Breeding

**Breeding** is a mechanic in Poppy Seed Pets that results in new baby pets.

## Pregnancies

When a pet with Volagamy hangs out with a pet that they are Dating, an FWB, or (on very rare occasions) a BFF that isn't a child/grandchild/sibling/parent/grandparent, they may "have fun ;)" and have a 5% chance to become pregnant or eggnant (depending on their species). If both pets have Volagamy on, both will become pregnant at the same time. Pets can also become pregnant through their spirit companion if Volagamy is on.

The resulting baby will be born after around 3 weeks; the pregnancy will only progress while the birthing parent is active, i.e. not in the Daycare. Pet hours are what contribute to pregnancy time, so if you don't check on your pet at least every 3 days, their pregnancy will take longer. Because of this however, you can use Magic Hourglasses to speed up a pregnancy by about 8 hours each use.

During the pregnancy, a sequence of status messages will be displayed on the Pet tab of the birthing parent's interaction window. The content of the statuses varies depending on whether the parent belongs to a species that lays eggs or gives birth to live young.

### Pregnancy status messages

* Pet just got pregnant!
* Pet looks a little bigger!
* Pet's baby is starting to move around!
* Pet's baby is quite active!
* Pet is preparing for parenthood!
* Pet is close to giving birth!

### Eggnancy status messages

* Pet just got eggnant!
* Pet will lay their egg soon!
* Pet's egg was recently laid!
* Pet's egg is starting to move around.
* Pet's egg is moving around a bit.
* Pet's egg is close to hatching!

Each stage of the pregnancy lasts for around half a week of active time. After the final stage, the pet's baby will be born.

## Babies

If the baby is the first one to have been born in the user's household, then the number of active pet slots in the house will be increased by one. If the baby is not the first, then the parent will move to the Daycare if the house has no pet slots free; otherwise, both the parent and baby will stay in the house. Either way, no extra pet slot will be added.

A baby's species, colors, and size are usually based upon the parents' species and colors at the time of conception (except on rare occasions where some of the baby's properties are fully randomized). Any parent properties that change after the baby has been conceived will not affect the baby. Size is also determined as a range between the 2 parents sizes (if they're bigger/smaller the non-default 8.0-12.0), but at birth instead of at conception.

Babies have a chance to be one of their parents' species, or, more uncommonly(at 10%), a completely random species. Similarly, while they may have completely random colors, babies tend to reference one or both of their parents' colors (and color-shift those a little). There is a chance that the primary and secondary colors will be flipped. For example, if both parents have a primary in the black range and a different color as a secondary, it's possible that the baby will have a secondary color in the black range and a primary color close to one of their parents' secondary colors.

Babies with a Spirit Companion parent are 10% more likely to be a random species (at a total 20%), and have their pet parent's colors passed in twice. The size of a spirit companion when calculating size is always considered to be the lowest at 5.0. Instead of a normal starting merit, these babies will always start with Natural Channel.

Babies will have a random adult size between 8.0 and 12.0, except if either of the parents has a smaller size than 8.0 or a larger size than 12.0. In that case, the range of the baby's size is extended, and they can be between the minimum and maximum sizes of the parents. A baby pet starts at 50% of its full size when born and gradually increases in size until it reaches its full size in 14 days (the same time they unlock Volagamy).

Babies are named by combining a random slice from each parent's name; Babies come with one Renaming Charge. If the parent gain a lot of affection during their pregnancy, the baby will also start with an Affection Reward.

Very rarely or guaranteed with the Doppel Gene merit, twins will be born. They will always share colors and species, but their size and merits will be different, and their names won't start with the same parent.

When born, each baby comes with a small description. Possible adjectives include:

* beautiful
* energetic
* intense-looking
* plump
* smiling
* wriggly

### Egg graphics

The following are all the possible egg graphics used. What egg a pet lays depends on their species.