Hey guys, Many of you know Ellie just had her first litter. My mentor suggested I try other studs, rather than having to drop her off each time at her place (which she is fine with but it IS a long way away. She found this marble boy for me that is very close, 2.5 years old. He doesn't carry for snow or anything, and Ellie is homozygous spotted so we would get all spotted browns out of this litter, which I am okay with, but I do love snows. What do you think of him? He isn't as flashy as I would like, but it would be nice to use him rather than a stud from my breeder for once.

Is he scanned for HCM and tested for PK defic?

As above! Last time I looked a few years back I could only find a couple, not at public stud though! I lovce my research but Its a bit early, they are only a couple of weeks old lol! I thought it was only the one litter she was having though?

It really isn't about the nearest boy to you, but about the best, so faults she has, hopefully the boy has them etc
Did you want a litter of only brown spotteds? Then the kittens will be marble carriers and snow if she carries, are you keeping one from this litter & the next one?

What does the other stud look like and carry for? Is it worth the drive to have better genes? Or are they better? Does the other stud have characteristics that your girl doesn't, better type, color, markings? I have always heard if you pair a marble and a homozygous spotted, you will get larger rosettes?! I don't know that is really true but it's worth a thought! However I don't think a mating should be put together based solely on rosettes. If it were me( might be silly) but I would make a pro and con list and sit down t compare the two!

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I am going to breed her again. I like how this breeding went. But I'm weary of keeping my own studs and all that goes into that, so I'm easing into it. The marble carrying is a reason I am interested in him. I know marbles are a harder sell, but snow marbles are so goregous to me. The boy my breeder has in mind for Ellie's next "good mating" is only 4 months at this point, so I could do another mating in between them. I don't want to have her cycling for so long without a breeding either. I don't like how dark this boy is, but I don't really know how the babies would turn out. He's healthy and cleared. I haven't met him first hand yet to see how his temperament is, but I definitely will if I decide to use him. I really like him because the kids will all be spotted browns and carriers for marble and snow. The breeding possibilities of the kittens would be so great!

I believe both his parents are spotted, but I haven't yet seen his pedigree to be sure. I only say she is homozygous because every one of her ancestors on her 5-generation pedigree is spotted. I'm new to bengal genetics but it was my major in college (ha!) and to if Ellie is SS and this boy is ss that would make all offspring Ss, spotted but carrying for marble correct? Same for color since she is completely recessive in color and he is dominant.

Kittens from that mating WILL carry marble & WILL carry snow you are right

Just my opinion of course, but I see NOTHING wrong with adding marble and snow to your lines I love marbles and I love snows, my fav of course is snow marbles if I were planning to start breeding more than one queen, I would want to keep a female from that litter! The offspring carrying snow, marble, brown, spotted you could really choose from that one cat where you want your program to go I am not a breeder but I would love to be, I just live through you guys lol

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This is another potential male I'm looking at. I like his coloring more. So much contrast! And look at those big rosettes!

Look at the rest of the cat other then just his markings.
Eye & ear placement, shape and size, muzzle and chin, contours of the head inc profile into forehead and back skull.
His body & structure, paws, tail length and thickness.

His temperament and health above all - look at his pedigree, check it against the HCM list, his pkdef status.

Is he of similar type to your girl? What does he have that she doesn't that you wish to use him to improve on her with.

How is he producing? He looks v small in that photo - is he still a kitten?
What is he producing? any tail faults, lockets, FCK, Clef Pallets

Those are all question you need to get the answers for before you decide on her next stud.

The other cat is still a kitten. That's the one my breeder would likes to wait to breed for. He hasn't been tested yet as he is still young. Only 5 months old. I haven't met either cat in person yet to really look at their other features, I was just interested in what you guys all thought of first glance. I have months before Ellie will be ready to breed again, I want to start my research early to ensure I pick the right boy.