I'm obsessed with the looks of the F1 Bengal, the head, eyes, paws... etc. and I love the fact that they're wild and naughty. I've searched online for breeders and learned they all have long waiting lists, so it may take till the end of the year to get one. Which is fine with me as I'm not in rush, and neither is my Snickers.

I know F1 has 50% blood of the Asian Leopard cat, temperament... etc. and all the hassles. I've read much about them. But I'm curious if anyone here had a first hand experience and if they regret it.

One more thing, if my Snickers is Fx (she's a female) and I get her an F1 male, would the kittens be F2 or Fx+1?

Thank you in advance.

Most F1 and F2 males are sterile....just an FYI.

If you had a rare, fertile F1 and bred him to your kitty, the resulting offspring would be F2.

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~ Kyenta

We have had a couple of members with F1's post here. The EG's are a real challenge. Yes, all F1's and almost all F2's and F3's are sterile. You'll find one every now and then that can sire a litter. A handful did in the early days. Unless you got Snickers with breeding rights, you cannot breed her. It will be checked on the blue registration paper "Not for breeding." This alerts TICA that no offspring are allowed from this female. I don't know what the "punishment" might be for it -- you may not be able to register a litter. But .... that being said, you need to get Snickers spayed for her and your own good.

Any offspring from an F1 become an F2, regardless of what F generation the other parent is (unless it is an ALC, then the F1 starts all over again). Note that MANY jurisdictions do not allow F1's through F3's. There used to be a handful of states that did not allow bengals AT ALL! I believe those states now do (Seattle in Washington may still have a ban). You have to be really careful with hybrids. Governments think of them differently than domestic cats, so make sure you have all the i's dotted and t's crossed before you get into something like that. The other thing is why on earth would you want to subject Snickers to another bengal? The thing with multiple bengals is that they tend to bond closely with each other and leave you out of the loop! If that's what you want .......

Emily has an F1 bengal named Luca and she had a thread about him:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=22217&hilit

It seems she started having issues with him later. Any breeder will tell you the EG bengals bring a lot of challenges over a SBT bengal. They are not for the faint of heart as they have a LOT of wild blood in them. I don't know of any owners who have an SBT and then an EG and how they get along.

Also, breeding is not for the faint of heart! Last week, a breeder lost a queen just a week after she gave birth. Thankfully, another one of her queens had just given birth and could nurse the kittens. And, looking for a stud for Snickers is not an easy task either. Many breeders are closed catteries and do not allow their studs to service other breeders. Very few breeders make a living off breeding. They may break even or even lose money when something catastrophic hits. We had one member here who was waiting for her female to give birth and discovered the kittens dead. Yes, most of the time things go smoothly, but there are always bumps in the road. The breeder I know has had to help pull the babies out, attempt to get them breathing -- and if the queen needs C-section, a rush trip to the vet or you manage to do it yourself.

Hi Hassan,
I've responded to you message. I think I posted a while back that I was switching my posting over to instagram. There you will see lots and lots and lots of videos and photos of what Luca has been up to these days lol. I do still post to YouTube, I think it's only been a few months since my most recent post. The reason I don't use YouTube a lot of because I mostly take shorter videos of Luca which seems pointless for YouTube. Talk to you soon,
Emily

Emily ... I honestly don't understand Instagram. I've joined and follow some people, but I don't know how to see everything. At any rate.... happy to know you are still around and Luca is still doing well. The best way to find out about EG cats is to correspond with someone who has one -- and Emily has had Luca for a while (hopefully, the closet jumping has stopped). I know she was trying to take him out on a harness and leash. I may have to try harder with Instagram, although I can't remember my user name or password.

Please don't be a stranger here, Emily! We would really love a good update on Luca.

Hi Sherry,
IG takes some getting used to but there are so many people on there with bengal and EGs! I found someone on IG that has two of luca's brothers from his exact litter so that is pretty cool!
The closet jumping most definitely has not stopped hahahah- I always keep it closed but my bf always forgets lol. His thing right now is jumping on to the tops of doors and waking me up before my alarm by yelling in my ear hahahah pesky little guy, always getting in to something...just with sitting down to type this I've had to get up twice to stop him from jungle swinging on my laundry hanging to dry in the bathroom lol and now have to type with one hand and use the other to dangle a toy for him ha. before i got him my breeder told me that having him would be like having a toddler that never grows up and that is certainly true. i will try to post an update about him in one of my old threads and try to figure out my photo bucket again

Emily, ALL bengals seem to be perpetual 2-year old toddlers, but yours is getting into everything and never stops!!! Lordy! Don't worry about ever having actual children. You have one! I'll try to figure out Instagram at some point. Would love to see updated pictures of Luca.

Thank you Emily for your detailed PM responses... I'll keep all messages saved as references when the time comes.

Sherry, try to join the crowd on IG. There are so many Bengal owners who post there, few F1 and few Asian Leopard accounts.

Thank you Emily again.

Hi Daisy and welcome to the forum. Your ALC appears to be a kitten. Can you confirm this for me? The majority of breeders with ALC's do not have them has pets. They are adult wild cats. If yours are still kittens, great, but prepare for when they reach sexual maturity and adulthood as they are a completely different cat. This is why pet stores no longer sell them as pets.