Update on Pumpkin's Babies

[souffle]

Oh my how they have grown. They look fantastic and Pumpkin has done a great job there. You must be very proud of her. The babies are Golden and are very nicely marked. Golden comes in various 'shades' and Pumpkin may have a lighter parent such as a cinnamon or cream which may make her golden look lighter and more orangy. Our Sonni is like that as mum was cinnamon and dad cream but as she did not get a pair or either of those genes she has reverted to the original wild golden colour though paler as she has some influence from the single light genes. The ticking is often not so obvious on these hamsters. Your babies have lovely ticking and are nice and dark. Looking forward to seeing more pictures.

[Basia]

They are so lovely. You and Pumpkin have done them pround because the look big chubby babies. Have you enjoyed you baby hamster experience?

[ad36]

I have enjoyed watching the progress and how I wished I lived near you. I have been debating about getting a syrian and this is the colour I would like. They are looking so well, you must be very proud!!

[Holly]

Originally Posted by ad36

I have enjoyed watching the progress and how I wished I lived near you. I have been debating about getting a syrian and this is the colour I would like. They are looking so well, you must be very proud!!

I must admit I think Golden's - especially with lovely markings like these, are gorgeous. If we get one I'll be really tempted to keep him/her (in fact I don't know how I'm going to let any of them go - something I'm really going to have to get used to).

[ad36]

I think that must be one of the hardest parts of breeding, having to let go. Looking at Beowolf72 pictures and how adorable they all are, I think I would be out buying lots of cages! I am just so pleased we have been able to share their development.

[Spuds Mum]

They are truly beautiful Beowolf - as Souffle says, they are beautifully marked! How many pups were there in the end? (sorry I know you probably posted that but I cant find it)
What will you do with the babies? And how has Pumpkin been? Have you managed to do any taming since the pups became a little bigger?
Sorry, so many questions - but I love hamster news

[Beowolf72]

Thank you all so much for your compliments! We are so glad they are all healthy and chubby! This experience has been so amazing! To go from tiny little pink beans to this in less than a month!

Pumpkin has been amazing with these six little ones! She's kept them all well fed and nice and warm. Here lately she's been starting the weening process so she doesn't sleep with them as often anymore. The most endearing thing is when she plays with them. It breaks my heart to seperate them...but it must be done.

One female and one male are each going to friends of ours. I'm very leary about putting an ad in the paper or selling them to a pet store. (I'm too attached!!) I want to make sure that they are all WELL taken care of. (I wish more of you all lived closer! )

As far as taming goes...it's been tough. Especially since Pumpkin is not completely tame as after having her only one week...out came six babies! Pumpkin loves to be talked to and pet on her back...but that is IT! Since the babies see her do this, they jump out of our hands as soon as we cup them in. (We always hold them over the cage bedding at about six inches so they won't hurt themselves.) I think after the seperation, it will be easier. The babies love it when we come up to the cage...they just stare at us...so curious.

We will post more pics very soon. One of them is so much darker than the others...but not black.

[Spuds Mum]

You've done so well, and I'm sure that you will 'crack' it with Pumpkin when she is separated from the litter. playing with you has I guess not been uppermost in her mind in the last month?
You know I think you are right when you say about the babies learning from their Mum. With my first litter, Mum was (and is still!) so friendly and was always desperate to come out and climbed onto our hands. Her babies quickly followed her lead and I used to often have to shout for help and one large Mummy hamster and 11 babies crawled up my sleeves and everytime I took one off, another would climb up!
I think you will do well though with the pups if you keep handling them daily. Although they are fast, they quickly learn that coming out for playtime is fun, and it certainly will make it easier for the babies new owners if this taming is done from the start (as you've learned with Pumpkin)
Congratulations again - I'm quite glad you are far away because I think I would be finding more space in my home for some beautiful golden pups if you were nearer!!!!!

[Christine Yule]

congratulations on a beautiful litter! All this hamster baby talks makes me miss not having babies in the house! I'm thinking of breeding a litter of Syrians but need to find a lovely female.

I love the golden colour, too. It is so lovely when they have nice dark markings. From the photo you posted, it looks like the pups may carry Black. Is there a picture of Pumpkin here somewhere and do you know the father? Goldens that carry black or in other words have one black gene, have this gorgeous black skin around their eyes. It looks like think Black eyeliner and you can see that they have black slits even before their eyes open. Do you see anything like that? Also, if you say that one pup has the same markings but is much darker than the rest but isn't all pure black, then it may be an Umbrous Golden colour. That just means that it has a gene that gives a dark grey cast over all the fur. I love that colour too because it makes the golden colour so rich looking.

Do you have some recent pictures of the babies?

[souffle]

I don't think they know the dad Christine as Pumpkin had only been home 6 days when she had this surprise litter! They are beautiful and we'd love to see more piccies beauwolf!