# Introducing Volcano View Hedgehogs! Pics!



## moxieberry

Hi everyone! I'm back after a bit of an extended absence - finals took over my life for a week or two, and since then things have been insanely busy as we've been getting everything in order for breeding. Volcano View Hedgehogs is now less of a pipe dream and more of an actual "thing". We're a few weeks away from getting our USDA license (currently setting up the in-home vet inspection and putting some finishing touches on the hedgehog room) and thanks to our wonderful mentor, Kim Miller (of Kymwana Tiggy Winkles/KTW), our first litter is due at the beginning of August. Hedgehogs have become our life, and we couldn't be happier about it!

Our herd now numbers six, with another six coming by the end of the summer. The last time I was on the forum we were just about to bring home our first two girls (Zombie and Anubis) so I think some more introductions are in order!

Archimedes:









Oleander:








Oleander was one of Kim's studs. He's kind of crazy (in a good way!) - he's wheel-crazy and never sits still when we have him out. It makes it hard to take good photos of him, haha.

Datura:








Datura was also one of Kim's studs, and he's actually the father of Anubis. We've loved him since we first met him months ago, and when Kim said she was considering selling him (because she's trying to bring in new lines for breeding) we just had to have him. He's so chill about everything, and he makes such pretty pinto babies.

Zombie:








Zombie is a little sweetie. She and Anubis were born on the same day, in different litters, and they've been raised together since they were a few weeks old - so they live together in a double-bin cage. They have several hideaways to choose from but always prefer to sleep together in their bag.

Anubis:








Anubis ("Newbie") is the sweetest girl ever. She literally doesn't ever raise her quills, and she's so relaxed that she'll even stay asleep when being picked up out of her bag.

Maybe:








Maybe is from Picky Hedgies (Jeanne/JBG) in Colorado. Right now she's being a bit huffy from quilling, but she has her sweet moments too.

Plumeria:








Plumeria was a breeder in Kim's herd. She has about a year left before it's time for her to be retired, so Kim sold her to us. She'll be the mama of our first litter - Oleander is the father. She's proven to be a great mama already.

Vendetta:








Vendetta is a gorgeous dark girl coming from Kim in a few weeks.

Pseudonym (left) and Cerberus:















Pseudonym ("Nym") and Cerberus are brother and sister coming from Happy Hedgies/HPY. (Borrowed these photos from their website.)

No photos yet:
Wilde (full name Wilde Thing), a medium-range male coming from Lilac City Hedgehogs/LCH.
Fog (full name Fog of War), a reverse pinto male coming from Briar Patch Hedgehogs/BPH.
Jinx, a female (color undetermined), also coming from BPH.

I'll be sure to post pics of those last three as soon as I have them!


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## shetland

Such beautiful hedgies!


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## PJM

A lovely herd you have there. Can't wait to see baby pictures!!


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## fairywinged

Oh i have seen pictures of Oleander he is adorable.


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## SquiggyTheHedgie

Welcome back and congrats!  Looks like you have indeed been a busy lady, with so many new adorable hedgies!


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## moxieberry

Thanks everyone! There will definitely be baby pics, I promise. Oleander and Plumeria are both proven breeders, and they've had at least one litter together before. Plumeria was actually Archimedes' foster mama.

@fairywinged - You're actually getting Vendetta's two sisters! Jenn (Isismommy) said you were considering housing them together - she's probably answered all of your questions about that wonderfully, but feel free to ask me anything as well, since I have two girls housed together too. And be sure to let me know what day you'll be picking the girls up! We'll probably be there regardless, since we love to help Kim on the days that new owners come over, but I want to be sure I get a chance to meet you! :]


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## coribelle

I'm so happy to be hearing from you and seeing all your beautiful pictures of your beautiful babies! I was just thinking about you and how the breeding was going, no joke. Can't wait to hear more and see pictures of lovely hoglets!


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## moxieberry

coribelle said:


> I'm so happy to be hearing from you and seeing all your beautiful pictures of your beautiful babies! I was just thinking about you and how the breeding was going, no joke. Can't wait to hear more and see pictures of lovely hoglets!


