Surprise Pregnancy! Help?

[Nancy's Hamsters]

The white belly gene is a dominant gene meaning to get it in offspring you only need one of the parents to have it. On cream based colors(Black Eyed and Red eyed Cream, Sable, Mink, or Copper) it makes the coat become a Roan pattern. On non Cream based colors(Golden, Rust, Cinnamon,Gray,Yellow, Honey, Black, Dove,Yellowblack/melanistic Yellow, and Honeyblack, to name a few) The white belly gene will only cause a mostly white belly. IF the hamster with a Wh(whitebelly) gene also has a Band, or Dominant Spot pattern and is a Non cream based color it is impossible to detect if the Hamster also has the Wh gene. The breeding of two Wh gene hamsters will produce Anophthamic White Hamsters who are eyeless and Deaf, and seldom live a long healthy life. Many are born with very weak teeth or deformed teeth needing continual dental care to remain healthy. They seldom live past 6 months.

The White belly gene is not a gene for the beginner breeder because of all the many precautions needed to assure no Anophthelmic White pups occur. Also Much more care is needed in re-homing any Wh pups to assure the new owners don't breed them carelessly and produce eyeless pups. However the Wh gene when combined with any Cream based color results in and absolutely beautiful Hamster.
Sable Roan: This is Elina who was rescued with a belly full of pups. By her pups it proved she was actually a Yellowblack who was also ee and Umbrous and had one gene of Wh. I still have one of her Black Tort band pups here because I have not yet found a good pet home for her.
Elina pre-litter-g.JPG
Mink Roan: This was Poria who was also rescued for the same pet store and appeared pregnant but pups never arrived. Chances are high this was Elina's litter sister.
Poria 9-4-14-a.JPG
BEC Roan:Betia is not only Black Eyed Cream Roan but was also Banded and Dominant Spot too. She also came here pregnant from a pet store and raised a litter of Roans, Banded, and Dominant Spot Creams, Goldens, and Black pups.
Betia 2-11-14-c.JPG
Satin LH REC:Chitter Cheddar was bought to raise Roans, but since her whole litter mates were Banded Minks, Sables, and Red/Black Eyed Creams A test mating was used to confirm she was indeed Roan. Bred to a 4 generation proven Wh free Ghost Yellow male she produced 13 pups of which only 2 were not cream colored. All pups not kept by me were sold as pets only as they were not only Roan but also many of the cream looking were like the sire Ghost yellow.
Chitter Cheddar-01-06-09-a.JPG
To show you a Non Cream based Wh hamster I chose Chitters Satin Golden Tort White belly pup at 24 days old. Note the extended white cheeks and the glowing red circle eyes all classic for a Wh Hamster.
Cheddarbears-day 24-Golden Whwh SH girl-a.JPG

[EmilyS_79]

Is this a phenotype or a genotype? If the the hamster has white on its belly it doesn't necessarily mean it has the gene? Thanks for helping me Nancy

[Nancy's Hamsters]

It is both as Phenotype just means you can visibly see the gene at work( As with any cream based Roan, or white bellied non cream hamster. Genotype means it is in the genes but is not visible or seen with the eye which would be the effects of the Wh gene being also with a Pattern which also has a white belly like Banded, Dominant Spot, Poly white, and Recessive Dapple. Any hamster with any of the stated white belly patterns could be also Wh but you wouldn't know that by just looking at the hamster.

You would need to know all info on the Hamster with a white belly. Many patterns uncommon to pet stores can also produce a white belly. Polywhite gene if doubled up on a solid color hamster will turn the belly white but is not the Wh gene which produces Roan hamsters. A Hamster carrying Recessive Dapple will have a large amount of white on the belly, and of course the previously mentioned Banded and Dominant Spot Patterns also will turn the belly to white.

Below are 5 different Hamsters in different patterns and colors.
Study them and try to tell me which is Banded, Dominant Spot, Polywhite Dominant Spot, and Homo Polywhite Black, and then try to figure out who also has the Wh White Belly Gene.

Hint: One of the below is a pup from two of the below hamsters.

