Look who has come to stay at our caviary. This sweet little ball of fluff we've named 'Lavender Mist'. She's a lilac, white and cream mystery breed. A mystery only in the sense that her parents don't really give any clue as to what she will grow into. Her dad is a very handsome golden agouti Sheba, while her mum is a grey Abyssinian. Yet Lavender has lovely thick, soft curls. Not as long as you might expect on a 'proper' texel. And way longer than you'd ever see on a rex. So who knows what's going to happen. Logically it's likely that her hair will continue to grow, and she'll end up looking like a texel. But it may get to a certain point and stop as well. Which would be pretty cool.
When I first re-established my stud at the beginning of the year, one of the breeding goals in the back of my mind was to work on a mid-length, curly-coated variety of guinea pig. Texels are stunning, but a lot of work with the hair that reaches the floor. With the length tending to drag down a lot of the fluff and curl that the animal has when younger. And Rexs are nice, but could be so cute with just a touch more length to the hair... Much like the Swiss guinea pig breed found in Europe I suppose. (though that is a completely different genetic basis again).
So I do have high hopes for little Lavender Mist, but will enjoy the process of watching her grown and change no matter what the outcome.
Hi Emma I love reading your Posts, you have some really cute Guinea Pigs. I read that you would like to breed a Texel with the curls but for the coat not to be as long. I have a male I brought he has curls but he is not pure Texel. I wonder if he would produce offspring like you are looking for I have some pics I could send if you would like to see him. I have him with a female at the moment but she is more like a Rex (she has Texel in her line as well) I think he would need a longer haired sow to breed with but you never know what you might get. Thanks Shane & Stacey
ReplyDeleteHi Shane and Stacey. I'd love to see pictures of your little man! My email is eleb2000@hotmail.com if you're able to send them through to their. It would be awesome to be able to have the curls/fluff without all the length wouldn't it. :)
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