Aw, that's so sweet! It's going great, although it's a LOT of work. Very rewarding work, of course, and that's without even having any babies yet! There are so many little particulars that need attention. The website has been a huge labor of love, and we just got set up to start selling wheels and bags and some other things. My other pet project has been the pedigree database, which is literally the single tool I could not do without. I actually kind of enjoy the tedium of data entry with that thing, which is good, because otherwise it would probably drive me nuts, lol!

I'll definitely be posting updates! And photos, of course! The next baby we're getting is Wilde - Kim is getting a boy from that same litter. LCH is located in Spokane, WA, which is 10ish hours all the way across the state, so Kim is picking up both boys on her way back from a trip to Montana. We'll be getting Wilde when she gets back from that - so excited! That should be sometime in the next few days (not sure exactly when she was planning to get back) so I'll have plenty of pics to post then!


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## DasIgelPoggie

OMGOMGOMG!! Your herd is GORGEOUS!!!  I'm so excited to see all the resulting babies!!!! :mrgreen:


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## Tabi

Awww I love zombie's face markings  so cuuuute


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## moxieberry

DasIgelPoggie said:


> OMGOMGOMG!! Your herd is GORGEOUS!!!  I'm so excited to see all the resulting babies!!!! :mrgreen:


Thank you! I knooow! It makes it so hard to choose who to pair together first, haha! At least the first litter is pretty easy to predict - both parents are chocolate snowflakes. Then again, Oleander definitely carries the pinto gene, and I know one of the previous litters from Oleander x Plumeria had an albino, so there might be a few surprises in store. I'm counting the days until she's due!



Tabi said:


> Awww I love zombie's face markings  so cuuuute


Thanks!  We first got a glimpse of her at 10 days old when we were at Kim's - I saw the face and immediately knew we had to have her! Now we're getting a second little girl with a split face, too. Love those facial pintos, looove them!


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## fairywinged

I will let you know it would be nice to meet more hedgie people around me and yes Jen is extremely helpful she is great both her and Kim are. And that is cool about our hedgies being family lol a good friend from highschool has a boy from her first litter lol hedgie family everywhere. No it was funny we were talking about what breeder I was going to go to and she was like that is where I got mine from and then when I went to meet Kim and Jen they told me hers was from Hala's first litter (I hope I got the right momma )


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## HappyHedgies

We are so jealous that you get to have our little split mask female. Stephanie was saying you guys got the best two hedgies out of that litter  

LUCKY!


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## moxieberry

HappyHedgies said:


> We are so jealous that you get to have our little split mask female. Stephanie was saying you guys got the best two hedgies out of that litter
> 
> LUCKY!


It seems like whenever there's an especially awesome litter, there's only ever ONE girl. Story of my life the last few months, lol! We're so excited to get them.


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## moxieberry

Wilde came home today! He is so tiny and precious and has the most amazing temperament. We're so in love.  

Kim picked up him along with his brother (for her own herd) on the way back from a July 4th visit to some family in Montana, which saved us the looong drive out to Spokane, WA. She got home today while we were over there helping with cleaning cages and socializing babies - we hadn't expected her to get back until after we left, which would have meant we couldn't come pick Wilde up for a day or two, so we had bought tickets to go see Prometheus in the evening. Wilde ended up coming along, haha. (Not the first time we've done something like that - Zombie and Anubis came with us to see the Avengers.) He alternated between snoozing in his bag and crawling over my lap - probably the happiest little guy I've ever seen.



















I love the second one, lol! He's a bit squirmy - definitely more of an "explorer" type, but he just wants to crawl all over us instead of trying to get away. Now that he's in his cage he runs over to the side whenever we're by it and when I put my hand in, he climbs onto my palm. Such a little sweetie!


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## shetland

He has the sweetest face!! "Hey, I'm flying," in the second picture!


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## Lilysmommy

He's adorable! And I'll have you know, the second picture got "I Believe I Can Fly" stuck in my head now. :lol:


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## Isismommy

Love the pictures. I am happy to see you back too by the way.


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## moxieberry

Thanks everyone! At first I was thinking "superman" but now I think it looks like he's practicing for the swim team for the hedgie Olympics, lol.



Isismommy said:


> Love the pictures. I am happy to see you back too by the way.