Not a test just want to let you learn hands on. Have fun with this and learn by having fun

First is Hania:
Hania 2-3-15-e.jpg

Next is Fina
Fina 5-12-14-a.JPG

A very pregnant Edria
Edria 4-19-14-a.JPG

Mataz the lover boy
Mataz 6-10-14-c.JPG

Kalia a very pretty girl
Kalia 7-22-14-b.JPG

[EmilyS_79]

Hania- Homo Polywhite Black - white Belly
Fina-Banded
Edria- Banded
Mataz- Polywhite Dominant Spot -White Belly
Kalia- Dominant Spot - White Belly
Sorry I'm really bad at this

[Nancy's Hamsters]

Originally Posted by EmilyS_79

Hania- Homo Polywhite Black - white Belly
Fina-Banded
Edria- Banded
Mataz- Polywhite Dominant Spot -White Belly
Kalia- Dominant Spot - White Belly
Sorry I'm really bad at this

You did fine. All the pictured hamsters had either Roan or Anaphthalmic white pups. The only one who wasn't for sure Wh was Edria. She was collected very pregnant from a pet store who had her housed with a lovely SH Dove male, and the store confirmed that he was the sire. I had a fellow hobby breeder collect this male as they were both bred by a store employee but not from the same litter. She bred that Dove male to a Mink roan and got one eyeless white pup in the litter. Edria had 2 Mink roans, and one REC Roan in her litter of 12 pups.

Fina was pregnant at the store and I had no clue who may have been the sire as she was all alone in a bin. However she has the red glow seen with the Wh gene, and the majority of her pups were Cream colored with two being Cream Roans. Fina went on to a hobby breeder where she was carefully bred to test for the suspected Wh gene. The male was a BEC with an long background of over 4 generations, and several Cream Roans resulted in the litter. Which confirmed Fina was Wh.

Hania you had help with if you read my B15 litter thread. The results in her litter is looking like she is Not Wh but is Homo Polywhite only as the bellies I have seen while the pups nursed have no excessive white on them. That is still inconclusive until pups eyes open and I can have a good look at all 6 pups bellies and eye color. However should I choose to keep any of her pups they will be bred only to 4 generation pedigree mates who are proven Wh clear.

However Mataz and Kalia are Hania's parents and they have produced 2 Anophthalmic white pups. The breeder I got the two from said they were both Dominant Spot and polywhite with Kalia being Hetero Polywhite. She had bred them before I collected them and I am not sure if she was aware they both had a Wh gene or not. She was selling out of the Hamster breeding, and when I mentioned it is not good to cross two patterned hamsters without knowing their background for at least 4 generations she became scared of producing Anophthalmic Whites so gave me the Dam for free. IMHO she knew there would be eyeless white pups and didn't want to deal with finding them homes. Both eyeless whites were happily adopted by Erin R on this form and sadly as is common with Anophthalmic Hamsters the male pup has passed away quietly in his nest sound asleep at only 6 months old. His sister still is alive and doing well but is a watch me don't handle me type Hamster. Because of the two eyeless white siblings I had to have a 4th generation pedigree Wh clear mate for Hania to safely breed to test her for Wh. The other hard part is the White belly gene and the Polywhite gene are on the same locust just like Extreme Dilute and Dark Eared White is on the same locust. That makes it much harder to know if a poly white hamster is Wh(p) or WhWh(p) until test bred to a non patterned cream based color mate.

[MummaBorris]

I also had a surprise pregnancy too! I had 8 baby russian dwarfs - they all survived and the mum did a great job. I put boiled egg and cucumber in which both babies and mum seemed to really enjoy. I didn't find the babies till I think they were about a week old so I didn't know to remove the male (I thought Borris was also a male) so my hamster Borris has now had another litter of pups! Fortunately I had managed to get rid of the first batch of babies before the new ones arrive. It is lovely when they are a couple of weeks old and very furry to hold them. Mine became very tame which helped with re-homing them.
Enjoy the experience

[becky1412]

Nancy I am always in awe of your detailed knowledge of ham gentics and your willingness to help others learn

[EmilyS_79]

Originally Posted by Nancy's Hamsters

However she has the red glow seen with the Wh gene,

Thanks Nancy! You have always helped me whenever I needed it! So what is the "red glow?" Is it the color of their eyes?

[Nancy's Hamsters]

It is hard to describe he actual look of a Wh hamster by just typing about it. They have (on black eyed that is) a deep red circle in the middle of the black eye and when any flash or bright light hits it the red pupil like area will glow red.
Here look at Elina's eyes in this photo.
Elina pre-litter-d.JPG

[EmilyS_79]

Oh, ok. I see what you're saying, my Syrian I had before had something that sounded like what you just described.