dwarf hybrids

[ami_j]

been thinking recently about this and just wondered how they came about? is the first hybrid documented and was it purposeful or accident..

[arikata]

Why isn't it advisable to breed a hybrid on purpose? I've always wondered that one. Isn't it possible to create a new species by breeding them?x

[crawleytown]

Hybrids are often born with disabilities and more prone to illness. It's defenitely not advisable to breed them on purpose...

[I_am_plankton]

It doesn't create a new species, it is a cross between a WW and Campbell so not a new species, they can mate due to having the same number of chromosones.

They aren't bred on purpose if you know what you are doing - but some breeders for the pet trade do not care as it increases their output. They come with many health problems, including tumours, head tilt, spinal deformities and a general susceptibility to disease.

[ami_j]

yes when i got my dwarves from the adoption centre in pet shop i asked if they were campbells, winter whites or a bit of both and he said a bit of both. they had also missexed them so i ended up with babies.its a shame cos before long there wont be any pure lines left

[arikata]

Aha I understand now :D Shame if there won't be any pure bred left. That's kind of ignorant of the breeder :evil:

[T-Bone]

They aren't bred on purpose if you know what you are doing - but some breeders for the pet trade do not care as it increases their output. They come with many health problems, including tumours, head tilt, spinal deformities and a general susceptibility to disease.

We recently bought 2 dwarf hybrids from a local pet shop. We had no idea at the time that they were hybrids and that they were more prone to disease.

Unfortunately we ended up learning the hard way - Just under a week after getting the two we found one of them (summer) dead in her house.

I was unable to examine her myself as my gf's friend took care of it, but he said there was definitely a tumour on the back of her head :(

[I_am_plankton]

I'm sorry to hear that T-Bone - it is quite common in hybrids though. I had a lovely one who I rescued who passed away almost a week ago, he was born with only half of one ear, and in the end had a slight head tilt, 3 tumours, and kept falling over so possibly neuro problems too.

[Spuds Mum]

Sorry to hear that T-Bone. Anyone who has had the experience of caring for a hybrid with problems would never wish that on any animal knowingly. My boy Bubbagump was a rescue and has serious headtilt and problems with his mouth. He is lovely but you can seriously see how his disability affects him when he is flipping over backwards every 5 minutes.

Here are a couple of pics of him - including him falling over backwards into his wodent wheel - edit - I uploaded them backwards - please see them from bottom to top! sorry! :oops:

[ami_j]

poor little guy...just because they dont care enough to breed pure....i lost both my hybrids though their babies are still alive. i kept eight and rehomed two with a little girl though i told her mum all about the problems can arise well before she picked them up etc but so far they are ok :)

[Matty Day]

Aha I understand now :D Shame if there won't be any pure bred left. That's kind of ignorant of the breeder :evil:

there will be some pure ww and champbell left touch wood left as clubs disqulify obvouis hybrids and because of the the hellth problems show brreeders breed pure and will nit use hams from pet shops and only from breeders they trust and know were there hams come from.

so unless someones breed in hyrbds way back all the show lines should and probly are pure.

and there always the optoin of importing wild hams from russia which are pure as ww and champells are from diffrent parts of russia and hence there tertitoreis dont over cross hence no wild hybrids :D

[internet_nobody]

The trouble is that hybrids aren't always obvious. My first WWs were from a vet having mis-sexed the parents. The parents were from a pet shop, so were unlikely to be pure really, but my boys weren't disqualified in shows, and looked and acted winter whitey. I would have loved to breed one of them as he had the most beautiful temperament, but without knowing for sure that he was pure it wasn't worth it. None of them ever developed hybrid-specific health problems, one had a stroke around 2 years old, one just slipped away at just over two, and the other was pts at 28 months as he prolapsed a pouch and I was unwilling to put him through surgery at that age.

If i'd not been involved with the club I wouldn't have been aware of the hybrid problem and might have bought a female that looked like a WW and bred them, and i'm sure plenty of people make the same mistake. However if people breed something obviously campbell with something obviously WW there's no excuse for that!