Color Me Hedge

In the past few years, a variety of hedgehog colors have been developed through selective breeding. To date, this totals nearly eighty different commonly accepted variations! And, new colors and patterns continue to be developed.

The most common of these are covered here. However, this article doesn't cover all possible colors or patterns and should be considered only an introduction to this complex topic.

Most hedgehog colors are fairly new and don't always breed true. These variations are unusual and quite attractive, but the most important factors in choosing a pet should always be the hedgehog's temperament and health.

Standard Coats

These standard colors are the "wild," naturally occuring variations for hedgehogs.

Salt & Pepper	Quills are white with black banding. Face is white with a black mask, ears and nose. Belly is white fur with extensive black markings. Skin is black. Gray and Chocolate - which are the most common colors - are often referred to as Salt & Pepper. They aren't. True Salt & Pepper hedgehogs are rather rare.
Gray	Quills are white with dark brown banding. Color bands usually have narrow rust-brown edges. Face is white with a black mask, ears and nose. Belly is white fur with some black markings. Skin is gray.
Chocolate	Quills are white with medium brown banding. Face is white with a light brown mask Nose is dark liver Belly is white fur with some pale markings Skin is light gray A chocolate hedgehog has a dark dorsal stripe. This stipe is the most reliable way to define this color. Chocolate is probably the most common pet hedgehog color.
Brown	Quills are white with light brown banding. Face is white with a light brown mask. There are light blue-gray rings around the eyes. Nose is liver with some black markings. Belly is white fur with no markings. Skin is pink with possibly some light gray markings.

Apricot, Cinnamon & Cinnacot Coats

Cinnamon appears naturally in hedgehog colors, but would be rare in the wild. Apricot is a mutation color. Please keep in mind that in genetics, the word mutation doesn't have a negative meaning. It simply refers to a non-standard, naturally occuring random variation.

Cinnacots and Champagne are the results of mixing cinnamon and apricot. These two colors don't blend and don't seem to function in a standard dominant/recessive manner. Instead, the animal will have some cinnamon quills and some apricot quills. Based on the percentages of each, a different "color" is created.

Cinnamon	Quills are white with light cinnamon-brown banding. Face is white with no mask, light blue-gray ring around the eyes. Nose is liver. Belly is white fur with no markings. Skin is pink. Cinnamon is a recessive color. As such, true cinnamon hedgehogs are rare.
Cinnicots & Champagne	There are three varients of Cinnicot - Dark Cinnicot, Black-eyed Cinnicot and Ruby-Eyed Cinnicot. Common characteristics of all three Cinnicots and Champagne include: Face is white with no mask. Belly is white fur with no markings. Skin is pink. Dark Cinnicot Quills are banded with 75% cinnamon and 25% apricot - a pale orange-beige color. Eyes are black. Nose is liver with pink edges or markings. Black-eyed Cinnicot Quills are banded with 50% cinnamon and 50% apricot. Eyes are black. Nose is pink with liver markings. Ruby-eyed Cinnicot Quills are banded with 50% cinnamon and 50% apricot. Eyes are ruby. Nose is pink with liver markings. Champagne Quills are banded with 75% apricot and 25% cinnamon. Eyes are ruby. Nose is pink.
Apricot	Quills are white with apricot banding. Face is white with no mask. Nose is pink. Eyes is ruby. Belly is white fur with no markings. Skin is shoulders are pink. Apricot is a recessive color. As such, true apricot hedgehogs are rare.

Snowflakes

Snowflakes are the result of selectively breeding the above colors, other naturally occuring mutations, and more complex combinations. This variation is a pattern, not a color. Any color can appear in a Snowflake pattern.

To be considered a Snowflake, 30% to 70% of the quills should be solid white, with 50% considered the ideal. Over the last couple years, here at PAWPRINT we've been been breeding for a Snowflake variation we call Heavy Snowflaking. In this variation, 75% to 90% of the quills are all white. Like the more traditional Snowflakes, any color can be appear in this pattern.

The Snowflake variations listed here are the most common, but others also occur.

Silver	The coloring of banded quills and other characteristics are the same as Salt & Pepper.
Charcoal	The coloring of banded quills and other characteristics are the same as Gray.
Chocolate Chip	The coloring of banded quills and other characteristics are the same as Chocolate.
Brown Snowflake	The coloring of banded quills and other characteristics are the same as Brown.
Cinnamon Snowflake	The coloring of banded quills and other characteristics are the same as Cinnamon.
Cinnicot Snowflakes & Champagne Snowflake	The coloring of banded quills and other characteristics are the same as Dark Cinnicot, Black-eyed Cinnicot, Ruby-eyed Cinnicot and Champagne.
Apricot Snowflake	The coloring of banded quills and other characteristics are the same as Apricot.