Thanks! Kim got back at the perfect time yesterday, my brain was like: "must take photos while the light is still good!" I also have a ton of the other babies that Nick took.


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## Shaheennobar

I love them all! You have gorgeous hedgehogs! :mrgreen:


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## bmaditz

What a gorgeous happy family of hedgehogs you have!  I want to breed my hedgehog sooooo bad, but I don't have the space. In a few years I'm hoping I can!  You have some of the prettiest and most handsome hedgies I've seen  Congrats on the pregnancy and the new arrival! Best of luck to you and momma hedgehog


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## moxieberry

Shaheennobar said:


> I love them all! You have gorgeous hedgehogs! :mrgreen:


Thanks! I love them all too! 



bmaditz said:


> What a gorgeous happy family of hedgehogs you have!  I want to breed my hedgehog sooooo bad, but I don't have the space. In a few years I'm hoping I can!  You have some of the prettiest and most handsome hedgies I've seen  Congrats on the pregnancy and the new arrival! Best of luck to you and momma hedgehog


Thanks! Plumeria's been a great mama before, so even if we're going to have the first-time jitters, she won't, haha. Just make sure you know what you're getting into before you venture into breeding - it takes a lot more than just having enough space! We have a 9x10 room with a large closet dedicated to them and that's honestly the least complicated and least demanding aspect of it so far. It takes a lot of work, time, and money, and it comes with a lot of frustration sometimes. We knew what we were getting into, though, and we love it - so just make sure if you ever pursue breeding, you know what you're getting into also, and that you have an amazing mentor to guide you. We couldn't do it without Kim Miller.


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## Kelsey the hedgehog

OHMIGOSH....OH...MY..GOSH.. can i have Zombie? ..please? PLEEEAASEE??? :mrgreen: 

i think i'm in love..  her little face just calls to me..

and what a unique name! did she come with it or did you name her?

good luck with your hedgie family <3


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## moxieberry

Kelsey the hedgehog said:


> OHMIGOSH....OH...MY..GOSH.. can i have Zombie? ..please? PLEEEAASEE??? :mrgreen:
> 
> i think i'm in love..  her little face just calls to me..
> 
> and what a unique name! did she come with it or did you name her?
> 
> good luck with your hedgie family <3


I named her. Her full name is Zombie Apocalypse. 
Nick is responsible for naming Anubis, Vendetta, and Jinx, and for picking the name Cerberus from some I suggested. I'm responsible for the names Zombie, Wilde (Wilde Thing), Nym (Pseudonym), and Maybe (Maybe Ellipses). Plumeria, Oleander, and Datura were named by Kim, our mentor, since they were used by her for breeding before she sold them to us. She uses a flower theme for naming, if you couldn't tell. 

Nym has a split face too, like Zombie - we can't wait to see what she looks like when she's a little older!


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## moxieberry

A few more pics of Vendetta. These were actually taken the same day we got Wilde, but I got distracted and forgot to go through them and choose my favorites. She's a little over 3 weeks in these.  I love how dark she is, I really hope she keeps that big mask. And she's turned into a snowflake like her mama.

She's the next one coming home! To be followed closely by Jinx (and another girl from her litter, no name yet), then Cerberus and Pseudonym.


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## bmaditz

moxieberry said:


> Thanks! Plumeria's been a great mama before, so even if we're going to have the first-time jitters, she won't, haha. Just make sure you know what you're getting into before you venture into breeding - it takes a lot more than just having enough space! We have a 9x10 room with a large closet dedicated to them and that's honestly the least complicated and least demanding aspect of it so far. It takes a lot of work, time, and money, and it comes with a lot of frustration sometimes. We knew what we were getting into, though, and we love it - so just make sure if you ever pursue breeding, you know what you're getting into also, and that you have an amazing mentor to guide you. We couldn't do it without Kim Miller.


 So I've heard that's also what makes me tentative to breed Briar. It's lots of work (everyone says) I need time, space, and lots and lots of research


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## moxieberry

Also money, and a strong stomach. 

