Winter white pair had babies but rather strange colours

[chase]

:? A while ago I brought what I was told a breeding pr of ww. They had babies 2 wks ago and think that stupid breeder has conned me again. The babies are adorable and only peeked at them to find strange colours. I wonder if the father that she told me was pregnant as it was so huge and fat is actually a campbells. this is the breeder that never touches adult hamsters and didnt know which sex was which. When they are older I will get some pics on. 2 babies look like normal agouti colour and other 3 i dont know brown/grey/black? The father I have managed to tame but not mummy yet

[souffle]

Oh dear chase. It is always wise to try and go through a club to source breeding animals. I am sure they will make lovely pets but if you think they are hybrids you should be sure to make certain the new homes do not breed them. You could check on the midland site for pics of some of the non standard colours and see if you can identify the parents type.

[Gust0o]

this is the breeder that never touches adult hamsters and didnt know which sex was which

Sweet lord, can you imagine?!
:roll:

[chase]

Have now identified the father to be a campbells russian hamster. I trusted breeder that they were both WW. She said she had never had campbells but when I looked back through her ads she is advertising russian and WW. I thought Mum to be WW as she is in her winter coat and seems to be going darker again? Mum is white/grey but cannot hold her at all. :?

[souffle]

Have you separated them chase. You should do so right away. Make it clear to new homes they are not to be bred from but will be excellent pets. Ensure you tame them from now so they are easily homeable. I would only sell these as singles or pairs of the same sex but ensure they are sexed properly. You do not want sibling matings to make they gene pool even more complex and liable to problems. I would go for single sales. You cannot sell hybrids at NHC shows though they may be homed as donations I think. I am afraid you should get back to this 'breeder' and complain about the situation. It is likely all her stock are hybrids and are giving genuine breeders a bad name.

[chase]

The babies are too young to seperate from mum yet, but yes I have split mum and dad. I thought it was too good to be true as have been searching for years for WW. I feel I would like to contact the breeder as she must know if she has had 2 litters before me and that is obviously why she no longer wanted them. What i will probably do is maybe keep any baby boys with Daddy as although he is like a campbells he has a WW face. What would you say to the breeder? :? Already had 1 falling out with her as she sold me a rat that bites hard.I also disagreed with her breeding from animals and never handling them.