Breeding Please can someone tell me if these 2 Guinea pigs are roans? (2 pictures for each)

[5piggies]

 

[Soecara]

Are they visually obviously roan? No. Does that mean they don't have the roan gene? No. Sometimes the gene expresses as a single white hair in a patch of colour. It is just one of many reasons why breeding guinea pigs is a bad idea.

Even if they are not roan pregnancy and birthing still carries many risks of other complications, particularly for the mother guinea pig.

 

[5piggies]

Are they visually obviously roan? No. Does that mean they don't have the roan gene? No. Sometimes the gene expresses as a single white hair in a patch of colour. It is just one of many reasons why breeding guinea pigs is a bad idea.

Even if they are not roan pregnancy and birthing still carries many risks of other complications, particularly for the mother guinea pig.

Thank you for replying she was bred on accident and I was worried because someone mentioned something to me about roan Guinea pigs, I tried researching but didn’t really understand anything I found. So you don’t think either of these 2 are roan? If it can be in their genes I do have photos of the little black ones parents if that makes it easier to determine whether she is roan or not.

 

[Soecara]

Roaning causes speckling of white fur in patches of colour, now the gene can express all over or just in limited places. If a guinea pig happens to have white patches on it naturally it is possible for roaning to only express in places it is already white meaning it looks no different to a normal guinea pig. Or rarely it could mean a single white fur on an otherwise not white guinea pig.

I wouldn't be particularly concerned about roaning in this case. The odds of both of them having cases of low expression roaning is very low. Roan is only a problem if both parents are roan (meaning they both have one copy of the gene). If a baby happened to inherit two copies of the roan gene, one from each parent (which has a 25% odd of happening if both parents are roan) then you will get what is called a lethal white.

If you were to get a lethal white you would know because it will be an all white guinea pig, it will be blind and deaf, it may have any number of other birth defects to varying degrees such as missing or small eyes, missing teeth, an underdeveloped digestive system, etc.

Now that she is already pregnant all you can do is wait, the possibility of her experiencing other compliations are much higher then her odds of having lethal white babies. If you don't have one already start looking now for a good exotic vet with experience with guinea pigs. Find out if any emergency vets near you are capable of treating guinea pigs. She may have a completely healthy pregnancy and birth, but if she has any problems time is of the essence so having vet information ahead of time could really be a life saver.

 

[5piggies]

Roaning causes speckling of white fur in patches of colour, now the gene can express all over or just in limited places. If a guinea pig happens to have white patches on it naturally it is possible for roaning to only express in places it is already white meaning it looks no different to a normal guinea pig. Or rarely it could mean a single white fur on an otherwise not white guinea pig.

I wouldn't be particularly concerned about roaning in this case. The odds of both of them having cases of low expression roaning is very low. Roan is only a problem if both parents are roan (meaning they both have one copy of the gene). If a baby happened to inherit two copies of the roan gene, one from each parent (which has a 25% odd of happening if both parents are roan) then you will get what is called a lethal white.

If you were to get a lethal white you would know because it will be an all white guinea pig, it will be blind and deaf, it may have any number of other birth defects to varying degrees such as missing or small eyes, missing teeth, an underdeveloped digestive system, etc.

Now that she is already pregnant all you can do is wait, the possibility of her experiencing other compliations are much higher then her odds of having lethal white babies. If you don't have one already start looking now for a good exotic vet with experience with guinea pigs. Find out if any emergency vets near you are capable of treating guinea pigs. She may have a completely healthy pregnancy and birth, but if she has any problems time is of the essence so having vet information ahead of time could really be a life saver.

Okay thank you so much this has really helped