A good mentor should be #1 on the list of necessities for any new breeder. No matter how much research you do, it's only a supplement - it can't replace the experience of a mentor or the chance to get hands-on experience with a mentor before doing it on your own. We've been working with Kim for months and only just put Oleander and Plumeria together two weeks ago - and even that is more like a "test run", with both hedgehogs proven breeders that we purchased from Kim. And don't get me started on how much she's helped with pedigrees. XD She gave me her entire pedigree database and she looks at all the pedigrees of new babies we're getting to make sure there's nothing in them (WHS lines, etc.) that we couldn't possibly identify without her help. We went to Kim to ask her to mentor us a full month or two before we started making any of the other preparations for breeding, and we still learn more from her every time we go over there.

So, yes. Mentor. Mentor mentor mentor.


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## Kelsey the hedgehog

vendetta is a cutie! i'll take her too


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## HappyHedgies

I thought I would share with you and other followers some updated pictures of your new babies Nym and Cerberus! Cerberus didn't like the flash very much :lol:

They are doing great! They are still wobbly on their feet and haven't ventured out of the nest yet, but expected to be soon 

[attachment=2:h0r4uq6y]Nym.jpg[/attachment:h0r4uq6y]
[attachment=1:h0r4uq6y]Cerberus.jpg[/attachment:h0r4uq6y]
[attachment=0:h0r4uq6y]Two-Tone.jpg[/attachment:h0r4uq6y]


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## moxieberry

They are SO precious! I can't thank you enough for keeping us updated with photos!


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## moxieberry

Just got an update on the girls we're getting from Briar Patch Hedgehogs. We're now getting two girls from the same litter instead of a girl and a boy from different litters. They're around 3.5 weeks old in these photos (borrowed from the breeder's site). Meet Jinx (the medium/light range) and Karezza, the ******. 

















Karezza is Algerian chocolate, and I'm not sure about Jinx yet. Kim's guess is Algerian Apricot, although the breeder said her eyes are dark. Kim's a trained show judge, so I'll leave it to her to make the final call on Jinx's color once we bring the girls home. We plan to keep them together in a double-cage like we have for Zombie and Anubis. They'll be coming home at the end of the month!


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## moxieberry

Just got done installing all the shelving in the hedgehog room! Which pretty much means building it from scratch.









Taken at the end of the first day of building, which is why the top shelves still aren't complete. This is the shorter of the two shelves, 6.5' long.

The top-right and largest bin belongs to Nick's sister's hedgehog, Xenophilius, who isn't technically part of our herd, but he's in the hedgehog room while she's home for the summer. The top-left is a temporary bin with shavings for Maybe, who was on a precautionary preggo-watch (because she and her sister were shipped together with their brother at 7 weeks old). Fortunately, there were no babies! On the middle shelf, left to right: Maybe's normal bin, then Datura and Oleander. On the bottom, left to right: Zombie and Anubis (double-bin connected by PVC pipe), Wilde, and Archimedes.

And yay for poopy wheels, lol. :mrgreen:









The longer shelf (9' long), taken after everything was finished. At the moment the boys are on this side and the girls are on the other side, the reason being that Zombie and Anubis' connected bins fit better on the shorter shelf. Xeno is at the top, Datura-Oleander-Archimedes are on the middle, and Wilde is at the bottom. As we get more hedgehogs the boys will take up one section and the girls will have the rest.

I'll post more photos when the hedgehog room is finished! All that's left now is to get some sort of table against the back wall and some more drawers in the closet. There's a semi-large closet not shown in the photos, large enough to walk into. I could have had this whole room as a big walk-in closet... but instead it's full of hedgehogs!


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## Kelsey the hedgehog

moxieberry said:


> Just got an update on the girls we're getting from Briar Patch Hedgehogs. We're now getting two girls from the same litter instead of a girl and a boy from different litters. They're around 3.5 weeks old in these photos (borrowed from the breeder's site). Meet Jinx (the medium/light range) and Karezza, the ******.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Karezza is Algerian chocolate, and I'm not sure about Jinx yet. Kim's guess is Algerian Apricot, although the breeder said her eyes are dark. Kim's a trained show judge, so I'll leave it to her to make the final call on Jinx's color once we bring the girls home. We plan to keep them together in a double-cage like we have for Zombie and Anubis. They'll be coming home at the end of the month!


those are Aero's sisters!


