why mark them when they are litter-mates?

i have seen people talk about how they mark litter-mates who are too similar to tell apart (same gender, color, similar size etc) by putting a sharpie dot in their ear, trimming the tale etc.

my question is that if they are truly indistinguishable, and they are litter-mates (i.e. exact same pedigree), why bother trying to tell them apart until the point that they are separated for growing/sold etc.

the reason i am asking what is the point of this practice is that whether they are xyz1 or xyz2 is a random marking system we use so that we may attach a date of birth and a pedigree to a particular chin but since they share a date of birth and a pedigree, why is it important if they are 1 or 2?
i understand the practice if you are growing out kits from different moms together or if you put a foster kit in with a dam' litter but not when they are for all practical purposes Tweedledee and Tweedledum...

Practical reason- I guess for some reasons, like let's say we had quads and are handfeeding, rotating, supplementing, whatever. Well I want to make sure little Tweedledee is up from his 39 grams and that Tweedledum is too...and not have to worry- oh is this this even Tweedledee? Is he up or down, and get all confused. You don't know from the very beginning usually if the babies will need supplementing or not, so it is good to get an accurate weight, on the right chin, right off the bat. That is really the main concern, I don't worry too much about it when the babies are healthy and happy. Unpractical reasons- I guess also people just want to know.

yup, i get it but have we really thought this out or is this something we do because it is done and we don't bother to rethink the practice?

if they are about/exactly the same reason and all we really want/need to know is if they are gaining than what difference does it really make.



on the unpractical side i am not sure. i try very hard not to get attached to the kits that are not going to be staying (now, all the kits i produce...)

The only time I mark the kits is when the new owner picks that particular chin out and theres another chin in the litter thats the same sex/color. I have only had to do this twice and probably again here shortly. When you have quads born and the colors, sex are the same, it hard to tell them apart. I've had 3 sets of quads born this year, and most of the time they favor moms color, I don't need to be able to tell them apart especially if their all gaining weight. I just do it for their new owners because they like to see pics of them, as they grow.

The only times I mark kits is if I for some reason decide I want to keep one over the others, or is someone picks one out. like I sold one of two sapphire males to someone who picked out based on personality so he got marked.

I have also in my colonies marked a whole litter. I had two females each give birth to triplets within 2 days of each other, all standards so the older 3 got "colored" and if there is one we need to watch extra close for some reason they get a mark.

Sometimes it is just good to do. ocasionally my mom or my husband love one baby in particular so I will put an x on their ear so they can spot it in the cage better. Otherwise I don't bother. usually you can tell which kit is which based on weight. Usually one is slightly larger than the other and remains a little ahead.