Algerian

Pet hedgies are the result of interbreeding two species - the White-Bellied hedgehog and the Algerian hedgehog. Most physical traits in pet hedgies reflect a blending of the characteristics of both species.

When it comes to color, the major difference is in the mask and mottling. As such, hedgehogs with especially prominent masks or mottling are generally referred to as Algerian. So, it is possible to have an Algerian Chocolate, an Algerian Ruby-eyed Cinnacot Snowflake, or an Algerian variation of any of the other colors described above.

To be considered an Algerian variation, these three differences would be present:

• Skin Color
  The skin is significantly darker than described above, especially on the shoulders.
• Mask
  With chocolate and brown hedgehogs, the mask isn't noticably different between a White-bellied and Algerian hedgehog. However, with gray and salt-and-pepper hedgies, the mask is darker and covers a larger portion of the animal's face. In the apricot to cinnamon range, an Algerian hedgehog could be masked. A masked animal in this color range would defintely be Algerian. However, based on other factors, an unmasked animal in this color range might still be considered Algerian.
• Mottling
  With gray or salt-and-pepper hedgehogs, there is some mottling in all hedgehogs. However, it is much more pronounced in an Algerian animal. With other colors, mottling would indicate the hedgehog is definetely Algerian.

Albino

In addition to these major categories, there is albino. Albinism is a recessive genetic trait in which the animal lacks the ability to produce pigmentation. As a result, the skin and eyes appear pink because you are seeing through the animal's translucent skin to the blood vessels. Quills and fur are white.

A Tip From Toby Unlike some color breeding, once there's an adequate genetic pool of albino animals, this trait is easy to produce. As a result, in the last couple years, albino hedgies have become more readily available and reasonably priced. Also, there has been little - if any - in-breeding done. If you are interested in an albino hedgie as a pet, we strongly encourage you to buy only from a reputable source which guarentees no in-breeding. If you are interested in breeding this trait, please keep the genes clean.

Albinism is sometimes considered to be a sign of an inferior animal. However, there is no inherient connection between albinism and poor general quality in any animal.

Because of the rarity of naturally-occuring albinism, albino animals often are extremely expensive and finding quality breeding stock can be difficult. As a result, greedy or irresponsible breeders sometimes resort to in-breeding for fast results and quick profits.

When poor general quality is seen in any albino animal, it is most likely the result of poor breeding practices, not inherient faults related to albinism.

Most genetic problems are recessive. This means the problem would only occur if two animals both carrying the same defect mated. This unlikely to randomly occur, but if a recessive genetic problem exists in a family line, it is almost guaranteed to surface when in-breeding is done.

Albinism will only be passed on under three specific circumstances. These are:

• Albino bred to albino
  All babies would be albino.
• Albino bred to carrier
  50% of the offspring would be albino and 50% would be carriers.
• Carrier bred to carrier
  25% of the offspring would be albino, 50% would be carriers and 25% display the coloring of the parents.

Without breeding the offspring of the last example, there would be no way to know which babies were gene carriers. Also, the percentages are based on probabilities, but nature doesn't really work that way. On a litter to litter basis, you might not get this.

A Few Final Notes

If you're interested in color breeding, we recommend starting with gray and chocolate hedgies. Learn all you can about general breeding practices and genetics as you go along. Then, slowly expand into one color at a time.

The first objective of any breeding program should be to improve the species. As such, never breed animals which are poor quality or have basic faults in conformation or temperment, even if color you want. This is counter-productive to any breeding program.

Color breeding - or selective breeding for any trait - requires a basic understanding of genetics. If you don't have a good working understanding of this sometimes confusing field, we strongly recommend you start learning now!

Here are a few additional considerations:

• Your animal population will grow
  You'll want to keep the "best" offspring for future breeding. Not only will you have population growth from this, you'll also need new mates for these "keepers."

• You need to keep very accurate records
  It can quickly become difficult to remember relationships, litter sizes, percentages of offspring with the desired trait and other data. Records are extremely important in any breeding program, but especially when selectively breeding.

• It is unlikely all offspring will display the desired trait
  You won't want to keep these offspring for breeding purposes, so will need to have something to do with them! Remember, anyone who sells, trades or gives away any exotic mammal - even on a small scale - is required under the Animal Welfare Act to be licensed by the USDA.

For more on this topic, visit Before You Breed.

Copyright © 1996-2005 Pawprint