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## moxieberry

That's so cool.  There's someone on here (fairywinged) who's getting one of Vendetta's sisters. I love when that kind of thing happens. I can't wait until we start selling our babies - hopefully a few of them will end up going to people on the forum and we can stay updated about them.

Where are you located? We're in Port Orchard, WA, so the trip to Briar Patch is a little over 4 hours each way.

I would have loved to take the little boy with a blind eye, I was looking at him - but he wouldn't fit in with our breeding program. Plus, our boy-to-girl ratio is a little out of sorts already, lol.


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## Kelsey the hedgehog

moxieberry said:


> That's so cool.  There's someone on here (fairywinged) who's getting one of Vendetta's sisters. I love when that kind of thing happens. I can't wait until we start selling our babies - hopefully a few of them will end up going to people on the forum and we can stay updated about them.
> 
> Where are you located? We're in Port Orchard, WA, so the trip to Briar Patch is a little over 4 hours each way.
> 
> I would have loved to take the little boy with a blind eye, I was looking at him - but he wouldn't fit in with our breeding program. Plus, our boy-to-girl ratio is a little out of sorts already, lol.


oh. i'm in beaverton, OR. i recognized the photos and i totally flipped. :lol:

the blind guy was a cutie too!


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## moxieberry

Oh, cool. We're planning to pass through Portland on the way back. Let me know what day you'll be picking Aero up - we might end up bumping into you there!


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## Kelsey the hedgehog

moxieberry said:


> Oh, cool. We're planning to pass through Portland on the way back. Let me know what day you'll be picking Aero up - we might end up bumping into you there!


umm right now we aren't positive on our date. either july 28th or 30th.
i was hoping to see some others picking up their babies!  how cool if it was you!


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## moxieberry

We might be going the 30th or it might be a day or two later. Since it's going to be a full day of driving we have to work around Nick's work schedule. That week is going to be nuts because we have two more babies from Happy Hedgies (in British Columbia) that are ready to be picked up on Aug 2nd. Lots and lots of driving!

So maybe we'll run into you there! I'll let you know when I know for sure. Regardless, congrats on Aero!  So excited for you!


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## Kelsey the hedgehog

moxieberry said:


> We might be going the 30th or it might be a day or two later. Since it's going to be a full day of driving we have to work around Nick's work schedule. That week is going to be nuts because we have two more babies from Happy Hedgies (in British Columbia) that are ready to be picked up on Aug 2nd. Lots and lots of driving!
> 
> So maybe we'll run into you there! I'll let you know when I know for sure. Regardless, congrats on Aero!  So excited for you!


it would be very cool to see each other there, but right now i think we're leaning more toward the 28th. i just think it is so cool that i "know" someone getting hedgies from the same litter as mine!!  hmm Rebekah didn't specify which sibling of Aero's caused the notch in his ear but maybe it was one of your girls!  it was more likely one of his brothers though.

i'm excited for you too! if i pick my baby up before you i will be sure to tell the girls that their lucky, and going to a great home!  
have you named them yet? i feel bad because you already know Aero's name! :roll: and have been so good at using it!


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## moxieberry

The lighter one is named Jinx and the darker one is named Karezza.  When they're 6 months old they'll be getting bred - I'll definitely let you know how that goes, since Aero will be the uncle of the babies, lol. 

I didn't ask Rebekah about it - did she say it was one of the siblings? It also could have been the mama. Kim (our mentor) has a boy right now with an ear notch because his mama took a nibble. She was a great mother (they're all weaned now) but she just nibbled on him for some reason.


