Do Himalayans Change Colour?

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Julie M

Julie M

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image.webp When I first got Fudge he was a darker cream colour (left hand pic) with a white band round his middle. Now he is turning more of a light cream/white colour. Also his dark patches have got lighter too. The photos aren't that great. But he's definitely getting lighter. Hope I am not doing anything wrong. :hmm:
 
Phew. Thank goodness for that. Thanks for reply. I have been wondering about this for a while now.
 
Julie M said:
View attachment 16093 When I first got Fudge he was a darker cream colour (left hand pic) with a white band round his middle. Now he is turning more of a light cream/white colour. Also his dark patches have got lighter too. The photos aren't that great. But he's definitely getting lighter. Hope I am not doing anything wrong. :hmm:
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Walter is a Himi and has also changed colour as he's got older. As a baby he was pure white with a little smudge either side of his nose. Now he's white with cream patches and his dark smudges have faded.
 
Wow. He's really light coloured. Lovely looking piggie.
 
Aww thanks. Yes and Fudge knows it. He's really came out of his shell. He will still run and hide if there is a sudden movement or noise and he doesn't like being picked up. He was always the shiest of the two. However yesterday I caught him sleeping on the shelve on the bottom level. He is getting braver, as he always usually hides to sleep.
 
He's beautiful!

One of my girls has gone from ginger and agouti to predominantly agouti with a little lilac on top of her head in the last two years,, she is now 4. It's fascinating!
 
Yes one of my females went from being a short haired ginger colour with a spot of white on her back as a baby to a long haired platinum blonde! It's really interesting how they can change!
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The short answer is yes... :D As our neutered boar Ouzo..( Avatar ). nose colour gets darker in the winter and lighter in the summer.. :nod:
 
Lippizaner horses are born dark grey or even black and turn white as they get older. I learnt on the programme "Q.I." that Siamese cats get darker when they are exposed to cold. I haven't noticed any colour changes in my own piggies, except where those with a possible bit of Himalayan develop a faint smudge on their nose. My Swan, 3 months old, has developed a very faint smudge on either side of her nose. You can't see it in this photo.
 

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I once read that the colour of the points (the dark bits) on Himilayans is affected by the temperature, I think it was lighter in the warmth and darker in the cold. I have also noticed colours changing with age and long-haired piggies colour changed with hair growth.

I certainly don't think you are doing anything wrong!
 
Thank goodness that they can change colour without anything being wrong. You all have lovely piggies.
 
Reg has gone from black to grey as he has got older- he is about 4 now.
 
Aww cute. Well according to their previous owner they are both 2 and a half years old. However I think fudge is possibly younger as he was displaying a lot of young boar behaviours until recently. (Poor Alby)
 
Black Jack said:
I once read that the colour of the points (the dark bits) on Himilayans is affected by the temperature, I think it was lighter in the warmth and darker in the cold. I have also noticed colours changing with age and long-haired piggies colour changed with hair growth.

I certainly don't think you are doing anything wrong!
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This is true, the gene that produces colour points is temperature sensitive (based on enzymes) so the colouring appears on the cooler parts of the body, the points (nose, ears, tail, feet) but not on the main part of the body. For the same reason colour points will be lighter in higher temperatures and animals may have darker shading on the body in cooler temperatures.
 
My Dougal changed colour as he got older. He started off as the scruffiest dark ginger hair explosion you could imagine.
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He ended up with a coat that did eventually grow into the shape of Dougal's from the Magic Roundabout - but seemed to turn a lighter shade of ginger, and eventually ended up with his top layer of coat actually resembling a dark sandy colour. Unfortunately I don't have any 'after' pics on-line.
 
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