs also can experience a change in their personalities. Around 28 days I always clean the mother to be's cage and baby proof it, which includes removing the wheel. By this time you might also notice her nipples may be slightly enlarged. Sometimes you can even see a dark spot under the skin of their belly. This is the liver being pushed against the skin by the growing hoglets. I have found my hedgehogs to birth between 33 and 37 days from the first day they were in with the male.
Good luck! :)