Mask fading??

Smoogy · Jul 6, 2011

Hey!

Little 4 month old Darwin is growing to be a gorgeous boy! Only... he seems to be growing out of his dark mask too :S

Darwin is a "salt and pepper, high white pinto" (I think? lol) He is also snow flaking in his banded quills. He also had a very dark, gorgeous mask as a youngster.

I recently noticed, over the last month or so, that his mask seemed to be fading... until now it is almost all white! The sides of his nose are almost white (VERY light gray), and he only has dark-ish gray (not black anymore) on the top of his nose to his hairline...

Is it normal for his mask to fade this way? Is it something all or most hedgehogs do? Is it because of his pinto pattern? I'm just wondering... I don't THINK it could possibly mean anything bad, but you never know :S lol!

Thanks for any help!!

Sandra, Darwin (Hedgie), Lyla & Meeko (fuzz-buts)

Nancy · Jul 7, 2011

Yes, it's very normal for masks and quills to fade and sometimes a mask will fade out completely.

Smoogy · Jul 7, 2011

Oh no!! His near black mask was SO pretty, a gorgeous contrast to his white quills! lol

Oh well, I love him still... Thanks for letting me know!!

Kalandra · Jul 7, 2011

Young hedgehogs can change drastically in color until they are about 9 weeks old. Which is why we tell everyone that you cannot determine adult color until their 9th week. However, I remember Brian Smith once telling me that there is the occasional youngster that can change color for a few more weeks afterwards, which further complicates things.

However, there is also age related fading. It doesn't affect all hedgehogs, but you may notice that some hedgehogs will lighten in color as they get older. I have had a couple who had a very pretty dark mask when they were about 1 year old and at the time they died their masks were pale. Even their quills faded. Many of the dark colors will fade to become more chocolate.

Smoogy · Jul 7, 2011

Yeah, same goes for most animals i guess... I just felt the need to check for hedgies also! lol

I got darwin at 8 weeks, and his mask started fading at approx 13-14 weeks of age... I wonder when it'll be done?

It looks very interesting right now... the top is still dark, but the sides where his little wiskers are is very light, but the wiskers remained black lol it's quite interesting!

Thanks for the help!

smhufflepuff · Jul 7, 2011

Smoogy said:
I got darwin at 8 weeks, and his mask started fading at approx 13-14 weeks of age... I wonder when it'll be done?

I'd wager that it'll become increasingly light throughout his entire lifespan... though the more dramatic changes will occur early on as you're seeing.

sayhedgehog · Jul 7, 2011

Yeah, I agree it'll probably get lighter as time goes on. My Theodore had an extremely dark mask as a baby, but when he passed away at 5 years old you would have never known he had one at all.