[Coco61]

Hi Chesca! Glad you are getting your Tuftyfluff ham soon. You have been given all the right advice about a show above. I thought you might like to hear about it from your point of view! My daughter (adult) and I went to the Andover show last year and it was our first one. We collected our Syrians from Tuftyfluffs at the start of May. By Andover they were 12 weeks old but we had had them 5 weeks. I did not take Mocho as he had not been handled as much as my daughter had handled Jarvis. Sue will be there again this year as a judge I think. You can ask her what she thinks on collection.
I watched the vid on the National Hamster Council on the pet class at a show. Very helpful as it follows a judge and you can hear his comments and scoring. We took Jarvis in a guineapig size carrier. Fitch substrate, bowl of food, cucumber wedge, healthy chew and a bendy bridge with torn up toilet paper for him to settle under.
Andover is a smallish show and the male Syrian pet class had about 12 entries. I watched the judge handle him. He had to be woken up, picked up by a stranger, be examined and stroked! Also a look inside his carrier to assess his care. He behaved beautifully. Calm and no wriggling. He was placed second and proudly has his blue rosette and certificate by his cage. Thus ended his show career! Great experience.
However there is the Real London show in September in Bracknell to aim for if your little one isn't ready.
Not sure if we can go this year sadly.