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## Kelsey the hedgehog

moxieberry said:


> The lighter one is named Jinx and the darker one is named Karezza.  When they're 6 months old they'll be getting bred - I'll definitely let you know how that goes, since Aero will be the uncle of the babies, lol.
> 
> I didn't ask Rebekah about it - did she say it was one of the siblings? It also could have been the mama. Kim (our mentor) has a boy right now with an ear notch because his mama took a nibble. She was a great mother (they're all weaned now) but she just nibbled on him for some reason.[/quote
> 
> oh my god.. your right.. he will an uncle! i'm sure he'll have no idea though :lol:
> 
> jinx and karezza, i love those names!  does karezza mean anything?
> 
> in the email, this is what she said " 2 babies have some "quirks" from growing up in a hedgehog family. lol 1 boy has a split ear and is was actually the nicest to handle and then another 1...the darkest 1 has a quill poked eye and is blind on his right side and he was the more nervous boy. "
> 
> so your right. it could've been mama! i didn't even think of that when i read "family" :roll:
> 
> i have a question about your breeding with these sisters.. because their from the same litter if you retain one of their babies would.. how do i word this.. you just have to be careful and remember not to breed the baby with it's aunt, right?


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## moxieberry

Kelsey the hedgehog said:


> i have a question about your breeding with these sisters.. because their from the same litter if you retain one of their babies would.. how do i word this.. you just have to be careful and remember not to breed the baby with it's aunt, right?


That's easy to avoid. I have a database that keeps track of all their pedigrees - some of our hedgehogs I know the pedigree of going back 15+ generations. It also calculates the COI% (inbreeding coefficient) of the offspring of various pairings, and only breed pairings that will have babies under a certain percentage. I have a chart (which is also on the "breeding schedule" page of my website) that I use as a quick reference for who can be paired with who. http://www.volcanoviewhedgehogs.com/bre ... edule.html


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## moxieberry

More updates! Vendetta is home - she went full-blown high snowflake, and at the rate she's going there's a chance she'll be a white. I'll post photos tomorrow!

Also, we weighed Plumeria again today. She's due July 30 - August 2, so her earliest due date is a little under two weeks away. She's gained a bit over 100g since she was taken from the male (Oleander). Definitely pregnant! Sometimes more weight gain actually means fewer babies, so we'll have to wait and see. So excited for our first litter! We have a few people lined up for babies already, two of which are breeders. Kim wants a girl and Happy Hedgies wants a boy. Fingers crossed for both! (Girls tend to not show up when they're wanted, lol!)


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## Kelsey the hedgehog

moxieberry said:


> Kelsey the hedgehog said:
> 
> 
> 
> i have a question about your breeding with these sisters.. because their from the same litter if you retain one of their babies would.. how do i word this.. you just have to be careful and remember not to breed the baby with it's aunt, right?
> 
> 
> 
> That's easy to avoid. I have a database that keeps track of all their pedigrees - some of our hedgehogs I know the pedigree of going back 15+ generations. It also calculates the COI% (inbreeding coefficient) of the offspring of various pairings, and only breed pairings that will have babies under a certain percentage. I have a chart (which is also on the "breeding schedule" page of my website) that I use as a quick reference for who can be paired with who. http://www.volcanoviewhedgehogs.com/bre ... edule.html
Click to expand...

whoa. very cool. :shock: technology amazes me every time. :mrgreen:

in that case, your all set! and i would definitely get a hedgie from you if i wasn't already getting Aero! your herd is absolutely precious and will make very cute babies! i'm sure of it.


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## moxieberry

Aw, thanks! We're about two weeks away from babies so they wouldn't be ready to go home until mid-September anyway. You can still admire all the cute pics when they're born though - and I'll be posting a ton on our facebook page.


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## moxieberry

And finally, Vendetta pics. I love this little girl to pieces, I really do.


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## Kelsey the hedgehog

moxieberry said:


> And finally, Vendetta pics. I love this little girl to pieces, I really do.


she is beautiful!! i lover her color!


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## moxieberry

Thanks! She's a tiny bit darker in person - the sunlight lightens it a little (as it does with all photos) but I've found that the best photos of hedgehogs are the ones taken outside. She's a silver charcoal (Algerian dark gray high snowflake) but right now she's right on the border of being a black. We'll see how much she lightens (or doesn't) as she gets older. Regardless of coloring, we adore her.


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## har12345

i love Plumeria <3


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## moxieberry

We love her too! And her babies are due in 8 days!


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## har12345

O: no way


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## moxieberry

Yup! She was paired with Oleander. The last litter from those two (when they were owned by our mentor) was an albino and a chocolate snowflake, but Oleander also carries pinto, so there's really no telling what the babies will look like. So excited!


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